This talk is fascinating because of its understanding of beauty as an agreed set of ideas in the same way that an alphabet or large sections of semiology are. This related in particular to possible areas of research relating to ideas of beauty and also suggests further research. She mentions the fact that we are programmed biologically to appreciate symmetry. Why is this?
This was interesting on the level that difference is seen as bad by so many cultures world wide. This suggests though on the subject of the different standards of beauty in these cultures and the way that they differentiate, shows what rubbish they are. This could be a route for research. The poem below is something else on this topic, also it is fantastic poetry. It is a very emotionally evocative poem and forces empath on the reader. It's incredible how powerful this medium can be, but is this down to the fact that self doubt and a dislike of one's appearance is something that is very relatable. This idea of difference as a negative is a very strange one because we are always trying to differentiate ourselves form one another and create a sense of identity, through fashion and online representation.
“My name is Iyeoka Ivie Arabomen Okoawo.
My father named me after my grandmother.
My name means I want to be respected.”
My father named me after my grandmother.
My name means I want to be respected.”
She does not know her beauty
She thinks her brown skin has too many flaws
If she could see her image in the Unogbo River where her mother was born
She would know
She thinks her brown skin has too many flaws
If she could see her image in the Unogbo River where her mother was born
She would know
But the city holds no clear streams
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed
Black is the color of her press and burned hair
She thinks her curls are too tight and short
If she could feel her natural birth locks blow in Arimogija’s fresh breeze
On the hill her father once stood
She would know
She thinks her curls are too tight and short
If she could feel her natural birth locks blow in Arimogija’s fresh breeze
On the hill her father once stood
She would know
But the girl does not know her own beauty
She thinks her lips are too thick
If she could hear Benin men whisper thoughts across the Atlantic ocean
Praying to touch her heart to win her for just one kiss
She would know…but
She thinks her eyes are dark and troubled
No one told her ebony was the color of the universe’s wings
She thinks her nose is too flat
Her breasts too small
Her legs too long
She never learned how to dance you know…
Never learned how to run naked on the bank of a golden pond
Embracing her existence guided by the light of a tropical dawn
She thinks her lips are too thick
If she could hear Benin men whisper thoughts across the Atlantic ocean
Praying to touch her heart to win her for just one kiss
She would know…but
She thinks her eyes are dark and troubled
No one told her ebony was the color of the universe’s wings
She thinks her nose is too flat
Her breasts too small
Her legs too long
She never learned how to dance you know…
Never learned how to run naked on the bank of a golden pond
Embracing her existence guided by the light of a tropical dawn
She forgets her name means
Precious child who harbors the beauty of an ocean pearl
She forgets she received her soul from her grandmother
Adopted the spirit of her mother
If she could recall the celebration they had at her birth
she would know…
Precious child who harbors the beauty of an ocean pearl
She forgets she received her soul from her grandmother
Adopted the spirit of her mother
If she could recall the celebration they had at her birth
she would know…
If I could reach her
She would know
I would make it so there was cause for her to know
That she is more than a motherless child
Victim of an impressionable fate
Helpless before an inconsistent society’s interpretation of what beauty stands for
She would know
I would make it so there was cause for her to know
That she is more than a motherless child
Victim of an impressionable fate
Helpless before an inconsistent society’s interpretation of what beauty stands for
But I cannot reach her…
If she chooses to be blind
Only she can choose to see
Only she can choose to see
But the city holds no clear streams
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed
Source:
Another possible area of research identified in the mind map was 'the little things' in other words, stuff that people don't notice day to day, but if they did it would make them happier. This talk is more about one persons perspective but it did initiate the idea to look at the way plants pop up around the city in unexpected but beautiful ways, which I always find brightens my day. However, when considering how research methods, this task becomes slightly more difficult. Photography is obviously the first port of call for primary research, but getting any developmental work from this would be tricky.
POssibly more than anything else this ted talk managed to grab my attention and keep it, this is an issue that I have always wanted to learn more about and possibly this is my chance...
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