What Is The Standard of Female Beauty? 

Recently, the Victoria Secret occupies people’s vision again. Female beauty is a eternal topic and discussed from past to now in everywhere. What is the standard of female beauty? What kinds of standard should be follow[spelling]ed? Femininity and beauty ideals are historically and culturally constructed (Xie, Q., & Zhang, M.,2013).

The standard of female always not depend on single factor, like social background, female function and so on. In China, a curvaceous body shape with a narrow waist set against full hips appears to be an important component of [but are these the most important? You will need to find convergence between 3 or more references to make your main thesis statement.]feminine beauty among the Chinese. (Leung, F., Lam, S., & Sze, S.,2001[Good job with your first paragraph!] )

But the standard of female beauty has changed many times in China, female beauty is not only including the outer beauty, but also including the Inner beauty.

The change of the standard of female beauty can be roughly divided into these stages: matriarchal Clan society, Xia Shang Zhou dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, from Song Dynasty to Republic of china, modern.

Matriarchal Clan society

In that period, the standard of beauty is big breast, wide hip and strong. It was depend[Too many grammar and spelling errors. Remember that from here on out, grammatical errors that can be caught using Word grammr and spell check will result in a return of your paper. ]ed on female’s work and function, female should farming and fertility. The outer beauty was not very important.

Xia Shang Zhou dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.

Because the patriarchal clan system appeared, the man were more like the female who is thin and submissive. The change of Status of women made the standard of female beauty began to depend on male’s like.

Tang dynasty

Tang paintings, as for instance those by the painter Zhou Fang (ca.730-800 A.D.) prove that men liked sturdy women with round, chubby faces, well-developed breasts, slender waists but heavy hips. Concerning the female physique, only during the Tang dynasty plumpness was considered beautiful.（Zhang, M.，2012）

Song dynasty

In the Song dynasty beauty ideals changed. During this time women with thin shoulders, a slender waist, a flat chest, a pale face and small feet were adored. It is striking that these beauty ideals hardly changed and almost remained the same until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911 A.D.).（Zhang, M.，2012）

Now

And in nowadays,qualitative in nature, this study explores the “beauty stories” of 13 college women in mainland China through in-depth interviews.These women believed the ideal beautiful Chinese woman should have a tall and thin body, big eyes, a watermelon seed-shaped face, fair skin, and inner beauty.

Every period, we have different standard to definite the female beauty. But if the standard of female beauty are all right? The right is not about ugly and beauty, after all every times people have proper aesthetics in that period. The right is about if the definition is humanized. In many countries’ history, people can find the misshapen definition in female beauty. The oppressive and destructive outcomes for women as a consequence of the importance attached to female beauty.(Singh, D, 2011)

China – Bound feet

From song dynasty to the Republic of China, small feet were adored. In order to pursuit of beauty, female’s feet were tightly bound by layers of bandages, rotting slowly day and night, the toes were pressed under the soles of the feet, and the toes and heels were bent to the point of contact. Their mothers Beat the crying girls with sticks or brooms, forcing them to jump around, accelerating the decay of meat and ensuring that the bones are broken correctly. When the feet finally shrink to the baby’s size – three inches long and half an inch wide in front – they are completely deformed.

It easy to see bound feet is cruel to female, they are under great pain. And the mothers were also the victims of bound feet, but they still pass on the pain to the next generation.Bound feet is the code of the feudal system, the symbol of the patriarchal oppression of women. But it goes beyond the exotic and curious custom of some Chinese women deforming their bodies to please men. As feet are bound and rebound, the body part (nature) is turned into a work of artifice, then transformed back into nature as the only proof of true femininity, true gender and sex. Female just like a object. Because the socicial.(Ping, W.,2000)

Through this essay, I want to advance that even if the time changed the standard of female should not harmful female’s health and the standard of female beauty should follow ergonomics. Couldn’t harm a woman’s body for the sake of beauty, the health should be first.

Reference

1. Leung, F., Lam, S., & Sze, S. (2001). Cultural expectations of thinness in Chinese women. Eating Disorders, 9(4), 339-350.
2. Xie, Q., & Zhang, M. (2013). White or tan? A cross-cultural analysis of skin beauty advertisements between China and the United States. Asian Journal of Communication, 23(5), 538-554.
3. Van Berkel, M. A. C. (2017). The changing portrayal of Yang Guifei’s beauty: An analysis of female beauty ideals and the male gaze as reflected in the portrayal of Yang Guifei in Chinese literature from the Tang to the Qing dynasty (Master’s thesis).
4. Zhang, M. (2012). A Chinese beauty story: how college women in China negotiate beauty, body image, and mass media. Chinese Journal of Communication, 5(4), 437-454.
5. Ping, W. (2000). Aching for beauty : footbinding in china. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
6. Singh, D., & Singh, D. (2011). Shape and significance of feminine beauty: An evolutionary perspective. Sex Roles, 64(9-10), 723-731.

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