Natural Beauty...

2000 B.C. Egyptian culture dictated that those most beautiful had elongated craniums… historians believe that the beautiful goddess Nefertiti’s head was bound as a child in order to achieve the highly-prized, elongated shape that was popular with Egyptians at that time. Cranial remolding is still practiced in some remote areas of Africa today.

10th Century Chinese women’s feet were bound in pursuit of beauty… pictures of the deformities from this practice are extreme as the bones within the foot were actually broken to achieve the desired look. Outlawed in 1949, attempts to achieve the “golden lotus foot” continued late into the 20th Century.

From the tradition of “neck stretching” from Southeast Asia, the bound swollen calves of the young girls from the South American Wauwai people, the small waists and swollen buttocks of the men of the Southern Sudan strutting in their tight corsets of beads, to western societies attempt to create the perfect body; our material adornments and medical technologies pushing the envelope even further.

By definition, we all participate in a beauty regimen, both men and women. Brushing your hair or shaving your head is beauty regimen. What is acceptable?

I live in Atlanta, so I've see or heard a little bit of everything. I see men with permanent eyeliner, women with enlarged breasts and butts, men with nails polished (mani – pedied up), women with hair the color of the rainbow, men with braids and twists, women with 6 inch heels (and they weren’t on their way to the strip club), men with everything pierced from their ear to their powertool, Caucasians with dreads, African American brothers and sisters with locks (stay with me now; know your history on the use of term dread). So, what is beauty? And furthermore, what is natural beauty?

Do you want your partner to coordinate everything from their hair to their toes, encompassing their beauty regimen to the fashion choice of their clothes? We’ve all seen it. I’ve seen a man with purple hair sporting a perfectly matched zoot suit and gold Kango to match the gold accents throughout. And it’s not just the old cats, the young men here in Atlanta have taken it a step further by making sure their wardrobe matches that classic hooptie with the candy paint job. You think I’m playing? I’ve seen the Tide detergent candy painted car at the gas station and the young brotha hop out the ride dress in orange Coogi threads, like wha…? And men you never know what you’re going to get! From the plastic surgery of the “whatever she wants to alter” to the panties with the built in buttocks, how do y'all feel about it? How much is too much? Wanna know what some men do to enhance their beauty? Check it out... my next posting - To Jelq or not to Jelq? Or Is Surgery the Best Option?