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The Binary Construction of Beauty & Race

In the video series Race: The Power of Illusion (2003), we are provided with DNA evidence that questions the very core of our assumptions about race. Race remains a fundamental concept in society, one that impacts politics, education, economics and popular culture. However, the scientific evidence provided in Race posits that believing in race as an idea is as out-of-touch with reality as the commonly held belief centuries ago that the earth revolved around the sun. A deeper understanding of DNA and genetics supports the theory that skin color actually is only skin deep. Such evidence and ideas provides even greater support for this writerÆs notion that concepts like valuations of ôbeautyö derive from social and cultural constructs and not biology or nature.

In The Social Construction of Reality, Berger and Luckman maintain that when individuals adopt the social contract, it is the adopted societyÆs valuations and definitions that become their ôdominant and definitive realityö (183). This social construction is defined by limitations of nature but it also works against nature. Berger and Luckman argue that this interaction between nature and society represents a dialectic that transforms human beings, and in this dialectic ôman produces reality and thereby produces himselfö (183). The working out of this dialectic results in a series of institutions being erected which define and maintain the norms and values held by the dominant culture or classes in society. Such institutions include government, economics, education, law enforcement, the media and others. It is through such institutions that such classes reinforce their norms and values that for most individuals will become accepted as ôrealityö or ôtruthö.

In Deconstructing the Ideology of White Aesthetics, John M. Kang (1997) posits the thesis that white people have a choice when determining how to express themselves, ôwhereas people of color lack choi...

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The Binary Construction of Beauty & Race. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:02, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710993.html