Beauty Across Culture

Beauty standards can differ greatly from culture to culture, making the idea of beauty difficult to grasp.

Japan

In Japan, the idea of Yaeba teeth is perceived to be highly attractive.

Yaeba teeth is a smile with uneven or crooked top set of teeth. It is seen as beautiful as it gives the individual (usually a girl) a more youthful and innocent look. It has connotations to natural beauty and a younger soul.

Papua New Guinea

This oceanian country appreciates the art of scarring. In most western countries scars are a sign of battle or hardships - however they are used in a cosmetic way to show age and social status within a tribe.

Girls are usually intently scarred at the age of five, up until they get married - yet men tend to have more.

Mauritania

Africa has many different beauty norms, however in Mauritania, it is common to fatten girls up for marriage - as that way they seem more beautiful to men.

Although this is now less common in the developed regions of Mauritania, it is still common practice in rural areas - so far as to send girls off to a feeding camp where they consume thousands of calories a day.

China

A pale complexion may seem less desirable in our western society - however in China, skin tone has indicated class for many centuries.

This beauty standard originates from the ancient idea that deeper toned individuals worked in the field and therefore tanned more, whereas the wealthy Chinese people stayed inside and had paler skin.

This idea has stretched over to the 20th century and it is uncommon to find skincare products which don't contain lightening ingredients - despite being illegal.

Myanmar

In Myanmar, the idea of long necks first originated as a defensive accessory against tigers and other tribes which protected the Myanmar women.

This tradition has now translated over to a norm in the beauty standards of the culture, and girls are given neck rings every year up until their marriage.

This is a highly dangerous beauty standard as it stretches out the necks of these women to the point where they cannot support their heads without the help of the neck rings.