Definition Essay: The Western Culture

Many of us may ask the question, what makes a person sexy? I often find strangers glancing at themselves through a reflection from a store window or a bathroom mirror questioning their bodily appearance. I see these people fixing their hair or makeup but doing it in a way so no one notices. I have to say that I fall quilty to the quick self-monitoring in public but I’m sure you do too. Our bodies whether: gendered, immigrant, disabled, fat, or racialized are being constantly judged and scrutinized which puts a lot of pressure on us to look acceptable for society's standards. Different cultures have different ideas of what makes a person sexy. I think the Western culture deems sexiness as physically fit whether it be women with ample curves or men with musculature. I

And certainly, we can recognize the numerous ways in which we are called to participate in our own constant self-monitoring-mirrors in bathrooms, health magazines at the checkout counter, celebrity endorsements of cosmetics, clothes, and diets, and often feel pressure (sometimes intense) to fulfill the definitions of beauty and appearance they endorse” (Braithwaite and Orr). This statement really resonates with our society as it is primarily beauty driven society and because people are constantly regulated and defined by their bodies there’s more interest in bodily appearances, fashion, and body size. The expectations for our bodies comes from the media, peers, and family. “The dominant norms of feminine beauty, for example, are represented within an extremely narrow range of race, age, facial features, hair texture, skin color, body size, shape, implied sexuality, and able-bodiedness” (Braitwaite and Orr). We get our ideas of sexiness from constricted views from our culture and perceptions. Women are faced with having their looks judged before their intelligence. This so called “beauty culture” forms hierarchies and excludes people who do not match up to the expectations of age, gender, and