lighter skin tone over
a darker; solid, well-rounded hips and ankles; and dark gums, preferably accompanied
by a gap between the front teeth. The Bantu particularly appreciate a long,
narrow face, whereas the Akan people in Ghana admire a long, straight nose
unlike the ordinary Negroid nose. In one African tribe, the Mende, physical
beauty is such an important part of the culture that it almost amounts to
an obsession. In Mende society a beautiful woman is regarded as a work of
art. She enjoys prestige, independence and power. Mende women learn their
daily beauty rituals early in life – such as using a special type of clay
to whiten their faces. But even the least beautiful women are appreciated
in the Mende culture. They have a saying: “No being with a vagina can be ugly.â€
It is traditional in many African cultures to adorn the body with heavy scars.
Patterns are made by cutting the skin with glass or stones, and the resulting
sores are irritated by rubbing them with animal feces, sand or ashes so that
the scars will be as pronounced as possible.
Body piercing in the form of pierced ears has been common in the Western world
for a long time, and piercing of other parts of the body is now gaining popularity.
In African cultures, body piercing has been widely practiced for millennia.
Some African children have their ears pierced immediately after birth, and
weights are attached to their earlobes while they are growing up. By the time
of puberty, the most beautiful girl is the one with the longest earlobes.
Other tribes make a hole in the lip and insert a small plug. By gradually
increasing the diameter of the plug, the lip is stretched larger and larger,
and the social status of the bearer rises accordingly.
Asiatic countries have also had ideals of beauty for thousands of years. Japanese
recorded history extends back to
2000 BC. We have no definite picture of the ideal beauty of that time, but
the ideals of beauty established later on have been somewhat different from
what is considered beautiful in the West. The Chinese culture had a strong
influence on the Japanese culture in some eras, and there are many similarities.
Skin color is an example of an early and lasting standard of beauty in these
cultures. Pale skin is the mark of a person of high social class who does
not have to work outdoors in the sun like a peasant. Women emphasized the
whiteness of their skin by covering it with a mask of chalky powder made from
rice flour and white earth. Later on they used lead compounds.
Modern man cosmetics
and fashion
One may of course
have many critical points of view towards these modern phenomena, and rightly
feel that mankind should be more concerned with inner values. But its important
to understand that many of the phenomena mentioned in this book are the result
of thousands of years of inherited human desire to care about shape and appearance.
Even if at times our modern culture seems to exaggerate these desires we have
to accept them as part of our nature. Obviously it’s important to find a sound
balance between them and the inner and more spiritual values in life.
