Beauty Redefined-How to Feel Authentically Beautiful in Today's World

By Seline Shenoy

In our beauty-obsessed culture, women have become accustomed to using the standards set by society and the media as a barometer to measure their own worth. They perpetually wonder where they stand on the attractiveness continuum and question everything about their outward appearances, from their skin colour to their waistline, to their fashion sense. They keep asking themselves, “Am I good enough? Do I matter? Will others love and accept me for who I am?” Beauty Redefined explores this critical issue by looking at beauty from a cultural, biological and historical perspective and provides solutions on what we can do on a collective and individual level to redefine what it means to be a beautiful woman. By reading this book, you’ll be convinced that your voice matters and you’ll feel empowered to make your own unique mark in the world, no matter what your size, shape, colour or ethnic background is. You’ll learn how to love yourself (warts and all!) and embrace every unique aspect of your being and use it to make the world a better place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley
• Release date: May 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463018217

Seline Shenoy

Seline Shenoy is an author, podcast host and life coach on topics related to personal development, self-esteem, productivity and wellness. She is the founder of The Dream Catcher—a blog community that connects and encourages people to live their dream life and to make a difference. Its inspirational message has been attracting thousands of readers every month from all over the world since 2014. She is a regular contributor to publications such as Forbes, MindBodyGreen, Elite Daily, Project Happiness, Global Love Project and several others. To learn more about Seline’s coaching services, workshops and retreats or to hire her for speaking events, please visit her website: www.selineshenoy.com.

Book preview

About the author

Seline Shenoy is an author, podcast host and life coach on topics related to personal development, self-esteem, productivity and wellness. She is the founder of The Dream Catcher—a blog community that connects and encourages people to live their dream life and to make a difference. Its inspirational message has been attracting thousands of readers every month from all over the world since 2014. She is a regular contributor to publications such as Forbes, MindBodyGreen, Elite Daily, Project Happiness, Global Love Project and several others. To learn more about Seline’s coaching services, workshops and retreats or to hire her for speaking events, please visit her website: www.selineshenoy.com

Dedication

To my mom, for your unconditional love, support and belief in me. To my dad, for being a source of strength and security.

***

Beauty Redefined

How to feel authentically beautiful in today’s world

Published by Austin Macauley at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Seline Shenoy

The right of Seline Shenoy

to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is

available from the British Library.

www.austinmacauley.com

Beauty Redefined

ISBN 9781787108042 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781787108059 (E-Book)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

First Published in 2018

AustinMacauley

CGC-33-01, 25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf, London E14 5LQ

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to all my mentors, coaches and teachers, who shaped my personality and perspective. Your wisdom and knowledge made me a better human being.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Biology of Beauty We Are Programmed to Seek Beauty

Chapter 2

The History of Beauty The Evolution of the Ideals for Feminine Beauty over the Ages

Chapter 3

The Psychology of Beauty The Effect of Modern Beauty Standards on Women

Chapter 4

Redefining Beauty A Wholesome and Healthier Approach towards Beauty

Chapter 5

Embodying Beauty Feeling Beautiful in Your Own Skin

Chapter 6

Creating a Beauty Revolution How We Can Translate the New Beauty Standards in Society

Conclusion

You’re Beautiful and Lovable Exactly as You Are

Assessment for Negative Self-Image

References

***

Introduction

"The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides." —Audrey Hepburn

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and asked yourself any of these questions: Would more people notice me if had a smaller nose and fuller lips? Why am I not getting complimented on my looks the way I used to? Did she get promoted because she is more attractive than I am? Would he love me more if I were to lose a few pounds? Will I ever be able to look like those movie stars or models in the pages of magazines with my plain looks?

If your answer is yes, then know that you are not alone.

Most women today are insecure about their appearances and are strongly prone to deriving a dominant part of their identity and an inherent sense of value from their physical appearance. This tendency has its roots in historical times, when women depended on a marriage for their long-term security. The traditional roles that were propagated by old societal ideologies restricted women from having active roles in the workforce and receiving an education. A woman had to groom herself physically, emotionally and mentally to attract a man and secure a marriage to ensure her financial stability and, in some cases, her survival. Even though women now have significantly more freedom than their predecessors did, the vestiges of these archaic gender roles still persist in the female psyche.

Starting from a very young age, little girls are inadvertently brainwashed into believing that being pretty is their ticket to popularity and social acceptance. As a result, it has become perfectly natural for a young girl to question her attractiveness and develop a lifelong quest for aesthetic perfection that lasts well into her adult life. When the average modern woman sees other more attractive women, she wonders why she can’t be as perfect as them and feels inadequate in the process of her inquiry.

According to a 2014 survey done by Glamour magazine, of 1,000 women aged 18 to 40, women feel worse about their bodies than they did 30 years ago. A staggering 80 percent of women say that looking in the mirror makes them feel bad, and 54 percent are not happy with their body.

The only way a woman can bypass feeling this way is if she grew up around supportive parents or mentors who were sensitive to her vulnerability and who were able to skillfully steer her towards adopting a healthier self-concept, not based on the superficial constructs established by society and history. The unfortunate reality is that most women did not receive this form of guidance while growing up and, therefore, are not immune to the detrimental impact of negative social conditioning when it comes to a woman’s value in society, especially during younger and more impressionable ages.

Many brave women who tried to counteract these effects over the past century have lent their voices to women’s empowerment movements, bringing about a significant difference in the way women’s value is perceived overall. The first was the National Woman Suffrage Association, which sought legal equality for women and resulted in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote in 1919. The culturally explosive American feminist movement of the 1960s, still known as women’s lib, sought gender equality for women in the workplace—something still not fully established to this day—and rejected the objectification of women based on their beauty and sex appeal.

On a smaller, more appearance-focused level, various media campaigns launched by famous beauty brands such as Dove, Cover Girl and Venus by Gillette, to name a few, have made notable attempts to counteract the disturbing proliferation of messages that objectify women and desecrate their sense of worthiness. As a result, various slogans have gained popularity in the vernacular of girls and women such as:

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

Beauty is only skin deep.

Beauty comes in all shapes, colors and sizes.

These noteworthy initiatives that were taken to uplift women and young girls have, unfortunately, failed at creating a lasting impression on the majority of the female population because they only provided a band-aid solution to the problem. They did not address the deeper and more pervasive psychic wounds. Although women did get the vote and have entered the workforce in record numbers, these major women’s empowerment movements had notable failures. Gender equality has never been achieved, with women still making only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Equal Rights Amendment, which stated Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex, was proposed back in 1923, but has never managed to pass into law.

In the 60s and 70s, the women’s liberation movement was vehemently against restrictive clothing and sexual objectification of women. However, today, with the media’s obsession with celebrities, women feel more pressure to fit into cultural norms of beauty and are resorting to ever more extreme measures to do so. Breast and cheek surgeries, butt implants, injections to deaden nerves in the feet so high heels can be worn with ease, permanent makeup tattooed on faces, liposuction to remove offending fat—these are actually presented as empowered choices for women, instead of consequences for the increasingly powerful pressures to conform.

While the aforementioned media campaigns were honorable endeavors undertaken to raise the degree of awareness about this pertinent issue and allow women to be beautiful in their own ways, they did not sufficiently empower women to internalize these messages and shift their way of thinking and being. Deep down, most women are still not convinced of the validity