“Don't belittle yourself. Be BIG yourself."—Corita Kent —Corita Kent ——t La i os | [INTRODUCTION We are living in a world where the material and immaterial self are both represented. How is that possible? Thanks to advances in technology, we not only live in a physical world, we also have virtual reality. How do you view yourself in both worlds? Society shapes us in many ways, possibly more than we realize it. This involves: + How we perceive our bodies visually; + How we feel about our physical appearance; + How we think and talk to ourselves about our bodies; and + Our sense of how the other people view our bodies. The current embedded idea of what is attractive, beautiful, or handsome is an unrealistic image, which is genetically impossible for many of us to emulate. This unrealistic image is continually driven into our minds by the media through ads, movies, and TV shows. The media is a very powerful tool in reinforcing cultural beliefs and values. Although it is not fully responsible for determining the standards for physical attractiveness, it makes escaping the barrage of images and attitudes almost impossible to escape. A positive view of “self” involves understanding that healthy, attractive bodies come in many shapes and sizes, and that physical appearance says very little about our character or value as a person. We have to strive to know ourselves beyond our preconceived ideas of who we are. Scanned with CamScannerDagnostte. & ¢ [My | est Presentation of the Physical Seif”| Make the best) presentation of yourself through a tnoviemaker/powerpoint presentation emphasising what your physteal body can do to enhancing and maintaning, your beauty and good healthy 7 What is beauty? How beauty ts appreciated varies through time, culture, and the various perceptions about the world. Beauty tn defined in so many ways, but in its simplest sense, beauty ean be deacribed as happiness, Every person is unique, Our Individual form our versions of beauty. We have dif apes, colors, heritage, and roles. Hence, our body i te our experiences where beauty gets to shine through. No culture, company, or concept could ever truly define beauty. As what Helen Kellet said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen - oreven touched ~ they must be felt with the heart.” perien 0 and memories tie together to erent ns simply a shell that allows us to rad (The Stanford Encyclopedia Philosophy, 2016) The nature of beauty is one of the most enduring and controversial themes in western philosophy. Beauty, traditionally, was among the ultimate values along with goodness, truth, and justice. It was a primary theme among ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and medieval philosophers; it was central to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century thought. By the beginning of the twentieth century, beauty was in decline as a subject of philosophical inquiry. However, there were.signs of revived interest by the early 2000s. The two most-debated views about beauty are: 1. Beauty is objective. 2. Beauty is subjective. Before the 18" century, most Western philosophical views on beauty treated it as an objective quality. For example: St. Augustine asked whether things were beautiful because it gave delight, or whether it gave delight because it was beautiful. He believed it to be the latter. Plato connected beauty as a response to love and desire. He asserted that beauty exists in the realm of Forms, and that objects are found beautiful because they are a reflection of the idea of beauty that already exist in the realm of Forms. Aristotle asserted that the chief forms of beauty are order, symmetry, and definiteness that can be demonstrated by mathematical sciences, Scanned with CamScannerbeauty was associated with pleasure ,. eal who hold this view are: selves: It exists merely in y eives a different beauty, 9. ible of beauty; and ey, t pretending to regula, By the eighteenth century, however personal preference. Some philosophers ae «David Hume ~ “Beauty is no quality ee “ tind which contemplates thei; and each 25 y oa person may even perceive deformity. ™ individual ought to acquiesce in his own sen here anothi timent, withou those of others” (Hume 1757, 136). ‘ / Immanuel Kant - “The judgment of taste js therefore not 2 judgment of COENitog, i ical but aesthetical, by which we understand that who, and is consequently not logi determining ground can be no other “The perception of be: nse of beauty operates as an music does not necessarily giveth. earing” (Inquiry I. I. X). than subjective” (Kant 1790, section 1), auty does depend on the external sep;, internal or refle, + Francis Hutcheson of sight; however, the internal se sense. The same is the case with hearing: hearing perception of harmony as itis distinct from the h TRIVIA The term for a makeup arist in Egyptian hieroglyphic is derives means, “to write, to engrave.” Makeup application was taken pretty seriously back then: the same accurac Paint lips as etching symbol into a rock. .d from the root “sesh.” whieh | | y was neededio | | [WHAT bib PSYCHOLOGY DISCOVER ABOUT BEAUTY?| (The Psychology of Beauty, WEB) Research found that a person who is perceived as attractive makes more money than a person of below-average looks. In politics, voters who are not actively engaged in social and political issues choose candidates based on “looks” 90% of the time. These study results can be attributed to a cognitive bias called the “halo effect.” A cognitive bias is an error in reasoning, evaluating, remembering, or any oth ental process that is often a result of holding on to one's preferences and b i fs anil of contrary information. The halo effect (also known as the physi a foes stereotype and the ‘what is beautiful is good” principle) refers to th é ied eae rate attractive individuals more favorably for their personslivy caren eee wal as compared to those who are less attractive, gr or characteris Meanwhile, evolutionary psycholo, h y - gy found that fz i: important characteristics that could indicate a mae ae cepa Scanned with CamScanner14 | Al | influenced by Western culture, particularly Amer! face, Meanwhile, male raters generally found women to be attractive with Prominent cheekbones, large eyes, small nose, a taller forehead, smooth skin, and an overall young or even childlike appearance. | | Our hormones sculpt our faces. These sex-typical facial features of adult men and women are the result of the testosterone to estrogen ratio or al A estrogen to testosterone, respectively, eA crs cting on the individua i ae individual during | “ler miro, the wal 8 subjective” development. We are programmed to be isnot an acceptable answer.” drawn to strong indicators of maleness SS is (for women) and femaleness (for men) partly because they reflect an individual's health (Bink & Penton-Voak, 2002). TRIVIA Afulelipped, cheek-chiseled man in Ancient Greec blessing (a-gilt of the gods no less) ond that his perfect exterior hid an inner perfection. evidence of a beautiful mind. They even eing a ¢ knew two things - that his beauty was a For the Greeks q beauliful body was considered direct had @ word for it - Kaloskagathos - which meant being gorgeous to look at, and hence bi good person. [How Cultural Traditions Shape Body Image Culture has a significant impact on how a person feels about himself or herself, as well as his or her body image. Cultural traditions can either be a positive or a negative influence on body image and on self-esteem. Body image is generally defined as how one thinks and feels toward one’s body (Yam, 2013; Cash & Smolak, 2011). People see cultural group membership as an integral part of who they are. Hence, they are more likely to engage in events and behaviors that are related to their culture ~ choose friends, media, and even marital partners from their culture (Yam, 2013; Yeh & Huang, 1996). When “culture” is experienced as a personally meaningful activity, itis difficult fora person to resist the conscious and unconscious ways that culture influences person's life, « For example, ideal standards of body sizes are c ideal body sizes for white American women have emphasize 1990; Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992). The ican culture; 4 culture tl y retouched photos are uleurally specific. Since the 1960s, dthinness (Yam, 2013; Fallon, Philippines is undoubtedly hat generally tends to hyper-focus on dieting and body appearance. Digital Scanned with CamScanner =tively influence 4 person's dissatisfied with their extreme drive for the norm (i.e., photoshopped), and this mentality can neg body image. A study reported that young Filipino women were bodies that possibly stemmed from unreasonable weight concerns thinness (Torres, 2012). and Scanned with CamScanner§Does your body image have an impact on your self-esteem? The term self-esteem was coined by William James in 1800. a es in . James presented self-esteem as the number of successes a person achieves Q ; 2 a in the domains of life that are important to him or her, divided by the number of failures that occurred in those areas (The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 2002). In the 1960s, pehavioral scientists defined self-esteem in terms of an attitude concerning one’s worth asa person (Rosenberg, 1965). Self-esteem is about how you value yourself and how you feel others value you. Self-esteem is important because it can affect your mental health aswell as how you behave. Body image is how you view your physical body, whether you feel you are attractive, andhowyou feel some other people like your looks. For many people (especially teenagers) body image is closely linked to self-esteem. if you have a positive body image; you probably like and accept yourself the way you are, even if you do not fit the popular notion of “beautiful” or “handsome.” This healthy attitude allows you to explore some other aspects of growing up, such as developing good friendships, becoming more independent from your parents, and challenging yourself physically and mentally. Developing these parts of yourself can help boost your self- esteem. How important-is physical beauty? What came into your mind could be the saying, “Do not judge the book by its cover.” You may have heard many people say this; you'may have said this yourself. However, though it is a wise thought from the conscious mind, your subconscious mind will contradict you, and you will still find yourself judging people based on their looks on your initial encounters. Physical beauty is extremely important. You must also understand that you “need to know the correct definition of physical beauty so that your self-esteem will not suffer. The dictionary’s definition of beauty is, “the degree to which a person's physical traits are considered pleasing or beautiful.” Take note that the definition did not indicate “who” determines what type of physical traits is attractive and unattractive. Why? Because even though physical beauty is extremely important, the good news is that physical beauty standards differ from one person to another. Asself-image problem happens when your looks do not match your beauty standards. For example, if you believe that being thin is sexy and attractive, yet you are not thin Scanned with CamScanneri i e unattractive (even (in fact you are on the heavier side) then you might believe you 9" though there are others who find you attractive). h your looks. To th yo i The problem here is with your own beauty standards and pales beliefs about have a positive self-image and a higher self-esteem you must fix yo : physical attractiveness first. Scanned with CamScanner