Understanding Beauty, Body Image & Physical Self

Objectives

• After the discussion, students will be able to identify the essence and relevance of beauty, including self-awareness.
• Students will perceive the rapid changes in beauty standards and understand the importance of the physical self.
• Students will evaluate beauty qualities, and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Physical Self

• The physical self is how you perceive your body and appearance.
• It includes feelings about height, weight, shape, and overall physical attributes.

Body Image and Beauty

• Body image is a person's perspective on what body they should possess.
• The two classifications of body image are positive and negative.
• Beauty can be classified as physical or inner.
• Internal beauty refers to qualities not visible but appreciated through actions, character, and intellect.
• External beauty refers to physical appearance and aesthetic qualities.

Philosophers on Beauty

• St. Augustine (354-430 AD)
  • Beauty as Divine Order.
  • Influenced by Neoplatonism, he believed beauty comes from God and reflects His perfect order.
• Aristotle (384-322 BC)
  • Beauty as Order and Function.
  • Saw beauty as existing in the physical world rather than an ideal realm.
• Plato (427-347 BC)
  • Beauty as Ideal and Transcendent.
  • Part of his Theory of Forms, beauty exists as a perfect, eternal form beyond the physical world.
• David Hume (1711-1776)
  • Beauty as Subjective Perception,
  • Hume, a British empiricist, believed beauty is not inherent but exists in the observer's mind and is shaped by personal experience.
• Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746)
  • Beauty as an Innate Sense.
  • Hutcheson proposed humans have a built-in "sense of beauty," like sight and hearing.
  • Beauty is based on harmony, proportion, and uniformity.

Psychology and Beauty

• Voters not engaged in social/political issues may choose candidates based on "looks".
• Halo Effect
  • The tendency to rate attractive individuals more favorably is called the Halo Effect.
  • People perceived as attractive tend to earn more money.

The Self as the Body

• The physical self refers to the body.
• It is the tangible part of a person that can be directly observed and examined (Singh, 2017).
• The physical self is defined by visible physical characteristics such as sex, weight, height, complexion, hair, and facial features.
• The physical aspect of the self excludes internal characteristics like kindness, generosity, loyalty, and obedience.

The Physical Self: Biological Blueprint

• Heredity
  • The transmission of traits from parents to offspring containing specific information.
  • Genes are the basic unit of heredity.
  • Physical traits are inherited from both parents.
• Genotype
  • Specific information embedded within genes.
  • Not all genotypes translate to observed physical characteristics.
  • Can be determined by blood testing.
• Phenotype
  • Physical expression of a particular trait.
  • Directly observable.
  • Each individual carries 23 pairs of chromosomes determining the sex.
• DNA
  • Unique blueprint of an individual.
• Maturation
  • Completion of growth of a genetic character within an organism.
  • Enables humans to walk, run, and talk, evident in adolescence.

Self-Esteem

• A measure of a person's self-worth based on personal or social standards.
• Self-esteem includes beliefs about oneself and is a global evaluative dimension of the self.
• According to Hewstone et al. (2015), self-esteem is the overall evaluation a person has of themselves, which can be positive or negative, high or low.

Impact of Culture on Body Image and Self Esteem

• Media
• Society Influence
• Diverse Beauty Standards

Achieving Physical Well-Being

• Eat healthy foods
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle
• Follow proper hygiene
• Engage in daily exercise
• Take vitamins and drink fruit juices
• Avoid stress
• Spend less time in front of computers
• Be confident