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Big eyes with double eyelids and long eyelashes+pointy,small and high-bridged nose+pointy chin+white,even pale skin without any blemishes +really slim body= ideal beauty. This is the formula of standard beautiful girls in China. But what I've got is pretty much the opposite: small eyes with single eyelid and short eyelashes+somewhat flat nose+round chin+yellow skin with some acne.
The difference between the beauty formula and my look was the main reason why I had been a bit diffident and awkward. For example, I didn't dare to laugh wildly because it would make my nose look too big and my eyes too small.So instead I try hard to hold back my laughter and smile awkwardly. Nevertheless, I believed firmly in this formula.
But my idea was challenged when I was studying Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. I was surprised to notice that Venus breaks several beauty standards:she has slopping shoulders, not pretty square shoulders; also her body is not slender but rather chubby. Nonetheless she looks incredibly beautiful and elegant in the painting. Then I found more and more exceptions and counterexamples of the beauty formula. The Tahitians in Paul Gauguin's artworks has dark skins and big noses, but they look healthily beautiful. Lucy Liu looks dazzling even though her look doesn't meet the beauty formula.
Wait... the standard look is pretty, but many others are beautiful too, the examples tell me that beauty is diverse and is not strictly defined by a single formula. So why did I believe in the ridiculous beauty standards in the first place? I shuddered at the thought that I was only influenced to believe it by the popular opinion around me and on the media consciously and unconsciously. But I'm glad I discovered that the popular opinions or the formulas might not be right, at least not for everyone, so I should think independently about my beliefs. Besides, I laugh freely again.
In the age of standardization, everything in our life seems to have certain standards, formulas or conventions: the beverage we drink, the phones we use and the make-up we wear. Even our life has ideal formulas: go to good primary,middle and high schools, study popular majors like business in college, find decent, well-paying jobs and settle down. It is nice, but not necessarily right.
"What? You want to study Art History in college?"many of my relatives asked me with their eyes wide open. "It's going to be difficult to find jobs studying humanities like Art History. Why don't you consider studying subjects like Business or Computer Science?
I didn't argue with them because I knew they were advising me for my own good,plus I used to think that way too. Now I'm confirmed that Art History, though goes against the formula, is right for me.
I remember how I mesmerized was by Caravaggio's "The Lute Player" in the Hermitage Museum that I gazed at it for minutes and forgot to walk. I remember the delightful "Aha!" moment when I began to see how Industrial Revolution influenced Monet's work and I felt like Sherlock Holmes. I remember the satisfaction of enjoying my club members' interested stares when I talked to them about the friendship between Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and how the friendship influenced their artworks. Every minute I'm doing Art History related work is incredibly fun, no matter I'm taking online courses, interning in an art gallery or simply reading about Art. And that's why I never worry about future careers, I'm sure I can find meaningful things to do and dedicate myself fully and confidently because this is what I love.
I make up my mind:instead of being defined by the popular formulas, I define my own formulas.
