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After today's class discussion on feminist disability studies, I was interested in pursuing a little bit of "research" of beauty on the web. When broken into smaller groups, I worked with Allie and Dawn in the "beauty" group. Among the several things we discussed, the influence of media on standard defintions of "beauty" and "attractiveness." (Thus, I was fascinated with the question Julia raised in class: How did people respond to a physically disabled women in the centerfold of Playboy?) Julia's question encouraged food for thought (Thanks, Julia) in our smaller groups. At one point, I told Dawn I really wanted someone to Google "beauty" and see how many unrealistic definitions of beauty emerged.

Well, I did just that. Let me tell you, I was incredibly suprised that Google images did not link images to inhumane conventions of beauty. In the first page, there was:

- a full moon

- a hot pink rose

- an African women ornately dressed in a tribal dress with intricate face and body painting

- a South Asian- Indian bride in bridal wear

-an image of an ancient Egyptian woman

- 18th century Chinese women, weaving or knitting

While there were undoubtedly images of almost- supermodels, I was suprised by the racial diversity that emerged from "beauty." My post in this blog is a little random...but I found this intriguing and I wanted to share!