In the previous days we conducted interviews with numerous people asking about
different questions about beauty. The first question we asked was “what is your own
concept of beauty?” One of the answers from a 1st year Information Technology
student stated that his perspective of beauty doesn’t reflect on the physical form of an
individual but rather on the intellectual and the state of virtuousness of his behavior. He
added that he views an individual as beautiful when he/she provide care for others, and
have a will to be selfless before acquiring happiness. Additionally, he also stated that an
object or individual can be in a state of beauty when it can be appealing to the eyes of
the beholder. This interview reflects on our perception of beauty, as beauty is not only
seen on the Physical Form but rather on how it moves the emotion of an individual, this
can show that Beauty can take different form but has a similar attraction to every
individual and that is how an object or Individual portrays on the emotion of the people.
We also performed an interview with a 2nd year Computer Science student and asked
him on “What are the personal impact of Beauty or being in a state of Beauty”, on his
terms being beautiful provides a sense of confidence for that specific individual, he/she
can no longer be affected by the opinion of others based on this looks, and he/she can
now be happy and be contended on who they really are. In his perspective, being in a
state of Beauty can be challenging as they are constantly fighting their selves and regain
their self-esteem and be confident on whom are they portraying to society. The answer
of the 2nd year student shows the modern issue with Beauty, as some individuals use
Beauty as a means to satisfy the “eyes” of strangers rather than satisfy themselves and
be contended on whom they are, and this creates a problem as they often portray
themselves towards society as “not enough” or “lacking beauty”. His answer shows that
beauty be an opportunity for change or an opportunity for challenge to a person.
JUSTINE CLAVE
RAM BOLIMA
SOCRATIC INQUIRY
ABOUT BEAUTY
In addition to the modern issue of beauty, another question we asked was "How would our
society be different if there was no concept of beauty?" and “How does the idea of beauty
change over time?” The answer that resonated with us the most was the answer from a 1st
year student from BS Psychology. She answered that without the concept of beauty, our
society would be less judgmental and we would be more united. She also made a point that
without the concept of beauty, the beauty industry would fall as they would not be able to
abuse and capitalize on the beauty trends that keeps on shifting every year. She stated that
the idea of beauty changes because of big advertising companies, celebrities, and the
society decides on what is beautiful and what isn’t. One of the prime examples of this was in
early 2021 the BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) effect was a trend popularized by the Kardashians
while in late 2022s the Heroin Chic trend is making a comeback which is the complete
opposite of BBL characterized with pale skin and skinny bodies.
In regards with the question "what makes something beautiful" our respondents all had
different preferences and opinions on certain aspects of beauty. This showed us that beauty
is something that cannot be easily defined and explained as we all have different standards
when it comes to what makes something beautiful. Person A might find something with
symmetry as something beautiful, but Person B might find asymmetry more beautiful and
unique.
In conclusion, we can say the beauty is both subjective and objective. It should be 100%
subjective since we think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there is no wrong
interpretation of what is beautiful and what isn’t. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case when it
comes to our society since people can be very judgmental and they make trends on what
should be beautiful which then makes beauty something that we can consider objective
since it is creating an idea that there is a better way in looking more beautiful.
PASSED TO: SIR APAS