Behold Beauty?



While meandering around the MFAH recently, thoughts of  what consists an ideal beauty kept cursing through  my mind. What is perceived, I believe, as the ideal male beauty seems solidly anchored in the Greco Roman times, although in my opinion, the Greeks and, as copycats of them, the Romans, need to give some credit to depiction of Egyptian males ..
such as found via excavations in the last centuries.
A truncated statue of the God RA at right.................................................
I do believe, the Greek seafaring traders did encounter statues and may have carried tales of them home to influence some archaic sculptors...at least, that's what I think. Of course, art historians may gainsay this, but...


Strong eveidence points to the clean classic lines of an

Apollo of Belvedere ,

the toned bodies of
  a Discus thrower and other athletes ,  as surely providing the ideal for modern bodybuilders to emulate,except if carried to the extreme when it becomes grotesque:


The female ideal of Beauty has changed much more, from fertilily symbol 

to sex symbol Expressed by make up,
(too much?) 
through artists' perceptions

Rubens: Venus

Hairstyles and fashions


Plucking Hair to increase height of  the  forehead
 (some of us have THAT now, naturally, lol)

 

 

Through some health threatening modes,

 

such as those bound feet of wealthy Chinese women, 

wasp waists of  the last century.
And might not Modigliani's vision  be an omen of what's to come, perhaps?



 Female body builder



Such as bulimia and anorexia. Or the opposite !



 Hair sculptures of the 1700's :-)

The 'tete-a-tete' bonnet, what went on under those, eh?

In fact anything extreme becomes grotesque..................................................



Would YOU wear this?





Women's fashion are and always seem to have been more outre -
to have us suffer, perhaps - all in the name of 'beauty'.

Or was it designed to 'hobble' us? You may recall a certain phrase: Kirche, Kinder, Kueche (roughly translated into Religion, Babies, Cooking).
Most female clothes are designed by MEN!
Although lately, women have had their say and made most (not all) much more wearable for all body types.



 For whatever reason, men's fashions are rarely as extreme as this outfit by Galliano below:

But, whatever...be happy, be healthy and be YOURSELF!
And Enjoy Yourself with the Jacksons!