"Beauty is a Social Construct"
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- čas přidán 21. 03. 2019
- This is a short segment from an introductory class on race and culture that is taught by Dr. Sam Richards at Penn State University. Today's video comes from the nineteenth class on March 19, 2019: • Choice v. Chance - Liv...
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Video Tags (Ignore): Sociology, Soc119, Soc 119, Soc, Penn State, PSU, Penn State University, Sam Richards, Sam, Richards, Dr Sam Richards, Dr. Sam Richards, Race, Ethnic, Relations, Race and Ethnic Relations, Live Stream, Livestream, Live on CZcams, social construct, beauty, beautiful, social, construct, beauty isn't real, beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Nigerian Americans don't know the social economics happening in Nigeria unless they visit or research or someone tells them , I didn't know bleaching was a problem there until I traveled there myself
Love all of your lectures. It's inspiring to see someone trying to teach our youth empathy for one another and break down how society got to where it is today. Keep up the great work!
I'm confused as to why a lot of your students are on their phones while you lecture lol and even one student looked asleep.
Christina Benavides college lectures are hella long can even go up to 4 hrs.. I bet you’ll be doing the same
@@CHiiPMuNKz4LYFe i can guarantee their are many people that will be crazy active in his class,you gotta agree some people don't have that intellectual level.
They can't digest complex simple things no matter how much you simplfy them that's why they don't get amaze of it.
Alec Astle yeah true
it baffles me....We even have free education in Denmark, but I have never seen anyone falling asleep at lectures... I hope that more students are actually following along, and not just - head down in their phones. Maybe I just do not see the real picture here.. But thats just sad.
@@P0SHED It's MURICAHHHHH!!!!
Seems to ignore the many parts of western popular culture that value either sunbathing or the emulation of a sunbathed look through tanning beds and fake tans. There are studies where many participants have offered the perception of tanned skin as "healthy", describing certain kinds as a "healthy glow".
And, some non-black starlets like Ariana Grande try to deliberately look darker than they are "naturally" - perhaps because in studies of facial averaging, it is often found that faces constructed by averaging out a wider range tend to be found more attractive.
So there is evidence to suggest that we find people more attractive when we cannot easily place them into a box.
They want to get tan not dark is what he is saying.
Context is everything. I wrote a negative comment about this professor calling him a doofus. After watching more footage from his lectures, I can actually appreciate what he is doing. I apologise for being critical, but in my defense, I didn't have the full context of what his class was about. He is attempting to open the eyes of his students, which is what college is about.
Ryan Doherty he’s not overly politically correct and I think that’s helpful to break down barriers
To the last point, a classic chicken and egg problem got old professor confused. What we and what even other primates find attractive in the mate selection is not cultural but purely biological. Indigenous tribes without Hollywood influence have pretty much same preferences that the rest of modern people have: hip to waist ratio, neoteny in women's faces, lean strong body and tallness in men, etc.
There are beauty standarts that are biological, like you said, a symmetrical face, a healthy body, etc..But there is no biological reason to prefer smaller noses, big eyes and medium sized lips, this is all learned
@@aliciaeberle7501 it is not biological but it is also not learned - it is more like design - some shapes are just nicer than other, for no biological reason... that is why there is rule of thirds in fotography
Beauty is not a social construct. Nature knows best.
Well said
Why not ask how many Americans want to get tanned.
Tanned not dark that is what he is saying.
completely disagree with the last argument ...people are attracted to whats healthy in terms of reproduction
Its a mix of it Nature and Society goes hand in hand,i will explain-why u see very very less % of people going against society because if you are against your society and the living organisms like you your survival chances decreases and any factors that affects survival negatively especially over a significant long period of time is not acceptable to Nature.
Alec Astle attraction is not a choice. Women are attracted to men with good male survival traits such as confidence, leadership, strength , etc and men are attracted to feminine qualities .. why do we like big asses and boobs? Because it means they are very fit to carry a baby .. the notion that the media influences what’s attractive and what’s not is bogus IMO... where I live there are tons of fat women I see them every day and it doesn’t make me more attracted to them
Darkening makeup is called tanning - it is pretty popular
I think what the prof is saying is somewhat true because there were times in human civilization where overweight women were considered more attractive because it signalled wealth, but that's much less the case today. However, Dr. Richards is pushing the idea that only environmental factors play a role in how human beings perceive beauty which is very shortsighted because he's ignoring a whole slew of evolutionary biology. Straight women, for example, look for tall men with broad shoulders and deep voices for evolutionary reasons, not because of what they see in the media. Likewise, straight men are attracted to women with large breasts and thin waists because they are evolutionary indicators of fertility.
what youre saying is flawed
Biology and society plays an important part
You got that they do go hand in hand.
He speaks truths. Social engineering in beauty standards is there....but I don't known many guys who look at anorexic models and are like...."fucking hot". Truth is there is a biological standard of beauty that also bleeds into color theory. For example, studies have shown that the man or woman with yellow skin is less desirable than the man or woman with redder skin. Reason being because yellow skin can be a sign of jaundice or malnourishment whereas red skin is often a sign of normal circulation and healthiness in the body. Our brains have a box that is checked off when we see someone like that, which is also why studies have found women in red dresses are found on average to be more attractive than if they wore a blue dress (probably because blue symbolizes lack of oxygen in the blood and death). The issue with societal beauty standards is its just that: what we're all pressured to believe in as beautiful. It is a cultural standard and usually always a deviation from natural beauty metrics. But our brains are intelligent on the unconscious level and know when someone looks like they're dying vs someone who looks like they will live healthy and are thus a good potential mate.
Did you know that 90% of the unconscious is also learned behaviour. But about stuff that you do not think consciously about, like getting sick of foods that made you sick in the past, you have two unconsciousnesses and only 10% is inherited directly without learning, mostly "i am hungry, i am thirsty, i need oxygen" and no more complexity. You didn't get what he put down on the metaphorical table, you continued thinking from here and now, not from there in the fictional. In a world surrounded by middle age aristocracy, being oxygen starved blue, married to your cousin, and full of ticks, bed bugs, sex transmitted illnesses was a sign of respect and nobility. History is awkward like that, always something to show how wrong others are.
Well, I can see the imminent demise of the self-tanning lotion industry.
70 million people?
God damn...
Exactly
I'm Nigerian, it's everywhere
Damn facts sad is hell
Many of these students look totally bored. I do hope many will understand the contradictions you try to teach. Anyheeew….I think that 'culture vulture trading' or 'passing' speaks volumes for the purpose of having us view the many stereotypes in many forms; and how the mindsets either evolve or play into it the stereotypes. Societies have become ill due to its immersion into culture politics by being ensconced in identity confusion...and allusion. Are we transparent? When I watch the African weddings on YT, although a few mix the cultures, it seems Africans have become westernized with the traditions. Viewing the women who have lightened their skin and wearing wigs (like African -American women) is unfortunate. I don't agree that beauty is 'only' a social construct. Like viewing a beautiful picture, it's up to the beholder, but as a construct, well that was designed by 'men' as to what or whom is the ideal aesthetic.
To be fair people dont want white but lightskin just like white want light tannish skin
Lighter skin is considered beautiful in agricultural society because in the past those with white skin belong to the upper class as they're not tanned farmers.This narrative is more true the poorer the country is.
But, this shit is happening in non agri societies and it needs to stop
I think that is a myth. Lighter skin superiority was pushed by Europeans via colonialism and other means to spread this idea to non-white people in order to believe white European people were superior and hence ought to rule over them. However, amongst their own, they hold the view, the lighter/paler a white person is, the worse their skin colour.
@@I.Musaa2008 this is a smart comment man.
@@I.Musaa2008 no that is not the case. What she said is correct. Europe is more succesful than any other continent. Then Asia then so on. The darker the region the less succesful their people are. Most people know this. The middle east lighter skin are more intelligent and succeed more. Any nation where there is a mix like Brazil. The lighter skin people thrive. Very true today. It is what the world views.
@@jeffrutt5292
1) Yes, Europe (specifically Northern & Western Europe) is currently more successful than other continents. It would be rather strange if they weren't successful after hundreds of years of systematically robbing the rest of the world via colonialism.
2) Before the British came to India (whose people are on average darker than Europeans & other Asians) it was the richest nation on Earth by miles, accounting for between 25-33% of the entire world's GDP. When the British left, after 200 years, India was the poorest country in Asia.
3) One of, if not THE richest man in the last 2000 years was Mansa Musa, the Emporer of the West African Islamic Mali Empire said to have a net worth in today's money of $400 Billion. On his way from West Africa to Arabia in the 1324, he spent so much money (gold) when passing through Cairo, Egypt that gold itself had to be devalued. He was a black man, ruling a black empire that was incredibly wealth whilst at the same time white medieval Europe was living in abject poverty.
4) When Western and Northern Europeans discovered the rest of the world (who already knew each other for millennia) they installed racist policies in the countries they invaded and colonised. For example, when they enslaved Africans and took them to the Americas (such as in Brazil) they made sure that lighter skinned people were treated better and darker skinned people were treated worst. This was to psychological implant in people the idea of white supremacy so that they would believe that Europeans had a right to rule them and stop resisting.
5) Anyone can find and study the details of these historical events on their own, but they will not be taught this as part of any official high school curriculum. Why? Because the official curricula in Europe, North America, Australia, etc taught, and in many ways continues to teach, White Supremacy - that white people are better than other races and civilised darker races (despite darker people having much older civilisations). That is why so much world history is omitted from most high school history lessons.
Freedom is not familiar? Maybe oppression takes time to phase out?
Beauty is a Social Construct is Bulls***t , Biology Human Nature dictates what is beautiful and what is not .
Rubbish
led Out no because back when we were hunter gatherer we looked for different things in a human. What was desirable and meant success was big women as in fat women because they could give birth and have a better chance surviving, that would increase your chances for survival and your species. Not what we see is the opposite, we look at the average women as a fat women and that’s not desirable what’s desirable is what we see on tv and magazines, that isn’t a women who has a natural big features but rather either really skinny or surgically modified. Natural is no longer the standard of beauty stop lying to yourself. Society dictates what we find attractive to many people, and it’s not normal or natural it’s abnormal and constructed by a surgeon what on tv and magazines and social media. Ask young folks who they find attractive, majority of them will say the Kardashian’s or their like because that’s what seen as attractive.
Society or the media is not gonna convince me to think whats beautiful and what's not , my inborn intuitive human nature knows whats beautiful and whats not . a Hyena is an ugly looking animal a golden retriever is a Beautiful looking animal , it's just nature if you don't like it then tough .
led Out what on earth are you talking about? You specifically find x or y attractive but the lecture is about beauty standards. What society as a whole in a specific culture thinks is attractive. It’s not the same everywhere. Our standards and what we see on tv and magazines isn’t what the Korean population finds attractive , it’s what we here in America or it’s like find attractive. You are an individual but society as a whole doesn’t find what kept humans surviving on this earth for this long attentive anymore. That used to be big, fat women with large breast and a large birthing hips. Average Americans don’t look like those celebrities or tv people. That’s why many are going under the knife, too look a certain way society sees as beautiful. You may not find that beautiful but they are shown to the public as if that’s the standard/goal of beauty. You can find someone outside that attractive, definitely.
@@expectopatronum6421 Don't waste your time with dumb people
It has to do with religion. Africans have been forced through colonization to shift from spirituality to religion. And within religion "Jesus" the so called son of God is depicted as white with blue eyes and blond hair, and we all know how the devil is depicted. Thus, it pushes a lot of Africans who are religion to bleach trying to look the closest to "God" as they can. I’ve never seen a non religious African bleach, it’s always religious ones all because of a lie of God being white with blue eyes and blond hair. 😩
Do white people not tan or try to tan?
They try to tan but would they want to get dark he is saying that.
What about white people, they like dark skin
This guy literally lies about everything.
Why?
this is a terrible lecture...