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Age in relation to beauty
What is beauty in Spain and why do they look at beauty that way?
- The beauty standards in Spain are what the most Spanish people look like. For the woman the beauty standard is being not to tall (around the 152-165 cm) and not being to heavy. They also prefer to have natural brown or lighter hair colour and a lighter skin. For the men the beauty standard is not being to tall (around the 170-176 cm). Slim build, not to muscular built and having dark hair. This has been their beauty standards for quite a long time.
- People in Spain are not that obsessed with beauty, health and surgeries. What I noticed Is that people mostly want to show off their natural beauty. The older generation is not that obsessed with beauty as well. The younger generation does more about their appearance, like wearing more fashionable clothes and using more make up.
- I think that the reason for that is social media. Young people watch a lot of YouTube. Here you see so much beauty videos and such. In Spain beauty trends are upcoming too, just like in other countries worldwide. Some woman between the 40-50s that live in the bigger cities in Spain are using a lot of anti-aging products and do more treatments like botox and such. In the smaller cities and villages I don’t see a lot of woman that do treatments like this for their skin. Only in the big cities, where there is also lot of tourism, upcoming beauty stores and beauty ads.
What if you don’t belong to the beauty standards
- Do the people do a lot to their skin?
The Spanish are not that obsessed with beauty. Younger people do the most about their appearance. The only ‘problem’ is that young people don’t have an income, they depend on their parents. The average person in Spain lives until their 35-48th at their parents. The Spanish people need to study for a long time before they get a good job and earn money. Now that we’re talking about earning money there is another ‘problem’. In blog 1 I was talking about the differences between men and woman. Woman can’t get a job like the men do in Spain, a lot of woman can’t get a job because of this and when they do find a job they also earn a lot less money than men do. I think that this has a big influence too on the beauty industry since the beauty industry is mostly being influenced by women.
If we look at the older woman that do earn more money ,we can say that they definitely do more to their skin. So with the woman that are living in the bigger cities where beauty and fashion are becoming a lot more common so are botox and facial treatments becoming more of a thing. But if we compared it to Holland It’s obvious that Spain has a lot of catching up to do and the reason for this being the lower economy and development.
The people here in Spain show off their natural beauty a lot more compared to Holland. They use a lot of natural products for their skin.
- How important is the colour and flexibility of their skin?
Before I talk about this topic. I wanted to say that I can’t give my opinion very wel. I can only give my opinion by reading and using articles on the internet. I’m mixed raced, I have a black father and a white mother which gives me a lightish brown skin so I didn’t really experienced a much different approach as in Holland. In Spain the beauty standard is having a lighter or a tinted skin. Only people with a darker skin experiences some racism and difficult things in Spain. You will be called “exotic”, but that word isn’t being used in a positive way meaning ‘you look different’. The people here don’t go to the sun studio. You don’t really have this in Spain, you can see one store in a big city like Benidorm, I’ve seen this a few days ago. In the big cities you have a few sun studio’s, I think for the tourists and emigrants (That want to be tanned, to ‘fit in’ haha).
How beautiful are the people in Spain
- People are less beautiful of not?
Personally I don’t think that the people here are less beautiful. I don’t really see pretty people here in Spain haha, that’s because I’m surrounded by a lot of older people. At my internship and in the city Benidorm you see a lot older people, especially in this time of period. I don’t think it’s a lot different than in Holland. In Holland you have a lot of diversities. I think because of this it’s hard to compare the Spanish and Dutch people. I do not necessarily have a personal preference in terms of appearance, so I find it difficult to say. If your taste is more like dark-haired types and more tinted people, then the Spanish would be more your thing. Even though that is difficult to say, because you have a lot of diversity in the Netherlands.
* Here the people have different beauty standards. There are also other beauty standards in the Netherlands. It’s different in every country. If you do not feel beautiful in one country and feel that you do not fit in don’t be sad, because you can be loved in another country haha.
- When are you old in Spain?
What you see a lot in Spain is that girls do more about their appearance when they are not in a relationship. The moment that they are “stuck” into a relationship, they are not spending and doing much time on their appearance. I had some conversations about this. My grandmother who emigrated from the Netherlands to Spain said that she saw this a lot more in Spain compared to the Netherlands.
You are considered old in the Netherlands when you have finished working and are retiring. Furthermore, if your body no longer cooperates properly, so for example walking and exercising is difficult. In Spain you can say that it is pretty much the same. So when you are physically going backwards.
What is or isn’t important if we look at the beauty standards in Spain
- Wrinkles by older people, how important are wrinkles and what is my view on that?
Wrinkles are not a big thing or issue in Spain. Its natural, everybody gets them. Lot of woman in Spain don’t do botox or other treatments. My view on wrinkles is. I think that you can do treatments if you’re embarrassed by something you see in the mirror. My view on wrinkles is, that it’s natural. When I’m older and I get wrinkles earlier than the most people. Maybe I would get a treatment. I find beauty important, but for me it needs to look natural. I also only will do any kind of treatment when I have the money for it.
My experiences
- How does this topic make me feel and what is my opinion?
Personally my opinion about this topic is different. Before I tell my experiences I wanted to say that beauty is a very wide topic. I find it difficult to say what beautiful is. Everyone has their own meaning of the word.
My personal definition of beauty is: What I think being beautiful means to me is being a genuine good person to not only other people but to our planet and all of its inhabitants. Also if you have a pure heart/intentions. You want to help others. You look healthy (you eat what makes your body feel good) and you take good care of yourself.
When I think of what I find attractive: Having nice clean teeth, nicely shaped eyebrows, healthy thick hair, beautiful smile/mouth, pretty eyes, maybe a clear skin and when you have your own kind of style. Only with some things (thick hair and clear skin) you sometimes don’t have control over it yourself.
- Am I beautiful to other people in Spain or not and how does that make me feel?
On my internship I get a lot of compliments from the older patients that came to the clinic. It makes me grateful and happy when I get these compliments. I thank them for making a sweet compliment. A lot of times I don’t know what to say back. Most of the times I thank the people and say that I find them very sweet and kind. Other times I just complimented back. Other times I feel uncomfortable getting compliments.
The older people that I’ve meet here are so sweet and nice to me, so I compliment them with that. With this sentences I mean to explain, that I find them beautiful people. Everybody has their own opinion about what beautiful is. So I’m careful of how I give my compliments.
A lot of times when I take the patients out of the waiting room and greet them friendly. I notice that when I receive people in a friendly way, they compliment me faster. That’s why I see beauty as a wide topic. You can look pretty. Only if you’re not good/friendly to people that surrounded by you, then you’re not being seeing as that beautiful.
Literature
- Piñero , Á. (2017, June 24). Spain’s young creatives on defying traditional beauty standards. Retrieved from https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/a3vgdj/spains-young-creatives-on-defying-traditional-beauty-standards
- Sugwueze. (2018, February 25). The Truth About Racism in Spain: Tips for Visiting Spain While Black. Retrieved from https://www.somtoseeks.com/racism-in-spain-black-travel-advice/
- Euromonitor international. (2019, June). Beauty and Personal Care in Spain. Retrieved from https://www.euromonitor.com/beauty-and-personal-care-in-spain/report
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