Exploring beauty abroad – Archive

Taylor Gaudens
Contributing Writer

Traveling is easier for Americans these days, but it can affect the rest of the world in different ways. Two worldly, well-traveled people—USFSP Spanish Professor Ana Herrero and USFSP anthropology student Nora Gaunt—have learned, and continue to learn, new things about perceptions of beauty from their travels.

The American perspective on outward appearance, in general, varies by household. Some families place a lot of weight on how you put yourself together, no matter the age. Herrero said the same holds true for women in Spanish cultures. First impressions are important.

“You never know who you will run into. The way you look is the way you will be treated,” Herrero said.

From her travels in India, Gaunt has found that women “get all decked out” and put on their best jewelry, and non-permanent designs on their skin for special occasions, she said.

“It’s like putting on your good shoes,” she said.

Herrero sees the way beauty is perceived in America as “kind of disturbing,” she said. She sees a mentality of competition and a domination of materialism among today’s youth that she thinks is “a little bizarre,” Herrero said.

“A lot of people roll their eyes at the U.S. Our country has a bad rap for U.S. ideals,” Gaunt said. “[Our ideals] are somewhat out of whack.”

Gaunt said that when Americans, particularly those with lighter skin tones, travel to small, remote villages, the act of being on foreign land suggests “I have more money than you.”

When it comes to body type, some South American women have body types with “more meat, health and curves,” Herrero said.

“I felt like I was the American type. Skinny, but healthy looking,” Herrero said of when she moved to the U.S.

Hispanic women are more “willing to accept a couple extra pounds,” she said.

Herrero overheard a conversation at a Colombian-American salon where women around the age of 30 talked about having tummy tucks and proceeding to have children, essentially undoing the reason for the surgery.

Certain attitudes about plastic surgery—from reality star Heidi Montag’s public obsession with plastic surgery, to high school students going under the knife—scare Herrero.

She feels the parents of teens are compensating for something they lack, in an attempt to prove themselves to society. Herrero believes the responsibility of self-image relies more on parents than young girls.

“Girls take image seriously, and especially of what the mothers think of themselves,” she said.

In India, Gaunt saw many ads for skin lightening creams, a direct reflection of Western influence. She believes there is a line between experiencing a culture and exploiting it. When Americans travel to secluded towns, “the whole entire community changes because of exposure to the Western world,” she said.

People travel for different reasons, but dressing appropriately for the country and culture you are visiting is important. Before she packs, Gaunt researches acceptable clothing, cultural taboos, what to say and what not to say, keeping in mind that religion plays an important role in many cultures.

“Make it clear that you think their culture is important and worthwhile. It’s common courtesy,” Gaunt said.

Each country and culture has its own perception of beauty, and what makes people happy. In Herrero’s mind, Spain has the best perspective on beauty.

“Spanish women are consumers of products … [with] skin, [it’s] not so much about the façade, it’s about the healthy mentality of having good skin,” Herrero said.

“The ideal of beauty is also psychological, not altering [the] self in an unnatural way,” Gaunt said. “It is hard to find a group of people who don’t have that issue at all. Every country has its own problems.”

She believes the people of Costa Rica are “truly happy,” but “you can’t look at people and decide [what is] going on inside their heads,” she said.

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Written by: Lenay Ruhl on April 11, 2011.
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