Ideas of Beauty Vary

Ideas about beauty and ideal body shape vary from society to society.

Beauty is NOT necessarily connected with health. At times both the morbidly obese and those ill with terminal disease were considered beautiful (for example Violetta in the opera La Traviata or Antonia in the opera Tales of Hoffman, both of whom are dying of tuberculosis).

Beauty is cultural, historical, and contingent.

Next: History, beauty, and race in the US

For a good survey of current and historical cross-cultural ideas of beauty, check out this link. If you'd like more information on tuberculosis and beauty, check out Consumptive Chic: A History of Fashion, Beauty and Disease by Carolyn Day or follow this link or this one which review and summarize the book.