All through history, female beauty has always been a fascinating and much-discussed topic with a definition that has varied from one era to another. The qualities associated with beauty are often different too: A beautiful woman can be described as being desirable and greatly-adored. Yet at the same time, she can be considered as dangerous and manipulative as well. In fact, there are famous quotes from ancient Greek philosophers who have warned people about the manipulative skills of women.
Even in ancient times, women have desired to be beautiful. The statue of a “Venus” from the Ice age shows a woman with carefully-adorned hair and face. Apparently, women’s desire to be beautiful goes back to almost 30,000 years ago. Furthermore, artifacts from ancient Rome, Egypt and Greece have shown that both men and women paid attention to their appearances, used makeup, and stressed the importance of being clean.
For Egyptians, the large collection of grooming items – combs, shaving tools and different kinds of oils that were used as make-up – found in their tombs and coffins bears testament to their interest in beauty. Wigs were also very popular and could be found in a variety of colors such as blue, green, yellow and gold. Moreover, in spite of their dark skin, many Egyptian women liked to use gold and yellow wigs to beautify themselves.
The Iranian civilization, which developed later, was no different when it came to beauty. When the Persian Empire began in 500 BC, the same traditions were observed. Both men and women used make-up – an act that exemplified cleanliness and refinement. However it was only during the Sassanian era that the issues of beauty and cosmetics suddenly became much more important. In these times Sormeh, Vasmeh and many other tools were used.
However, the 20th century saw this interest in beauty develop into an obsession, to the degree that looks became valued above all other qualities. We can even see the influence that this obsession has on politics. Looking at the current or recent heads-of-states, such as President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prime Minister Koizumi, President Putin, Ex-President Clinton, it is evident that all of them are younger than their predecessors and are known to be more or less good-looking.
Moreover, research has showed that people who are more pleasing in appearance have a much easier time finding a job or getting a promotion. In other words, society is becoming increasingly superficial and dependent on a person’s looks. In the United States, there are charities that are helping women find jobs by teaching them how to look and dress in a more fashionable manner. It is no different in the United Kingdom: In 2000, the government started classes that teach people – who have been unemployed for a long period of time – the art for dressing more suitably for work and interviews.
Although this is a problem that involves the whole society, women are more vulnerable to it; particularly because the focus on beauty has shifted over the years until it was finally pushed into the “women only” domain, also increasingly men are also pressurized. We are discussing this issue of beauty today with our dear guest, the university professor and researcher, Ms. Parvin Abyaneh.
Interview with Parvin Abyaneh
Pari: Ms. Abyaneh, thank you for accepting my invitation. Please tell us about your professional background.
Parvin: I have worked in a university and studied issues related to women, especially Middle Eastern women, Moslem women, and Middle Eastern Diaspora women – the last of which refers to women of Middle East living outside of the region itself. The women in these groups face two different problems: In host country they face racism and in their own culture face sexism. Hence, while they want to defend their culture against the host countries culture, they also have to fight against the sexism that exists in their own culture.
Pari: In my introduction I explained the historical dimension and mentioned the increasing shift towards female beauty in 20 century. Statistics in USA suggest that in 1972, 23% of women were unhappy with the way they looked; in 1997, the number increased to 56%. In November 2000, a UK survey reveals worse news: 5000 women were questioned and the result showed that only 3% were happy with their look; 91% were upset with their pelvis, 60% were unhappy with their body in general, and 84% were upset with their weight. How would you address this problem from a feminist point of view?
Parvin: Many have misunderstood feminism, assuming that it is “anti-beauty” or that it “promotes ugliness”. The truth is feminism has recognized that women are in constant struggle with themselves and their body, and questions the culture that makes women to feel at odds with their own bodies and appearances. There are three major issues: One is that culture has reduced a woman’s identity to nothing more than looks and beauty. Yes, historically women have been concerned with their looks but now there is too much emphasis on this issue. As a result there is an obsession in our society with woman’s looks and all the other aspects of her personality are ignored. This is why so many intelligent, independent and professional women are unhappy about their looks and are paying little or no attention to their other qualities and achievements. There are only 3% of women who are completely happy with the way they look and thus, only 3% are happy and satisfied with themselves. The rest are unhappy with their bodies and therefore with themselves.
Pari: It is not just emphasizing on looks but it is further problematic because the unreal expectations set by media. Individuals are selected among thousands of women, then transformed by makeup, cloths, lighting and digital imagery. This unreal image is then presented as a house wife, mother, school girl or a working woman. To make the matter worse, glimpse of private lives of these women are presented by media to make them more real and women are encouraged to consume and use services to compete with these.
Parvin: We might say that in the western world, the media is creating these false images but in our culture we have the same thing with poetry for example. In the poetry of Hafez and Sadie the same idealized beauty is described and always repeated. The poems are in fact old versions of the television and cinema, and we were all raised by the knowledge that we can not match the ideal, beautiful woman that is described in those poems.
Pari: True, but at least our poetry was referred to a perfect Iranian beauty but increasingly there was a tendency in Iran to regard non-Iranian look as beauty. The fair hair, blue or green eyes … and that is the trend world wide.
Parvin: It is result of racism, since the United States is promoting western cultural values around the globe, the ideal beauty in all parts of the world is becoming more and more Americanized or westernized. In our culture we have the word “cute” in order to describe the woman who is darker than the woman we call beautiful, which has lighter skin and blond hair. We can see how racism is slowly being established in our culture.
Pari: Yes, today all around the world Britney Spears is presented as symbol of beauty, tall, thin, blond and blue eyes. This other picture is of Madonna with blond hair.
Parvin: We can see this racist attitude very clearly in this picture of Madonna because she is not naturally blond. Nevertheless, she has consciously disguised her real looks and has turned herself into a more European-looking woman by coloring her hair. This action itself supports the racist attitude that exists because it sends the message that beauty is what I am today and not how I originally look like.
Pari: Beauty is also a reflection of women’s role in society. In the 19th century, a beautiful woman has a slender figure with a very narrow waist and pale skin. This image in turn created and also was a reflection of certain ideas and beliefs about the 19th century woman. Seeing that a very slender being can be easily broken, there arose the need to “protect” the women during that period. As women roles changes, these standards changes as well. This is a picture of Twiggy Lawson, where voluptuous women used to be a sign of beauty, in line with 60s social changes, a beautiful woman is presents as Twiggy – a girl who looks like a boy.
Parvin: Today, we see that those standards have changed yet again and we see that as time goes by beauty standards are being created and recreated for us.
Pari: Now the question is: Why do feminists criticize beauty? Or what part of it are they criticizing?
Parvin: What they criticize is lack of variety. In other words the problem is not that Twiggy was the symbol of beauty, but the fact that she was the only symbol and no other version was shown or discussed. Variety means having a non-white woman as the symbol of beauty.
Pari: Politics also dictates beauty standards. This is a picture of Iranian Model Yasmin Le Bon. She had a hard time to get a job in 80s but in 90s, when ethnic looks became fashionable, she raised to superstar status.
Parvin: In eastern cultures – Middle East or Africa – what they do with women is that they show them as exotic, which itself is a way of exploiting them. Of course this is a step forward but it is obviously not done out of respect for the eastern woman. The meaning of beauty is learned through culture and we should create that meaning with an open mind and in an intelligent way.
Pari: There is a great deal of obsession with youth and in being young.
Parvin: The ideal version of beauty is someone who is young, white, and has blond hair. After they pass a certain age, a woman is no longer attracts the attention of the media; we hardly see an older woman being the subject of a romance in the media.
Pari: Yes, see this picture of Audrey Hepburn as a young woman in love. The next picture is Ms. Hepburn as a much older woman working as a UN ambassador.
Parvin: Yes, as she ages, the context in which she is presented differs. She is giving a speech for UNICEF which is wonderful. . But she is not presented as “the beautiful woman” and we will not see her, as an old woman, playing the leading role in a romantic love story; we probably see her as the grandmother. We know that if it wants to, the media has the power to show an older, short, overweight, flat-chested or darker-looking woman as a “beautiful woman”. But only if media wants.
Pari: We have seen times when people over role media, for example, we had hippies in the 70s and punks in the 80s. They drastically changed their appearances as a way of protesting against the society they were living in and soon it became a fashion.
Parvin: Body and face can be used as a tool for protesting. Tattoos and piercing are all ways of questioning the norm of the society. For teenagers especially, it is a way of showing that they have power. It is a way of expressing themselves; when people do not have the chance or right to express themselves verbally they use their body to express themselves. The hippies you mentioned were protesting against the fashion of the day, which they considered to be class-based and also a result of capitalism.
Pari: It was the same with punks. They questioned why the fashion should be a certain way and why Chanel should decide what is fashionable and what is not. I remember that the year after they started their activities, a few models in an Yves Saint Laurent fashion show were dressed as punks! For the first time fashion houses were inspired by the kids in the street.
Parvin: Yes, thank you for mentioning this issue. Sometimes fashion houses follow people. For example these baggie pants that were used by African Americans were later used by fashion houses as well.
Pari: The problem today is that beauty and looking more beautiful has turned into a business. After World War I plastic surgery became common – initially it was meant to help victims of the war, but very soon it attracted women. Today it is a huge business and each year billions of dollars are made in the plastic surgery industry. Alongside it is the business of cosmetics supplies – it too has its own huge industry as women spend million of dollars annually buying cosmetics. Society and culture have forced women to constantly consume beauty products; the effect is twofold, women are earning less than men and yet being a woman is far more expensive.
Parvin: The dilemma here is that a large number of women are working in beauty industry and are gaining financial independence for themselves through their work. This creates a very complicated situation. So being pro-women, how are we supposed to deal with this issue? Are we supposed to ignore all the women who are benefiting from this industry? The question is how far we should promote our beliefs and how cautious we should be. It is a fine line. There are two ways of dealing with it because there are different groups. Some of them are doing actions that are harmful to woman’s body, they are anti woman. However, there are other groups who are focusing on health alongside beauty and which makes a big difference. Giving advice on how to keep the body healthy and what to eat in order to maintain that health is an issue that we would support. The question is that how we can change this cultural issue that is anti-woman and turn into something which is pro-woman. I hope if our viewers have any suggestions for us that they would contact us.
Pari: Yes, thank you for the reminder.
Interview with Merzad Zamanpour
Pari: To discuss this issue further, I have Ms. Mehrzad Zamanpour on the phone. Ms. Mehrzad, thank you for joining us. Professor Parvin Abyaneh and I were just having a discussion on women and beauty, and whether the beauty industry which is run, to a large degree, with women’s help can be used for helping woman instead of being “anti-woman”. I know that your own approach is from a feminist point of view.
Mehrzad: Thank you for inviting me and I would like to say hello to our dear viewers. First of all because of my education which is about women health and sexuality and also with my work experience, I am keen on helping woman find their inner beauty and through it, reveal to them their uniqueness. And I know this is the method that most women in the fashion industry are leaning toward. I know from watching my friends who are hairstylists that the relationship between them and their clients have changed. Their talks help their clients to leave the beauty salon not only with beautiful hair but also with good feelings about themselves.
Pari: What are your views on beauty and age?
Mehrzad: There are many beliefs about turning 40 for example and older ages as well. Most of these beliefs unfortunately results in the age effecting the inner feeling more than it should. What we should remember is that for example forty years old no longer has the same meaning that it had for our mothers and grandmothers. During these years, the most important thing to know is how to feel good about ourselves and to love ourselves. In my opinion 40 can be a symbol of a decade for each woman in which she can be the healthiest, freshest, and most independent. Once you are over 50, the key to beauty is eating healthy, exercising, drinking a lot of water and having private time to yourself.
Pari: What about fashion?
Mehrzad: Every person is different from others in their personality, color of skin, weight and height and therefore each should have her own personal fashion. The dominant fashion in the society should not dictate to a woman how to dress or what color to choose. I think each person has to have her own personal style – a style that gives her comfort. Sometimes the “dominant” or the “fashionable” style is even disturbing for certain individuals.
Pari: What are your views on plastic surgery, especially those done to remove lines around the eyes?
Mehrzad: Oftentimes these lines are genetic; drinking water and applying certain lotions will help. However the main reason behind these lines are years of laughter and it really is a pity to remove the signs that indicate a lifetime of good memories.
Pari: You talked about being healthy and how important it is. What advice would you give to a woman who wakes up and sees nothing in the mirror that she likes?
Mehrzad: I believe that such a day should start with a little exercise such as walking, swimming or even a few minutes of yoga and deep meditation. The reason why I talked about exercising first is that it removes the puffiness below the eyes and is good for the skin. We can also use masks and cucumbers; these are not really expensive. Moreover when we are applying a moisturizer, we should massage the face with the hand for it increases the flow of blood. I also believe less is more and women should use light moisturizers. There are also other ways of beautifying one. For example, pearls have been used since ancient times as an adornment for woman. Pearls, both artificial and natural, reflect light in a very beautiful way. Using perfume is very important and helpful as well.
Pari: What do you believe is the mistake that women often make about their looks and appearance?
Mehrzad: What I often see are really strong lip liners that are being used and in my opinion it is like a frame that is drawing attention from the picture instead of adding to its beauty.
Pari: In other words you believe in natural beauty and simplicity?
Mehrzad: Yes, natural beauty and inner beauty. Too much make-up takes the attention away from the face and its natural beauty. I think women should not use heavy mascara and especially not on the lower eyelashes so that they can keep their look more natural.
Pari: So in general you believe that beauty comes from within and you are trying to emphasize on natural beauty and simplicity.
Mehrzad: Yes, and I have to say the women I admire the most are those older women who are embracing the lines on their faces and are at peace with their natural looks. Their inner beauty is most visible. After plastic surgery one’s face will never have that natural quality again.
Parvin: I have a suggestion for all the women who are in the fashion industry and also for plastic surgeons: I think it would be great if they donate a small portion of their earnings towards women’s causes, such as for breast cancer. Revlon is doing something similar. I hope that Iranian women who are involved in the fashion or cosmetics industry would pay attention to this issue.
Mehrzad: This is a very interesting suggestion. I know that most cosmetic companies that I have worked with are somehow involved with this issue.
Pari: Do you have a message for our viewers?
Mehrzad: Just this: Feel good about yourself everyday and love yourself very much.
Parvin: I do have a personal message for the viewers. My mother is suffering from Alzheimer''s disease and I just wanted to ask everyone not to forget older women who need their help. Just as they focus on a young woman because she is beautiful, I hope they would be as attentive when that woman grows old and needs their help.
Pari: Fortunately in our culture it is very important to love, respect and be attentive to elderly people; it is one of the most beautiful traditions that we Iranians have. Thank you both for your participation in our program. I want to end today’s program by reading a poem from Audrey Hepburn – an amazing woman who was one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood. More notably, she spent the last decade of her life working for the United Nations in an attempt to help children around the world. This piece about beauty was read when she was buried back in 1993:
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge. You''ll never walk alone...
People, even more than things,
have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed, and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed.
Never throw out anybody.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you''ll find one at the end of each arm.
As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands.
One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
Hejabs vs. boob jobs BY Rezwan Thanks for this great article on beauty!
Here are some additional thoughts on beauty and the irony of hejabs vs. boob jobs. But I think a driving force here is that on one level, we are biological creatures engaged in a battle for survival of the fittest. This is a pure game of physical attraction of mates, and is incredibly unfair. All the pretty people score and the rest of us are outranked. But on another level, with technology and economic achievement, we can move beyond the simple demands of evolution now, to intentional living. Thus we find ourselves living in a time in which we have the luxury to reject the need to be beautiful, and also the luxury to artificially acquire the beauty we seek to have. This second thing is, in a sense, genetic fraud, since your offspring will not inherit silicone boobs and davinci tooth veneers. If your mate chose you for big boobs and a dentally enhanced smile, he chose falsely. Nonetheless, this fraud seems to be a result of market forces, and the people demanding "genuine" unenhanced people is kind of like a union of luddites. Pretty soon, we'll be headed towards completely modified, engineered people. And purists who shun all of these things like the Amish. And a whole spectrum of people in between. Brave new world.
For Egyptians, the large collection of grooming items – combs, shaving tools and different kinds of oils that were used as make-up – found in their tombs and coffins bears testament to their interest in beauty. Wigs were also very popular and could be found in a variety of colors such as blue, green, yellow and gold. Moreover, in spite of their dark skin, many Egyptian women liked to use gold and yellow wigs to beautify themselves. 
However, the 20th century saw this interest in beauty develop into an obsession, to the degree that looks became valued above all other qualities. We can even see the influence that this obsession has on politics. Looking at the current or recent heads-of-states, such as President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prime Minister Koizumi, President Putin, Ex-President Clinton, it is evident that all of them are younger than their predecessors and are known to be more or less good-looking.
Pari: Yes, today all around the world Britney Spears is presented as symbol of beauty, tall, thin, blond and blue eyes. This other picture is of Madonna with blond hair. 
Nevertheless, she has consciously disguised her real looks and has turned herself into a more European-looking woman by coloring her hair. This action itself supports the racist attitude that exists because it sends the message that beauty is what I am today and not how I originally look like. 
Seeing that a very slender being can be easily broken, there arose the need to “protect” the women during that period. As women roles changes, these standards changes as well. This is a picture of Twiggy Lawson, where voluptuous women used to be a sign of beauty, in line with 60s social changes, a beautiful woman is presents as Twiggy – a girl who looks like a boy. 
Pari: Now the question is: Why do feminists criticize beauty? Or what part of it are they criticizing? 
Pari: Politics also dictates beauty standards. This is a picture of Iranian Model Yasmin Le Bon. She had a hard time to get a job in 80s but in 90s, when ethnic looks became fashionable, she raised to superstar status.
Of course this is a step forward but it is obviously not done out of respect for the eastern woman. The meaning of beauty is learned through culture and we should create that meaning with an open mind and in an intelligent way.
Pari: Yes, see this picture of Audrey Hepburn as a young woman in love. The next picture is Ms. Hepburn as a much older woman working as a UN ambassador.
But she is not presented as “the beautiful woman” and we will not see her, as an old woman, playing the leading role in a romantic love story; we probably see her as the grandmother. We know that if it wants to, the media has the power to show an older, short, overweight, flat-chested or darker-looking woman as a “beautiful woman”. But only if media wants.
Pari: We have seen times when people over role media, for example, we had hippies in the 70s and punks in the 80s. They drastically changed their appearances as a way of protesting against the society they were living in and soon it became a fashion.
Pari: It was the same with punks. They questioned why the fashion should be a certain way and why Chanel should decide what is fashionable and what is not. I remember that the year after they started their activities, a few models in an Yves Saint Laurent fashion show were dressed as punks! For the first time fashion houses were inspired by the kids in the street.
Mehrzad: I believe that such a day should start with a little exercise such as walking, swimming or even a few minutes of yoga and deep meditation. The reason why I talked about exercising first is that it removes the puffiness below the eyes and is good for the skin. We can also use masks and cucumbers; these are not really expensive. Moreover when we are applying a moisturizer, we should massage the face with the hand for it increases the flow of blood. I also believe less is more and women should use light moisturizers. There are also other ways of beautifying one. For example, pearls have been used since ancient times as an adornment for woman. Pearls, both artificial and natural, reflect light in a very beautiful way. Using perfume is very important and helpful as well. 
Pari: Fortunately in our culture it is very important to love, respect and be attentive to elderly people; it is one of the most beautiful traditions that we Iranians have. Thank you both for your participation in our program. I want to end today’s program by reading a poem from Audrey Hepburn – an amazing woman who was one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood. More notably, she spent the last decade of her life working for the United Nations in an attempt to help children around the world. This piece about beauty was read when she was buried back in 1993: 