Philippe Bill O.

Calo

BS Architecture 3

GE 1 Understanding the Self (EN 1)

1. What is your current body image?

My current body image is skinny and quite unattractive. Realistically speaking, my body
is not the most ideal body type. I’m very skinny that I could pass off as malnourished. Even so,
there are times when I feel like I’m attractive enough or that I look the average body type when I
dress up. Those are fleeting moments so I try to make the best out of it. I feel embarrassed when
I undress in public, but I’m comfortable doing it in our house even if there’s a window or door
open.

2. Do you agree that culture has an impact on our different beauty standards? Why? Cite an
example.

I agree that culture affects our standards of beauty. As we are people of different races
and ethnicity, we view beauty in a very subjective and varied way. For example, to darker-
skinned people, lighter skin might be more attractive and vice versa. Western people may see
rounded nose to be more attractive since it gives one’s face an exotic look compared to their
usual pointy nose, or they might view it as unattractive as it doesn’t fit their standards. The same
thing can also be applied to Eastern cultures. We are more accustomed to round or flat noses that
pointed nose may be more attractive or unattractive to us. This impact is widely apparent because
some people would even undergo surgeries to achieve the kind of beauty that they want.
Discrimination is also present if you look different from the rest or if you’re the odd one out.
Culture indeed affects how we view beauty it might dictate what’s beautiful or not in a way of
normalizing standard features that we accustom to our culture or race.