history of the beauty------------------------Renaissance 14th to the 17th century

In the 15th century, upper-class ladies of northern Europe painfully plucked their hairline to make their foreheads seem higher, and scraped their hair back under an elaborate headdress. In the warmer climate of Italy, women displayed their hair in plaits and under low, jeweled turbans or caps. Blond hair was considered to be a sign of beauty and high class. As a result, both men and women attempted to turn their hair blond by using bleach, saffron or onion skin dye, or, in the case of Italian women, by sitting for hours in a crownless hat in the sun.

Elizabethan 1558 1603

In the 16th century, after Francis I of France accidentally burned his hair with a torch, men began to wear short hair and grew short beards and mustaches. Of course, Queen Elizabeth was instrumental in setting the female trends for this era (thus the name). Society women copied her naturally pale complexion and red hair, using white powder in great abundance, along with red wigs. The most successful means for re-creating Elizabeth's pallor, unfortunately, was ceruse, or white lead, which was later discovered to be poisonous. Inspired by Italian women, the Elizabethan lady would also give a healthy glow to her cheeks by using lead-based rouge colored with dye. She'd color in her eyebrows, lips and even blue veins with alabaster pencils. For the final touch, she'd apply a thin glaze of egg-white paste to hold it all together.

18th Century 1700 -1799

In the 18th century fashionable wealthy men wore white-powdered wigs tied back into a long braid at the back of the neck and encased in a black silk bag, or tied with a black bow. Some men wore their own hair in this same braided

style. In the early part of the 18th century, society women had trim, crimped or curled heads, powdered and decorated with garlands or bows. By the 1770s, coiffures built over horsehair pads or wire cages and powdered with starch were all the rage. Some extended three feet in the air and had springs to adjust the height. They were extravagantly adorned with feathers, ribbons, jewels, and even ships, gardens and menageries. Such constructions required several hours of work every one to three weeks. Between sessions the undisturbed coiffure was likely to attract vermin. In the 1780s, a reaction against formality and extravagance led to the hrisson (hedgehog) style for men and women, a loose, bushy mass of curls.

Victorian 1837 - 1901

The puritanical Victorian era advocated a modest, natural beauty, restrained and without makeup. Middleand upper-class women used cosmetics less, but did not abandon them completely. Beyond face powders, more audacious colored makeup was reserved for prostitutes and actresses, who wore it only on stage. Society placed great emphasis on hygiene and health, and many women's magazines warned against the toxic qualities of lead-based industrial cosmetics. Beginning in the 1840s, women's heads were sleek and demure, the hair oiled and smoothed down over the temples with long sausage curls at the side and later with a heavy knot of curls or plaits in back. In the 19th century men tended to keep their hair relatively short, sometimes curled and dressed with macassar oil. Most men wore some variety of mustache, sideburns or beard.

1920s
During the "Roaring Twenties," societal trends reacted against the puritanical Victorian standards of beauty. Popular new short "bobbed," waved or shingled hairstyles symbolized the growing freedom of women. The impact of cinema was felt for the first time, as women increasingly took their beauty cues from film stars such as Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. The heavy use of makeup also

returned to fashion in this era. Generally, white women applied pale powder and cream rouge circles to the cheeks, plucked their eyebrows and penciled in thin arches, and painted their lips very red, emphasizing the cupid's bow of the upper lip. Fashion-conscious white men wore their hair parted in or near the center and slicked back with brilliantine an oily, perfumed substance that added shine and kept hair in place. This look was popularized by screen idols such as Rudolph Valentino. Some African-American males adopted the "conk," a hairstyle popularized by entertainer Cab Calloway. The conk was an attempt to straighten the hair and was accomplished by enduring a truly painstaking process of "relaxing" with a solution dominated by lye.

1940s
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood starlets continued to set the trends in women's fashion. Longer, more feminine hairstyles became popular again, and women immediately copied Bette Davis' curls, Betty Grable's topknot with ringlets, and Rita Hayworth's gleaming waves. Veronica Lake created a sensation by wearing a lock of hair that covered one eye. The hairstyle that most symbolized the era, however, was parted on the side, with soft curls falling over the shoulder. Also, for the first time, tanned skin (for both men and women) began to be perceived as a symbol of high class again showing the influence of screen stars on standards of beauty. Men continued to wear their hair short and often slicked back with oil, and skinny, trimmed mustaches were popularized by stars such as Errol Flynn.

1950s
In the uncertain times following the end of World War II, tradition and conservative values made a big comeback. The glamorous woman at home, able to attend to all domestic chores without a hair out of place, became a popular image. As a result, many women spent an inordinate amount of time living up to the '50s ideal of beauty. The "doe eye," created with shadow on the lids, eyebrow pencil, mascara and heavy eyeliner; along with a pale

complexion and intensely colored lips, became fashionable. Women's hair suffered even greater abuse. It was teased, styled, sculpted and sprayed at the salon every week into a helmet of perfectly formed curls, waves and bouffants. Hip white men wore their hair in a D.A. (short for Duck's Ass). Formed by combing the hair back on the side of the head and holding it in place with hair grease, the hairstyle was created by Philadelphia barber Joe Cirella in 1940 and took off when it was worn by television, movie and music stars such as James Dean and Elvis Presley. The D.A. was usually coupled with long, thick sideburns making their first appearance on men's faces since the 19th century and a high-crowned poof of hair brushed straight back off the forehead called the pompadour.

1960s
In the 1960s women were once again moving out of the domestic sphere and into the workplace, pursuing careers as well as an education. As a result, in the early to mid1960s women reacted against the time-consuming, complex hairstyles of the '50s and opted for more practical short styles (often variations of the 1920s bob), or long, straight hair. There was only one makeup look throughout the 1960s: dark eyes paired with pale lips (or, by the late '60s, no makeup at all). Popular culture, especially rock 'n' roll, gained ascendancy in generating standards of fashion and beauty. When the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, their "mop tops" created a revolution in men's hairstyles making long hair fashionable for the first time since the 18th century. Social movements such as Black Power and the anti-Vietnam War campaign also helped shape the conception of beauty in the '60s. Many African-Americans rejected white-influenced styles such as the conk, and adopted the Afro as a sign of black pride. The influence of psychedelics and the hippie movement advocated a natural, wild look for men and women and a complete rejection of cosmetics.

1970s
The social revolution spawned in the 1960s took root in the '70s, and the

standards of beauty reflected this upheaval. In fact, hair became the symbol of the era in more ways than one, evolving into perhaps the most powerful means of projecting an image or making a statement. For most of the decade, men and women of all ethnicities wore their hair long, natural and above all free. Farrah Fawcett's loose mane of freely falling curls, bronzed skin and glossy lips created a sensation in 1976, as did Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill's short-and-sassy wedge cut. Men adapted Farrah's "wingback" style into the center-parted, "feathered" hairstyles worn by teen idols such as Leif Garret and the Bee Gees. The Afro hairstyle remained popular and was also adopted by many white men and women, though a closer-cropped version, such as that worn by Muhammad Ali, was becoming fashionable. Toward the end of the decade the punk movement arose in opposition to the hippieinfluenced values of the era. Punks created a deliberately shocking, provocative look that included spiked hairdos dyed bright fluorescent colors, shaved and tattooed scalps, facial piercings and spectacular makeup.

1980s
In the 1980s the "age of excess" was easily translated into hairstyles, in general the bigger, the better. Pop stars such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper popularized a style that included heavy makeup with vibrant neon colors and intentionally messed-up and off-colored hair. Michael Jackson sported the "jheri curl," a sparkling wet-looking, heavily processed version of the Afro. Decidedly less audacious middle-class white teen-age boys adapted the punk-influenced spiked hairstyle, which sometimes included a small braid at the back of the neck (the "rat tail"). Androgyny also made a stunning impact in the '80s, from Sinead O'Connor's shaved head to heavy metal "hair bands" with their makeup and explosion of long, dyed hair. In opposition to these trends, a neoconservative "preppy" look was also in, popularizing traditional short hairstyles for men and women.

1990s
In the 1990s standards of beauty were incredibly diverse and constantly changing. Model Kate Moss created a disturbing standard of extreme thinness, sometimes referred to as "heroin chic" from the strung-out, emaciated appearance of the face and body. The "grunge" movement in rock music popularized an unkempt, natural style in opposition to the heavily artificial looks of the '80s. Long, matted and unstyled

hair characterized the grunge look. Tongue, eyebrow and nose piercings (for both men and women) also came into vogue in the '90s and even crossed into the "mainstream" of youth culture. Michael Jordan made shaving the head a popular "hairstyle" for men of all races. Jennifer Aniston of the sitcom Friends created a brief hairstyle fad with her modern version of the '60s shag. The "Rachel" cut was sleeker, with longer layers and face-framing highlights.

The Ideal Woman Through the Ages

When the face of a movie star appearing "puffy" can spark a media frenzy, the focus on female beauty seems to have reached an all-time high. A recent piece by actress Ashley Judd in the Daily Beast calls out the media for their concentration on women's bodies and looks. After widespread speculation that the actress had plastic surgery she calls the conversation about beauty "nasty, gendered, and misogynistic and embodies what all girls and women...endure every day." Here, we look at what that conversation has looked like through the years -- from Nefertiti to Michelle Obama. This representation of the pharaoh's wife, Nefertiti, is thought to be the most beautiful by both modern and ancient Egyptian standards, says Joann Fletcher, an honorary research fellow at the University of York, who has studied Nefertiti extensively. Nefertiti lived from about 1330-1370 BC. "While its specific facial proportions are almost completely symmetrical, again conforming to this notion of beauty, the sculpted face is further enhanced by the artist's very skilful use of color to suggest the application of a black eye paint and red lip color, creating the idealized form of beauty we see in other representations of ancient Egyptian women," she said. "In other representations of women at this time, the hair can sometimes tend to obscure their facial features, since it frames the face in a curtain-like mass of braids and plaits, the hair being another attribute of beauty associated with Hathor, goddess of beauty, who was also hailed as 'She of the Beautiful Hair' and 'Lady of the Lock'."

beauty through the ages

The recent discussion of cultural perceptions on beauty that we had has really got me thinking about beauty and how it relates both to women and history. Ive been paging through my own small collection of vintage magazines, looking at beauty ads and contemplating how much (and little) things have changed over the generations. Realizing too that this push towards perfecting ones flaws is something that, while not new (women have been in search of things to make them beautiful since ancient times), has been capitalized on by manufacturers and the mass media in more

recent history. Certainly the spread of media has made this more easy to market to women, which is probably why the beauty business has in part become what it is today. While I do own quite a few beauty products of my own and enjoy my primping time to play with makeup, its an interesting to observe how things have changed and yet not. Essentially women of the 21st century are the same as their great grandmothers in the 20s; we all want to look beautiful and are willing to hand over cash in order to become beautiful thanks to the latest miracle product. Which is why I think the visual and ephemera history of womens beauty is so fascinating: it reveals deeper layers of cultural perceptions of women, both from a societal standpoint and of the women themselves. Over the weekend I ran across two videos that I found utterly fascinating. In them is an interview with a historian who has an amazing (dare I say Im envious?!) collection of womens beauty ephemera dating from the 19th century forward. She makes the excellent point about the correlation between body image and womens history when discussing these beauty products. Definitely worth a viewing if you have the time (and now Im somewhat eager to read her book!).

I also thought Id add a few images from my own collection to the mix as well. Isnt it interesting how in some ways things have become a bit more subtle in the modern age? Yet they still broadcast the same message, maybe just in more sophisticated (by 21st century standards) ways

Beauty and Body Modification

In ancient China, the 4-inch "lotus foot" was considered a sign of perfect beauty. The practice of foot-binding, uncommonly seen today, involved breaking the bones of the forefoot and folding them forward, then tying the misshapen appendage to prohibit growth.[5] Foot-binding caused severe pain, imbalance, and falls, and eventually osteoporosis, because afflicted women were unable to bear weight and ambulate correctly. Other consequences included hip and knee osteoarthritis, chronic pain, and even joint replacement surgery.[6] Chinese foot binding was also a form of subjugation; as a class, women were even less able to take advantage of already limited educational and economic opportunities. For ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Persians, sparkling eyes were considered beautiful and they applied the heavy metal antimony to make their conjunctiva sparkle.[5] A woman with a high forehead was considered beautiful during the Elizabethan era, and upper-class Elizabethan women plucked or shaved their frontal hairs to achieve this look. These women also covered their skin with ceruse (lead-based) makeup, which caused peripheral neuropathy, gout, anemia, chronic renal failure, and disfiguring scarring, requiring the application of more ceruse makeup.[5] Chronic users, such as Queen Elizabeth I, acquired a misshapen appearance. Upset over her grisly visage, the Queen banished all mirrors from her castle. Her servants sometimes painted a red dot on her nose, an inside joke mocking her clown-like appearance.[5] In the court of Louis XVI, noblewomen drew blue veins onto their necks and shoulders to emphasize their exalted status ("bluebloods").[7] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wealthy used belladonna eyedrops to dilate their pupils.[5] Users acquired an "attractive" doe-like appearance, but they also risked retinal damage, glaucoma, and blindness. During the 18th century, vermilion rouge, concocted of sulphur and mercury, achieved popularity. Users lost teeth, suffered gingivitis, and (unknowingly) risked kidney and nervous system damage from mercury -- not to mention their having to deal with the unpleasant smell of sulphur.[7]

Corseting, popular from the 14th to 19th centuries, originally involved compressing the bosom and constricting the waist with tightly wound whalebone on a steel frame.[5] Shallow breathing, combined with inadequate venous return, produced fainting and swooning. Hiatal hernias caused by overly tight corsets are termed "Sommerring's syndrome" -- after the 18th century physician who first warned of the dangers of tight lacing.[8] Christina Larson points out, "the corset facilitated a pernicious association between physical beauty and virtue, as upright posture and a slender waist came to be regarded as evidence of discipline, modesty, rigor, and refinement. Ladies who abandoned their stays were scorned as both lazy and immoral."[9] Ideal body weight and shape have fluctuated throughout history, from the rotund Venus of Willendorf of antiquity, to the statuesque, leggy flappers of the 1920s, to the ultra-thin "Twiggy"-inspired look of the 1960s and the "heroin chic" cachexia of the 1990s. In some cultures (eg, Hawaiian royalty), women voluntarily consumed or were force-fed excessive quantities of food to maintain their corpulence, a sign of fertility and power.[5] At other times, women, including those with and without anorexia and bulimia, have dieted, induced vomiting, abused laxatives, and exercised excessively to lose weight. Famed opera singer Maria Callas deliberately infected herself with tapeworms to produce a malabsorption syndrome to maintain her lithe figure.[5] Today, popular icons of beauty are found in music videos and on commercial television. Large bust size and round, but not excessively large, posteriors are emphasized, for example. To help the average woman achieve this look, a variety of products have become available, such as Wonderbra, which elevates and compresses the breasts, and the Brava bra, a $2500 suction device designed to be worn overnight for 10 weeks. Brava bra makers promise a 1-cup size increase; side effects include skin rash and discomfort.[10] In the United Kingdom, women can buy "Wonderbum" panty hose, made of DuPont lycra to mimic a "perfectly peachy, pert bottom."[11] Thoroughly routing the idea of a woman-only "beauty myth" is the very real fact that men are a rapidly growing consumer niche in cosmetic surgery. They are getting procedures such as botulinum toxin injections and chemical peels, although they are not yet as willing to admit to their cosmetic habits as women are. One New York plastic surgeon told the Wall Street Journal that "17 percent

of his patients undergoing eyelid surgery and about 11 percent choosing facelifts are male, double the percentage of ten years ago." According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, the most popular procedures for men are botulinum toxin injections, hair transplantation, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and liposuction. But more than 10,000 men have also had cosmetic surgery to lengthen or widen their penises, as well as calf and pectoral implants to upsize their musculature.

BEAUTY For beauty as a characteristic of a person's appearance, see Physical attractiveness. For other uses, see Beauty (disambiguation). Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction.[1] Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.
There is evidence that perceptions of beauty are evolutionarily determined, that things, aspects of people and landscapes considered beautiful are typically found in situations likely to give enhanced survival of the perceiving human's genes. Historical view of beauty Florence Cathedral and dome. Since the Renaissance in Europe, harmony, symmetry and correct proportions are considered essential elements of universal beauty. There is evidence that a preference for beautiful faces emerges early in child development, and that the standards of attractiveness are similar across different genders and cultures. A study published in 2008 suggests that symmetry is also important because it suggests the absence of genetic or acquired defects.

Although style and fashion vary widely, cross-cultural research has found a variety of commonalities in people's perception of beauty. The earliest Western theory of beauty can be found in the works of early Greek philosophers from the pre-Socratic period, such as Pythagoras. The Pythagorean school saw a strong connection between mathematics and beauty. In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to the golden ratio seemed more attractive.[9] Ancient Greek architecture is based on this view of symmetry and proportion. Plato considered beauty to be the Idea (Form) above all other Ideas.[10] Aristotle saw a relationship between the beautiful (to kalon) and virtue, arguing that "Virtue aims at the beautiful."[11] Classical philosophy and sculptures of men and women produced according to the Greek philosophers' tenets of ideal human beauty were rediscovered in Renaissance Europe, leading to a re-adoption of what became known as a "classical ideal". In terms of female human beauty, a woman whose appearance conforms to these tenets is still called a "classical beauty" or said to possess a "classical beauty", whilst the foundations laid by Greek and Roman artists have also supplied the standard for male beauty in western civilization.[citation needed] During the Gothic era, the classical aesthetical canon of beauty was rejected as sinful. Later, the Renaissance and Humanism rejected this view, and considered beauty as a product of rational order and harmony of proportions. Renaissance artists and architect (such as Giorgio Vasari in his "lives of artists") criticised the Gothic period as irrational and barbarian. This point of view over Gothic art lasted until Romanticism, in the 19th century. The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli. The goddess Venus is the classical personification of beauty. The Age of Reason saw a rise in an interest in beauty as a philosophical subject. For example, Scottish philosopher Francis Hutcheson argued that beauty is "unity in variety and variety in unity".[12] The Romantic poets, too, became highly concerned with the nature of beauty, with John Keats arguing in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" that Beauty is truth, truth beauty ,that is all. Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

In the Romantic period, Edmund Burke postulated a difference between beauty in its classical meaning and the sublime. The concept of the sublime, as explicated by Burke and Kant, suggested viewing Gothic art and architecture, though not in accordance with the classical standard of beauty, as sublime.[citation needed] The 20th century saw an increasing rejection of beauty by artists and philosophers alike, culminating in postmodernism's anti-aesthietics.[13] This is despite beauty being a central concern of one of postmodernism's main influences, Friedrich Nietzsche, who argued that the Will to Power was the Will to Beauty.[14] In the aftermath of postmodernism's rejection of beauty, thinkers have returned to beauty as an important value. American analytic philosopher Guy Sircello proposed his New Theory of Beauty as an effort to reaffirm the status of beauty as an important philosophical concept.[15][16] Elaine Scarry also argues that beauty is related to justice.[17] Human beauty The characterization of a person as beautiful, whether on an individual basis or by community consensus, is often based on some combination of inner beauty, which includes psychological factors such as personality, intelligence, grace, politeness, charisma, integrity, congruence and elegance, and outer beauty (i.e. physical attractiveness) which includes physical attributes which are valued on an aesthetic basis. Standards of beauty have changed over time, based on changing cultural values. Historically, paintings show a wide range of different standards for beauty. However, humans who are relatively young, with smooth skin, well-proportioned bodies, and regular features, have traditionally been considered the most beautiful throughout history. A strong indicator of physical beauty is "averageness", or "koinophilia".[citation needed] When images of human faces are averaged together to form a composite image, they become progressively closer to the "ideal" image and are perceived as more attractive. This was first noticed in 1883, when Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, overlaid photographic composite images of the faces of vegetarians and criminals to see if there was a typical facial appearance

for each. When doing this, he noticed that the composite images were more attractive compared to any of the individual images.[citation needed]

Fresco of a Roman woman from Pompeii, c. 50 AD Researchers have replicated the result under more controlled conditions and found that the computer generated, mathematical average of a series of faces is rated more favorably than individual faces.[18] Evolutionarily, it makes logical sense that sexual creatures should be attracted to mates who possess predominantly common or average features.[19] A feature of beautiful women that has been explored by researchers is a waisthip ratio of approximately 0.70. Physiologists have shown that women with hourglass figures are more fertile than other women due to higher levels of certain female hormones, a fact that may subconsciously condition males choosing mates.[20] People are influenced by the images they see in the media to determine what is or is not beautiful. Some feminists and doctors[vague] have suggested that the very thin models featured in magazines promote eating disorders,[21] and others have argued that the predominance of white women featured in movies and advertising leads to a Eurocentric concept of beauty, feelings of inferiority in women of color,[22] and internalized racism.[23] The black is beautiful cultural movement sought to dispel this notion.[24] The concept of beauty in men is known as 'bishnen' in Japan. Bishnen refers to males with distinctly feminine features, physical characteristics establishing the standard of beauty in Japan and typically exhibited in their pop culture idols. A multi-billion-dollar industry of Japanese Aesthetic Salons exists for this reason. Effects on society Chinese Jade ornament with flower design, Jin Dynasty (11151234 AD), Shanghai Museum

Beauty presents a standard of comparison, and it can cause resentment and dissatisfaction when not achieved. People who do not fit the "beauty ideal" may be ostracized within their communities. The television sitcom Ugly Betty portrays the life of a girl faced with hardships due to society's unwelcoming attitudes toward those they deem unattractive. However, a person may also be targeted for harassment because of their beauty. In Malna, a strikingly beautiful Italian woman is forced into poverty by the women of the community who refuse to give her work for fear that she may "woo" their husbands. The documentary Beauty in the Eyes of the Beheld explores both the societal blessings and curses of female beauty through interviews of women considered beautiful. Researchers have found that good looking students get higher grades from their teachers than students with an ordinary appearance.[25] Some studies using mock criminal trials have shown that physically attractive "defendants" are less likely to be convictedand if convicted are likely to receive lighter sentencesthan less attractive ones (although the opposite effect was observed when the alleged crime was swindling, perhaps because jurors perceived the defendant's attractiveness as facilitating the crime).[26] Studies among teens and young adults, such as those of psychiatrist and self-help author, Eva Ritvo, show that skin conditions have a profound effect on social behavior and opportunity.[27] How much money a person earns may also be influenced by physical beauty. One study found that people low in physical attractiveness earn 5 to 10 percent less than ordinary looking people, who in turn earn 3 to 8 percent less than those who are considered good looking.[28] Discrimination against others based on their appearance is known as lookism.[29] St. Augustine said of beauty "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked."[30] Ugliness Ugliness is a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look upon and results in a highly unfavorable evaluation. To be ugly is to be aesthetically unattractive, repulsive, or offensive.[31]

People who appear ugly to others suffer well-documented discrimination, earning 10 to 15 percent less per year than similar workers, and are less likely to be hired for almost any job, but lack legal recourse to fight discrimination.[32] For some people, ugliness is a central aspect of their persona. Jean-Paul Sartre had a lazy eye and a bloated, asymmetrical face, and he attributed many of his philosophical ideas to his lifelong struggle to come to terms with his self-described ugliness.[33] Socrates also used his ugliness as a philosophical touch point, concluding that philosophy can save us from our outward ugliness.[33] Famous in his own time for his perceived ugliness, Abraham Lincoln was described by a contemporary: "to say that he is ugly is nothing; to add that his figure is grotesque, is to convey no adequate impression." However, his looks proved to be an asset in his personal and political relationships, as his law partner William Herndon wrote, "He was not a pretty man by any means, nor was he an ugly one; he was a homely man, careless of his looks, plain-looking and plain-acting. He had no pomp, display, or dignity, so-called. He appeared simple in his carriage and bearing. He was a sad-looking man; his melancholy dripped from him as he walked. His apparent gloom impressed his friends, and created sympathy for himone means of his great success." In June 2013 the comedian Angela Barnes became noted for an article in The Guardian, in it she spoke about how she felt society treated people deemed ugly and her feelings as someone who self-identified as such.

A beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that mainly

focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests also incorporate personality, intelligence, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria. The phrase almost invariably refers only to contests for women and girls; similar events for men or boys are called by other names and are more likely to be bodybuilding contests. Winners of beauty contests are often called beauty queens. Children's beauty pageants mainly focus on beauty, gowns, sportswear modelling, talent, and personal interviews. Adult and teen pageants focus on makeup, hair and gowns, swimsuit modelling, and personal interviews.

Possible awards include titles, tiaras or crowns, sashes, savings bonds, and cash prizes. History Lone Star State Selects Beauties for 100 Year Pageant[1] The first modern American pageant was staged by Phineas Taylor Barnum in 1854, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest.[2][3] He previously held dog, baby, and bird beauty contests.[citation needed] He substituted daguerreotypes for judging, a practice quickly adopted by newspapers. Newspapers held photo beauty contests for many decades: In 1880, the first "Bathing Beauty Pageant" took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Contests became a regular part of summer beach life, with the most elaborate contests taking place in Atlantic City, New Jersey ("Fall Frolic") and Galveston, Texas ("Splash Day"), where the events attracted women from many cities and towns.[4] Universal produced a newsreel of the Texas Centennial Celebration beauty pageant in 1935, which shows models attempting to fit into lifesized cutouts of the Centennial Committee's concept of the "perfect figure."[1] Today in America, 250,000 contestants compete in beauty pageants, 100,000 are under the age of 12. Purpose When beauty pageants began, they were viewed as "trivial events whose interpretation required no scholarly effort".[citation needed] Miss America, the first pageant of its kind, has made an effort to ensure that it does not appear as a "stereotypical" pageant.[citation needed] Pageants may be multicultural or specific to a particular ethnicity, such as the Miss Chinese International Pageant, Miss Black America or Miss Indian America. Another stated goal of pageants is promoting self-esteem and publicspeaking abilities of the contestants.[citation needed] Winners of these pageants have said that they feel a sense of accomplishment.[citation needed]

Pageants may be aligned with community or social organizations to raise money for charities.[citation needed] The clubs that each contestant supports may be referred to as platforms. Some pageants award college scholarships, to the winner or multiple runners-up.[5] Types of pageants International Pageant of Pulchritude In May 1920 promoter C.E. Barfield of Galveston organized a new event known as "Splash Day" on the island. The event featured a "Bathing Girl Revue" competition as the centerpiece of its attractions.[4][6][7][8] The event was the kick-off of the summer tourist season in the city and was carried forward annually. The event quickly became known outside of Texas and, beginning in 1926, the world's first international contest was added, known as the "International Pageant of Pulchritude."[7] This contest is said to have served as a model for modern pageants.[8][9][10] It featured contestants from England, Russia, Turkey, and many other nations and the title awarded at the time was known as "Miss Universe."[8][11] The event was discontinued in the United States in 1932 because of the Depression (the international competition was revived briefly in Belgium). Around the globe Major international contests for women include the yearly Miss World competition (founded by Eric Morley in 1951), Miss Universe (founded in 1952), Miss International (founded in 1960) and Miss Earth (founded in 2001 with environmental awareness as its concern).[12][13][14] These are considered the "Big Four" pageants, the four largest and most famous international beauty contests. During the 1950s, pageants thrived to promote county fairs and local products. For example, some of Raquel Welch's titles included " Maid of San Diego County", " Maid of California" "Miss Photogenic" and "Miss Contour." Women from around the world participate each year in local competitions for the chance to represent their country's international title.

2002 was a year remarkable for its number of winners from countries with a majority Muslim population. In that year Miss Lebanon, Christina Sawaya won the Miss International pageant, Miss Turkey, Azra Akn won Miss World, and the original winner of Miss Earth for that year was Dejla Glavovi from Bosnia and Herzegovina (before being replaced by Winfred Omwakwe of Kenya). In 2006, the Muslim nation of Pakistan crowned its first Miss Bikini Universe, Mariyah Moten, which later became a controversy worldwide. Selecting a "beauty queen" Beauty pageants are generally multi-tiered, with local competitions feeding into the larger competitions.[17] International pageants involve hundreds, sometimes thousands, of local competitions. In the United States, there is now a commercial beauty pageant industry that organizes thousands of local and regional events for all ages for profit, supported by magazines like The Crown Magazine and Pride of Pageantry.[citation needed] Contestants are judged on beauty, physical fitness, poise, public speaking ability, community service and wardrobe. Criticism Critics of beauty contests argue that such contests reinforce the idea that girls and women should be valued primarily for their physical appearance, and that this puts tremendous pressure on women to conform to conventional beauty standards by spending time and money on fashion, cosmetics, hair styling and even cosmetic surgery. They claim that this pursuit of physical beauty even encourages some women to diet to the point of harming themselves.

The ideal Medieval woman was seen as being hairless in contrast to the man. Hairlines, eyebrows and even eyelashes were plucked so that no hair whatsoever would show. The only women who appear frequently in High Medieval portraits displaying their hair are saints and the Virgin Mother. A high forehead was a sign of extreme beauty. In this painting, you can see the exaggerated eye line which may be created with some kind of paint or make-up