A Duty to be Beautiful Unpacked
The history of beauty and morality
for plato, beauty is the only spiritual thing we love by instinct
only beautiful women were allowed to speak
ugliness is equated to evil
our stories capture this connection (disney)
Weren't we told that it's what's on the inside that counts for our moral character?
widdows argues that in an increasingly virtual and visual culture, its often the outside that counts
beauty is not a moral agent but its perceived as such
“judgements about the inside, about the person, are made on the evidence of the outside”
What four elements feature in the beauty ideal as put forward by Widdows?
Thin and Slim
Firm and Buff
Smooth and Luminous
Young and Youthful
How does the beauty ideal function as an ethical ideal?
moral frameworks provide the background that determines what’s right and good or wrong and bad
these frameworks are action guiding and require use to align our values with our actions
beauty success is now deemed moral success
gym behavior seen as doing something good in general rather than just doing something for their bodies
beauty is valued more and more, and beauty is accepted as a value
daily achievements of beauty ideal are embedded into our everyday habits
as the ideal becomes more dominant, beauty becomes an ethical duty (like promises are)
What are two important points Widdows wants us to know about beauty as an ethical ideal?
its a collective ideal (a large amt of the collective follow the ideal)
as beauty functions as an ethical ideal, it becomes more dominant than a social norm
transgressions for violating moral norms are more severe in nature
What is the difference between a social norm vs an ethical norm?
widdows argues that there are no clear line between the two
social norm: mints are supposed to be consumed after your dessert not before your dessert
no one at the table judged professor walsh as a terrible person for eating the mint
if the mint eating was akin to lying, it would’ve been an ethical norm and professor walsh wouldve been seen as a bad person
Why does Widdows argue that failures to live up to the beauty ideal result in moral shaming?
failure in beauty are now being viewed as ethical failures
not just a failure to beauty, but failure that colors every part of your life
involves a failure of the self
“she has let herself go”
moral language is invoked by ideal
you ought to do X otherwise Y
you ought to look after your body, otherwise your partner may leave you for someone else who does
most potent example of beauty becoming an ethical ideal is fat shaming
shame is closely connected with moral responsibility
we feel ashamed when we know in our hearts we could have acted differently and we should’ve
widdows argues that shame is invoked by the beauty ideal
“you should be ashamed showing up like that” is akin to “you should be ashamed of lying”
Why does she think that failing to tidy your room is different than failing to engage in the practices required of the beauty ideal?
compare failing to tidy your room to failure to conform to the beauty ideal
widdows argues in the latter the failure is attributed to the whole self, in the way the former is not
What is a summary of Widdow's core argument?
Beauty is no longer a social norm
It functions as an ethical ideal
Ethical ideals are unique because they make performing certain actions duties
They are also unique because you are often shamed for failing to live up to a moral framework
Beauty in these ways delivers the goods: material goods, relational goods, lifestyle goods, and happiness
A Defense of the Unmodified Body
not against tattoos, shaving, being transgender
the “unmodified body” isn’t a body devoid of change bc everything changes our body
the unmodified body is a body that’s allowed to be how it is
we deserve to be in a society that’s not constantly telling us our body is wrong
these demands to change serve a political purpose
reflect class, age, gender, race and disability
very visual culture with social media
epidemic of appearance anxiety
70% of women feel pressure to have a perfect body and 2/3 of men feel ashamed of their body
often times changing to our body is good to be demanded
want to be healthy, avoid illness, aid disability
the idea of a normal body (reference class)
can do what other bodies can do
bodies are very different in what they can do (male and female)
people who have disabilities in their bodies from birth, their body is normal to them
being born with an additional finger could be seen as an ability rather than a disability
what is viewed as an ability or a disability is all cultural
“get your body back” after pregnancy implies your current body is an imposter, abnormal and inauthentic
thought of as post puberty, pre pregnancy
some body modification may enhance peoples quality of living, and there is nothing wrong with that
shametinence
common to keep menstruation as tattoo
makeup and body building