Moment of Destiny: The Concept of Beauty - Essay Example

Lili Zhu Angela Frattarola International Writing Workshop Sep.26 Moment of Destiny: Beauty in the Self-Made “Self” Close youreyes and think about the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. Does she have a pair of shiny blue eyes, blond waving hair, and a trim figure? Does she look like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, or Scarlett Johansson? I am not surprised that everyone is giving me a similar answer because nowadays in society the word “beauty” is defined narrowly: looking good, fancy, and flawless. However, Alice Walker in her autobiographic essay “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self” proclaims another form of beauty, the inner beauty of self-recognition, self-fulfillment, and self-esteem. She convinces the readers with her own story of transformation from being in suppression to becoming confident after blinding one of her eyes; with these characteristics, a woman will always be “beautiful, whole, and free” (Walker 255), no matter what physical imperfections she has. This essay considers the multi-dimensional aspects of beauty, and recognizes that beauty cannot simply be viewed in terms of traditional aesthetic notions of attractiveness. Beauty is a complex word with numerous, oftentimes conflicting, definitions, but when connected to inner beauty, it becomes a process of self-actualization. Beauty, at first, refers to what a photographer takes in a photo, what an artist draws in a picture, and what we see from our eyes. For the writer, just like every single woman, regardless of her age or ethnicity, beauty is probably the most significant thing she cares about. After being blinded, she was so depressed about her eye not because she lost her sight. She wasn’t strong enough to accept the fact that she was no longer the “cutest thing” in “biscuit-polished patent-leather shoes and lavender socks”, “tossing [her] head in a way that makes [her] ribbons bounce”, but instead the girl with “a glob of whitish scar tissue, a hideous cataract on [her] eye”(Walker 251, 253). She “[did] not pray for sight,” she “[prayed] for beauty” (Walker 254). There is a sentence in the essay said by the doctor, “If one is blind, the other will likely become blind too”, referring to her mental breakdown along with her physical trauma (Walker 252). She lost herself. The relationship between the “self” and beauty cannot be described without being conscious of one’s weaknesses and strengths. For a long time, Walker only finds her weaknesses as the defining roots of her identity. She believes that her outer identity, or looks, paves the way for destiny: if she is ugly, then her future must be ugly as well. The tremendous transformation of her mental status happens along with the idea of beauty in her mind. At the end of the essay, she rebuilt her confidence because she found the “world” in her eye; that is, Walker finally discovers her beauty when she realizes that the world, in other words her dreams, are in her eyes. Her perspective changes, when she finds her “self” in imaginary dancing — a metaphor that means expressing her beauty in motherhood and writing, both things that help her reclaim her lost self-esteem. Alice Walker’s essay reminds me of the time I tried to lose weight after gaining 20 kilos as a side effect of asthma pills. I went through a period of time of self-abandonment, looking for my only relief in gulping, chewing, and swallowing. After realizing how “fat”, “ugly”, and “dumb” I was, I started to starve myself, counting the calorie and fat in each single bite of my meals. To avoid the oily cafeteria lunch, I started to cook healthy dishes. Gradually, I became obsessed with healthy cooking and nutritional knowledge, while popping my eyes on those websites. One year later my body weight finally dropped below the standard. I lost 25 kilos. The moment I saw a pretty girl in the mirror, I didn’t get the satisfaction and happiness that I expected. Instead, I felt much more confident and motivated when holding a chef knife in my kitchen. I remember watching the television program “Daily Cook” and being amazed that the food never seemed as oily as the food served in restaurants. When I approach cooking now, I am always mindful of the lessons learned from my exposure to nutritional science. I believe that the essence of cooking is not simply mixing raw materials until they are edible, but creating a healthy balance between nutrition and taste: combining nutrients like calcium, potassium and iron with sour, sweet, bitter and spicy flavors. The moment I cut my fruits and vegetables and turned them into an awesomely filling and delicious shake, I took a sip, smelled the various fruity scents, looked at the mess I made, and tasted the sweet nectar of success. This mess is a product of my attention and energies toward a healthier lifestyle. It is the sum of my skills and dreams, and this is the beauty and identity I’ve always been looking for! When Walker looks at the beautiful dancer and recognizes herself, I know that I have reached the same stage too. My personal experience supports the thinking about the strong connection between beauty and the self, because when I found my interest and skills in health and nutrition, I found my beauty and identity. The process of losing weight has turned into the process of finding my “self.” When I consider this complex notion of beauty I consider many versions of 20th century art. Oftentimes works of art, such as those by artists like Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollack, or Michel Basquiat, were derided at first for being amateurish or non-artistic. In this way, I recognize that society attached to many of these works the same aesthetic standards of beauty that they attached to beauty in people. For instance, many people fail to understand Picasso’s Les Demoiselles dAvignon. This painting is featured below (Fig. 1). The criticism many people levy at this painting is that the characters featured in the poem appear off kilter. Additionally, many people believe that the painting does not convey any great ambiance that would make it aesthetically pleasing. I believe these perspectives on the work, however, are parallel to much of society’s perspectives on beauty. Namely, society merely resorts to traditional aesthetics standards of recognition, rather than spending the time to understanding the person’s true identity or self. With Picasso’s painting then there is the recognition that he is actually exploring multiple perspectives on reality through the off-kilter faces. In addition to having a deeper meaning then, Picasso’s painting considers that beauty is often based on perspective. Fig. 1 Les Demoiselles dAvignon Jamaica Kincaid furthers this consideration on perspective through perspectives about the relationship between obedience and rebellion of social judgment, in the essay, “On Seeing England for the First Time.” She understands that people cannot force every single person to see what beauty means for them: simply obeying the views of the society will enslave people’s mind. However, her mind is enslaved by her judgment on the other extreme -- totally denying and rebelling that rule. I realize that what shapes me to be “Me” is not the shallow outwards elements, but finding my real interest in nutrition and the dedication towards study and self-realization. However, I don’t deny outward aesthetics by society. I accept the general view of beauty -- I put on makeup and dress nice in the morning; I admit that I am not the prettiest girl in terms of looking. However, I found my ultimate Beauty in my inner soul; I discovered my inner beauty through exploring the magic of nutrition, and I demonstrated it with healthy cooking skills. And now, no one can crush my beauty; no one can crush my identity, not obesity, not pimples, not scars. Looking back on my primary essay, Walker twirled and discovered beauty. I cut, measured, mixed, and cooked, and I stumbled on mine. Ultimately, it’s clear that beauty is a complex notion that is tied into the very foundation of human epistemology. This essay has argued that beauty is contingent on perspectives and identity, rather than an objective state of outward beauty. One’s identity can never be described by a single world. It is everything about that person: the physical and intellectual, the defective and the perfect, the imaginary and the realistic, the past, present, and future aspects, all merging together to form the identity. Identity is something you fight for with your intelligence, your effort, your knowledge, and everything that can realize your value. Beauty is not outside for the society to confirm, it comes from within, from self-validation. In this way humanity must recognize that beauty is not an objective sort of reality, but an ever-changing entity that is based on the determination and essence emanating deep from within. Reference: Walker, Alice. "When the Other Dancer is the Self." OCCASIONS FOR WRITING. Evidence, Idea, Essay. Ed. DiYanni, Robert and Pat, Hoy. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. 251-255 Kincaid, Jamaica. "On Seeing England For the First Time." OCCASIONS FOR WRITING. Evidence, Idea, Essay. Ed. DiYanni, Robert and Pat, Hoy. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. 720-726 Read More