Feminine beauty is a very touchy topic. In each culture it is seen differently, with different practices that involve beauty – like Chinese footbinding, female genital cutting and plastic surgery – or at least it used to. The Westernization of feminine beauty is another aspect of our migratory culture. While the beauty industry will have models of different races and skin tones they all share one distinct feature, they will all have very westernized features. Take a look at any pageant, even at the world level, they all have very similar bone structures, body types, and facial features, regardless of their skin tone. This ties in directly with cultural appropriation. The Western world is seen as the standard, and the goal is to make the rest of the world the same way. Many people don’t understand the detrimental effects it has on the lives of others, to go in, make laws, and not change the minds and understandings of the people. While we may think we are doing it for the “safety” or “good” of the people, just because it’s different than what we do, doesn’t make it any better.

            The practices of both Chinese footbinding and female genital cutting are connected by one common denominator, men. These girls and women undergo these practices in order to get a husband. Getting a husband, in many countries even today, is tied directly to the livelihood of the girls. If they can’t get a husband, they won’t live a good life, and depending on the country, who knows what that looks like. If any of these laws were outlawed abruptly, there would be a catastrophic to the lives of so many women. It relates to the lecture we had on laws this week. Just because it is outlawed, doesn’t make it part of the culture. In order for the women who undergo these ancient traditions to be “released” of these practices, the minds of the men in the culture would first have to change. Without that, the practices will still be done, just maybe in an even more unsafe way.  

            I really appreciated the way the first lecture that introduced us to these topics compared these practices to that of plastic surgery. Women all over the United States are regularly undergoing some form of plastic surgery; whether it is Botox, breast augmentations, or any number of reconstructive surgery, it is seen as a normal practice. Women are paying thousands and thousands of dollars to change their appearance. They want to feel attractive and good about themselves, to have the acceptance of society. The reasons for doing it are no different than that of women who undergo footbinding or genital cutting. They want to be accepted within their culture, to feel like they belong. If we take that way, just because the practice is different than ours, we take away their chance at belonging.

            With that being said, I definitely understand why we would want to change these practices. I would never want to be in a position where these medical changes had to be done to me in order for me to live a good life. When looking solely at the practices, it seems utterly horrific, but that is where the understanding of the culture needs to come in. These people are doing this to their daughters because they want to torture them, they’re doing it because it is a custom. It is a way to help give their daughters the best chance at finding a husband, which is everything to them.

            The first step in helping change these practices is changing the way the cultures view women and their bodies. Women are so much more than slaves to their husbands, and machines that produce babies. We are unique and have so much to give to the world. There are characteristics that are unique just to women that make us a special part of each culture. The idea that women have to look a certain way in order to be desirable is universal. As much as we like to think the western world is above that, we aren’t. Not only do we need to teach men to appreciate women for their uniqueness and who they are, we need to teach women to value themselves. We need to teach them that there are so much more to people than the physical features they carry on the outside. Learning to value the person and the soul will go so much further than just making laws.