The "Imperfect Beauty" in Eating Disorders

Not only philosophers, but also artists and scientists have always struggled to find a universal definition of beauty. Not even Darwin could find an answer to the question: are there any parameters of beauty that we can apply to every species. Nobody can give a valid definition for the perception of beauty in others. Can a definition in subjective terms be achieved? If I say something is beautiful, it only means that it is beautiful for me, but it does not mean that is necessarily beautiful for everyone else. Beauty is a subjective experience, but it is not only a perceptive experience! According to the Treccani Dictionary of Italian Language, beauty can be defined as: something capable of pleasing the soul through the senses and become an object worthy of contemplation. Developmental biologists say that when people talk about how beautiful a person is, they tend to highlight those qualities that make them more or less attractive. These qualities can be, for example, if and how much I look like their father or mother. Does this mean there can be universal parameters of beauty for the human species? According to Professor Semir Zeki, there are universal parameters of beauty and the easiest way to define them is in a negative way. This means that whoever has his eyes in a different position, compared to where the eyes are placed in a nation or race, cannot be called beautiful. According to this, could there be a model of beauty in our society? Today's society gives a considerable importance to appearance, it is even thought that being "beautiful" can achieve happiness, love and success. Mass media show icons of perfection and ideals of beauty almost unattainable and makes us to believe that achieving them would make us feel fulfilled; therefore underestimating other values such as happiness, family, friendship and beauty. There is less and less space for self-acceptance and developing other qualities, whereas we invest more into treatments of various kinds to change our body, considering it as an object we can manipulate, or as a tool to achieve goals. Particularly young people, today, are conditioned by the myth of beauty and by the canons imposed by newspapers, TV and the media, which demands virtual beauty without originality. According to this canon, women must always be slim but firm and sinuous, with flowing bleached hair, perfect make-up, smooth skin, full lips and long nails. On the other hand, men are forced to resemble the football players: muscular, but not too much, without a belly and marked abdominals muscles, tall, well-shaved, fragrant, or even shaving their whole body. According to Charmet: "We live in a continuous casting, with boys feeling inadequate and ugly". Adolescence is then considered a period full enthusiasm but also of torment, such as long struggles in front of the mirror with the different ways of "decorating" a suddenly new body. This is a particularly fertile ground for the onset of pathologies such as depression, dysmorphophobias, eating disorders and other pathologies. They become 'mutants', because they change and adapt to the current fashion; nowadays these changes affect not only women, but also men. Pathologies are also in the rise among increasingly younger people, aged 10 to 20 years old. In addition, there are new pathologies, such as orthorexia (the obsession for healthy eating) or drunkorexia (a combination of fasting/binge eating with alcohol abuse). Often, these are associated with other psychiatric disorders or serious physical complications. However, only a small percentage of people suffering from these conditions ask for help.