Posted: Jul 08, 2015 2:20 pm
This could be posted in many subfora here: it's interesting from a sociological point of view; it's certainly a contemporary topic for current affairs; but it's something ubiquitous across all human cultures and across all times. The social pressure for achieving specific standards of beauty in a woman.
Clearly, there's a lot of Biology going on under the hood here in terms of sexual selection, and ways we've evolved to stay attracted to our opposite gender, but it seems that human males tend to have a more socially obtainable requirement of say wealth or status, whereas women still seem irrevocably tied to a genetic legacy outside their control.
I live in a Buddhist culture which is all about rejecting the temporal and the superficial, yet Thailand is also a beauty-obsessed culture. It's one of the world's leading destinations for cosmetic surgery, and it's becoming ever more routine here for girls to 'fix' bits which nature failed to give them. I can't tell you how many times I've heard girls express the idea that it's their job or duty to be beautiful for their boyfriend/husband, not at home, but outside in society. And TV from commercials to soap operas constantly reinforce the idea that only girls with certain looks (specifically white skin) have any opportunity of getting a good man.
This isn't specific to Thailand, though - that's why it's so fascinating. It really does appear to be something all humans weave very strongly into their cultural practices.
Edit: I forgot you can embed YT vids.