Ideals of beauty in international comparison

The ideal of beauty changes not only over time; internationally too there are great differences in what counts as ‘beautiful’. Every country has its own notions of beauty and its own ideals.

In the USA

American women are very body-conscious and sporty. Good looks and a slim, defined body are very important to them, because they know that at work in particular an attractive appearance is a sign of capability and vitality. The New York woman is more concerned with a natural look and takes her lead from European style. In contrast, the ‘California girl’ is open about her aesthetic operations – an appointment for a wrinkle treatment is booked regularly like an appointment with the beautician, and the wrinkle-free forehead counts in California as a kind of status symbol.

In Asia

In Asia what is Western counts as beautiful. A porcelain complexion, a small nose, an upper eyelid crease. Bleaching creams are often used as lighteners, and eyelid creases are created surgically, as are noses modelled on the European snub nose in place of flat ones.

"The often flat noses are brought into line with the Western model by means of a procedure. But certainly not too much, because the Chinese often find European noses too large’, explains Dr. Rafic Kuzbari.

In Europe

In Europe value is placed on naturalness. What is interesting is that there are differences here between women from the north and from the south. Women from the more northerly parts of Europe tend to want to look youthfully natural, while women from the south want to be perfectly styled, made up and coiffed.

In general European women do not want their aesthetic medical procedures to be noticed. Only small flaws therefore tend to be corrected, such as wrinkles on the face. With larger surgical procedures, such as breast augmentation, the motto is ‘less is more’.

In South America

On the Copacabana a lot of skin is on show all year round. The bikini figure therefore always has to be in top form. The South American woman’s attention is focused above all on her behind  – a round, firm bottom and somewhat wider hips count there as feminine and sexy – the bust, by comparison, may be a little smaller. Implants are therefore used more for the bottom than for the breast.

Brazil is the country with the most aesthetic operations. Even the calves are modelled into the desired shape there.

In Africa:

As in Asia, Africa is strongly influenced by the West and idealises the ideal of beauty current there: slim and light-skinned. Since this mostly does not correspond to the appearance of African women, they starve themselves in order to resemble the internationally successful African top model Alek Wek. Attempts are made to lighten the skin with bleaching creams. These creams are mostly very painful and damaging to the skin. On the subject of procedures Dr. Kuzbari knows "that with aesthetic operations one has to be careful because of the higher likelihood of excessive scarring.’ ‘The darker the skin colour, the higher the risk that bulging, brownish-red scars will form.’ says the head of the Kuzbari Centre for Aesthetic Medicine that bears his name.

In the Middle East

For women from the Middle East a well-groomed appearance is extremely important. Make-up, hairstyle and outfit have to be perfectly coordinated. The focus is on the face. The eye area is usually strongly emphasised and the noses are frequently operated on because they are felt to be too large. Dr. Kuzbari also explains this with the reasoning ‘that afterwards the eyes are shown off even better.’

Beauty has many faces. Diversity, the unique appearance of women from different countries and cultures, is beautiful. Women’s ideal conception of beauty varies from country to country, however, and is mostly shaped by influences from the media and by social norms.

Aesthetic operations can help to underline the individual beauty of a woman and to correct any problem areas. That is what the doctors at the Kuzbari Centre specialise in. In personal consultations the individual needs and wishes of the women are taken into account in order to achieve the best possible result.