A. BEAUTY
1. What Susan Sontag says beauty is?
or What is beauty for Susan Sontag?
or What kind of beauty does Sontag favor for?
Susan Sontag is advocating for the' inward/inner beauty'(character, intellect and vision), which is considered to be more important than 'outward/outer beauty'(facial attraction or looks, physique, or sense of proportion of the body)especially for women. Our society always teaches women to be fair and beautiful. So, most women think that their only aim and responsibility is to be beautiful. Such a concept has not only degraded women's dignity but has also made them inferior to what they are and dependant to males. The writer is telling the beautiful women to think over the triviality of outer looks. Their beauty should be used as a source of power to do something but not to attract men. They should be competent, independent, and thoughtful in order to revive the ideal value of beauty and preserve their identity in the society. Women shouldn't be flattered by the males.
2. Explain the degradation of the concept of beauty and the word "Beauty" itself.
or How is 'beauty' devalued in modern days? Discuss with reference to its meaning in ancient time.
or How has the idea of beauty changed over the period of time?
or How did the meaning of beauty change over two thousand years?
or What is the classical notion of beauty in Greek time and how is it changed over the years?
or What is the Greek concept of beauty? How is it paradoxical in today's understanding?
To the Ancient Greeks beauty was very important, but they made no distinction between inner beauty and outer beauty. To them "excellence" included beauty, character and ability. Socrates puzzled them because he was a small, ugly man, yet he was a great philosopher and teacher. His outside appearance did not reflect the knowledge and wisdom that were inside him. He actually contradicted their concept of excellence.
The Christian era introduced some different ideas about beauty. A person could have an attractive appearance, but lack virtue(goodness). So, Christians made a distinction between inner goodness and outer beauty. Beauty was considered to have no real value. It was not nearly as important as character.
In the modern time the concept of beauty changed and is used to refer a female appearance. When people hear the word 'beauty', they think of "female appearance" and not her intelligence or quality. This reinforces the idea that beauty is not really valuable, only useful as a decoration. In spite of knowing that beauty is only valued as decoration, modern women still feel they should look beautiful and they worry too much about their appearance. Beauty may give a woman a kind of power-the power to attract men. As a result, even if women succeeded in acquiring leading position in any field, the male society looks at them with suspicious eyes. They discredit women's potentiality, their intelligence and professionalism. So the women should return to the idea of overall excellence as stated by the Greeks.
3. If beauty is a form of power why does Sontag object that kind of power?
Beauty is a form of power, but she is always looked at with suspicious eyes even if she has good rise in work, politics, law, medicine, business or whatever. She is always under pressure to confess that still she works at being beautiful/attractive. This power is always conceived in relation to men; it is not power to do but to attract. As a result, women's striving to attain it makes them feel inferior to what they actually are. They cannot choose this power freely as her capacity or ability is always under social censorship. That's why Susan Sontag objects to women's striving to attain beauty.