Malian Women Bleaching Their Own Skin

Today I read a mesmeric article about the twisted views of beauty in other countries; specifically Africa. This article captured by attention immediately and horrified me once I read more. This article's subject was about how Malian women bleach their skin to appear more pallid or 'white.' In Mali, it is believed that having lighter skin is more beautiful and gives you a higher class in society. For example: in a wedding photo the darker skinned would be asked to be be in the back and blend in. A darker skinned woman would probably have a very small dowry to give to her husband before getting married. It shocks me that even though skin color is not as prejudiced against as much, that woman are being tricked into thinking they are not as beautiful with darker sin. They bleach their skin with harsh creams that are harmful to their internal body parts. It is also believed that using these creams can partially cause cancer. This proves that women all around the world no matter what class their in, will do anything to appear more attractive. Even if it means having physical pain. It seems to me that the more important things in life are being shunned and salacious media images are appearing more and more. It's hard for me to understand why the media won't promote more salubrious qualities rather than aesthetically fake images. Human beings should have an ebullient view on life and should be who they really are instead of striving for someone their not. Our world needs to embellish the good morals and start promoting real people that are just like you and me. If we begin to do this, I'm positive people will have a more jovial outlook on beauty and life.

Socrates and Plato Youthful Truth

What is so beautiful about youth?


To me youth is not measured by how many lines a person may have on their face or by how many years they have been living on this earth. In a dictionary youth may be defined as the period between childhood and adult age, but I believe it is how lively a person’s spirit may be. When a human being has a spirit that radiates happiness to others then they are truelly are youthful. The reason for my belief is because if you have ever seen a human being who is old and shriveled on the outside, many times their spirit is so young and naive that you begin to think of them as a completely different person. It is their bodies that are keeping them from being the people they really are in their soul. Even though we may not see it right off, there is always a bit of youth in everyone of all ages.

We know what "perfect" most likely means to Socrates by looking at ancient Greek sculpture and art and drawing inferences, but he doesn't describe this "perfect" human form. What are your thoughts on the idea of a "perfect" human form today? What is it in your culture for men? women? What are your thoughts surrounding those ideals? 


Perfect. It is a word that we all use wether it’s describing someone or something. Many of us believe that no one in the world is entirely perfect, but at the same time we wish were. Perfect is defined as having all the required or desirable elements. As you can see this does not directly target physical form, but could also mean internally. Unfortunately today many people focus on being perfect on the outside rather than on the inside. Perfect could describe anything that seems exactly right to you. Someone may think that one thing is entirely perfect while someone else may completely disagree. Today in the media there is an ‘image’ of how things should be and look. These are only a selected number of people’s opinions. The word perfect is different to every person. By listening to the more influential people’s opinions we get ideas planted into our heads very easily which may not be for the better. We may agree with the media, but if we really think about what is perfect to us we will find new ideas of perfection.

Beauty As I See It

Kindness would have to be one of the most beautiful things ever created. The reason I believe this is so is because it is not something that we are automatically born with. It is an act of love that only each individual person can decide to give. It is something we must decide for ourselves wether we want to pass it on or not. But it can be the most powerful thing given to others that may actually change their lives. Kindness is an everlasting beauty that burns bright inside of us.


Beauty. Each person thinks of it in a different way. But what really defines beauty? Is it in the way we look or act or is it something that just wanders around aimlessly looking for something to settle upon. What strikes as beautiful in this picture is the way her attitude it is. It is so raw and so real that it just awes me. It is the exact opposite of what the media is trying to convince of us. To me there is nothing beautiful about being aesthetically fake and being someone your not. There is no one on earth who actually wants to live their life that way. When people be themselves and act real it redefines the word BEAUTY.

Allegra's First Post

Hello world!!!!