The text discusses the subjective nature of beauty among different cultures. It highlights how what is considered beautiful or ugly can vary significantly, often shaped by cultural practices and beliefs. Examples include altering physical features such as head shape or ear length to fit cultural ideals of beauty.
Beauty in Human Figures.
He clarifies, for he speaks elsewhere of these uncertain words:
One debates constantly, one doubts everywhere,
What in humans should be judged as beautiful,
A people can hardly agree on what fundamentals;
Upon which one is deemed beautiful or ugly.
Certainly, since different nations not only differ in their choices and approvals of beauty, but some are found who prefer what others consider ugliness and deformities to beauty; this has caused much confusion and doubt about whether beauty is merely a matter of choice, fashion, or the unique taste of people. For there are people who impose their own chosen beauty upon their native traits, often dissatisfied by what is natural, improving it by force and art according to their imagination; ample evidence and testimonies to this point exist. It is said that those from the region of Cumana, for instance, consider beauty as having narrow faces, and they mold the heads of young children between cushions of cotton. Others, favoring flat faces, press the noses of newborns in with the thumb. Elsewhere, people soften earlobes, hanging weights on them from a young age, stretching them over time to the shoulders. Among the inhabitants near the river Gabon, it is the fashion of the lower lip.
Translation Notes:
- The term 'Schoonheyd' translates to 'beauty'.
- 'Keur' can imply choice or preference, while 'Mode' can imply fashion or trend.