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Semiotics of Ideal Beauty
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The notion of a Semiotics of Ideal Beauty examines whether there can ever be an objective measurement of beauty or whether the concept and appreciation of beauty will always remain in flux as cultures evolve and establish new standards of physical attractiveness.
People use signs to associate themselves with the most successful groups within their society. In cultures where being overweight is considered a sign of success, health, and beauty, people modify their diet to achieve a body image reflecting the consensus of thought among those within the social group they aspire to join (e.g. in modern Ghana the popular view is that “the thicker and heavier, the richer and more attractive a woman is.").[citation needed]) In cultures where certain body parts are desirable, clothing is modified to enhance or disguise a feature (e.g. padded codpieces enhanced a European man's reputation).[citation needed]
In her book, Things of Darkness: Economies of Race and Gender in Early Modern England, Kim Hall studies the concepts of blackness and colonialism and the construction of race in England of the seventeenth century by examining the juxtaposition of black and white images in literature, poetry and art.
- Hall, Kim, Things of Darkness: Economies of Race and Gender in Early Modern England: "An Object in the Midst of Other Objects: Beauty, Colonialism, and Female Subject," Cornell University Press, 1995, pg. 53-247.