You are beautiful....really?

As we read Picture of Dorian Gray, I couldn't help but notice the focus society had on beauty. It made me question, without society how could we judge what is beautiful or not? Society has been the leader in setting the standard for acceptance. Dorian's society was focused on beauty and youth. Many of the women characters mentioned how he was handsome and Lord Henry even convinced Dorian to sell his soul to cherish it. Selling his soul gave him the gift of being beautiful forever. If society didn't have an influence, would have Dorian sold his soul? Would it have absorbed his life? We see in our society today, the influences of beauty has an effect on people and their decisions in their lives. In simple cases, women get plastic surgery to look younger because society places a lot of focus on young women's beauty and their "perfections." At a young age, we see young girls taking photos of themselves in sexual ways that are an attempt to make themselves attractive. This young girl may mistake the request as a way for the receiver to see her beauty. However, they are only filling a desire if they receiver shares the items with others. Society places beauty around sex and desire. For Dorian, the beauty would advance him in life to receive the attention and desires he has craved. The beauty society has created had ultimately ruined him because he sold his soul to absorb his life in youthful beauty. In a way, these women are selling their souls because they are willing to give up their natural beauty and uniqueness for what society wishes them to be. They are giving up who they truly. We see how society places standards on beauty in many works of literature too. In many of the Gossip Girl books (yeah I know, lame. It was the easiest connection though!) we see how characters such as Blair and Serena feel the pressure of beauty in society that along with friends, will go to extreme lengths to be at a high standard. They are teenagers and are willing to have surgeries and try many different methods to perfect themselves. I personally think that society is the determining factor on what is beautiful. If I wore heavy loads of eye make up with bright red lip stick tomorrow in school, I probably would be told that it is ugly. However, if I went to another country in this century and previous, this may be considered beautiful. In Asia, women who wore makeup with the white powder on their faces, was once considered gorgeous. So why isn't it now? Because society today has changed their perception on beauty.