Can Beauty Be Constructed?

10/29

The word beauty is one that as a society we often associate with having a thin waist, flawless skin, perfect teeth, and long beautiful legs. However, not everyone is blessed with having all of these qualities that are considered to make someone beautiful. My personal belief is that you do not have to have these qualities to be beautiful they can come from other qualities that you hold. Beauty isn’t supposed to be “perfect” it is supposed to be real, and natural. Victoria Secrets model, Cameron Russell believes and states that from her experience in the modeling industry that beauty can not be constructed in the way that photographers and editors create it. She thinks that beauty can not be man-made or fake. On the other hand, for someone like Aimee, Mullins, who has had both of her lower legs amputated, she would argue that beauty can be constructed. Aimee Mullins has used the invention of prosthetic legs to construct her own beauty. She now owns twelve pair of legs including a hand carved wooden pair that was designed by Alexander McQueen and a pair that make her much taller than she actually is. For Aimee Mullins, her disability doesn’t stop her from doing the things that a woman with “beauty” could do such as being a model. Having perfect long thin legs is something Aimee did not have before her prosthetics. Now, her constructed beauty is what helps her on the runway and at photo shoots. Although she is still very much beautiful without her prosthetics, they help her achieve things she couldn’t without them. Aimee Mullins is inspired and guided by her constructed beauty everyday.

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics?language=en