“All the Precious Trees of the Earth”: Trees in Restoration Scripture

In Hebrew scripture and the New Testament, trees play a prominent role, most obviously in the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapter of Revelations. Trees also serve as messianic heralds, as life-giving resources, as aesthetic standards of beauty, as exemplars of strength and fame, and as markers and instruments of salvation. Like the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Mormon and other Latter-day Saint scriptures feature prominent references to forests, trees, branches, roots, and seeds. What is unique about the spiritual and cultural landscape invoked by Latter-day Saint scripture? More specifically, what is said about trees and their accoutrements in restoration scripture? While numerous studies have focused on the major thematic tree scenes in the Book of Mormon, the tree of life in the visions of Lehi and Nephi, Zenos’ allegory of the olive tree, and Alma’s discourse on the seed of faith and the tree of righteousness, this paper aims at a broader look at trees in Latter-day Saint scripture. Taking cues from Robert Pogue Harrison’s Forests: The Shadow of Civilization, this paper takes a wide-ranging look at how trees in restoration scripture can help us rhetorically address the ecological dilemmas of our time. When the Gods built us a home, they did so with trees, and when God called on Their people to build a house, God told them to “bring the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth” to build it (see Abraham 4:11–12 and D&C 124:26–27). Another revelation declares bluntly: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees” (D&C 77:9). As eaters of sunshine and exhalers of oxygen, trees have much to teach us about how to live, and trees in restoration scripture specifically contribute to a broader vision of ecological living.

Reasons that Lead Women to Weight Loss: A Study in Southern Brazil

The objective of this study was to understand why adult women in Brazil desire and attempt to lose weight. In a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews, participants were 25 adult women in southern Brazil aged 19-59 who have tried to lose weight or modify their bodies. Thematic categories emerged: motivations and influences to lose weight, external and internal pressure to lose weight, and influences from the media and the ideal of beauty which point to factors like the media, family, and society step in nutritional education of Brazilian women. These factors influence decisions related to weight loss and pursuit of a beautiful body; this cult of thinness influences women to lose weight and makes physical appearance an essential dimension of the female identity. Programs are also needed that regulate the media in its use of models involving standards of beauty which are followed and copied by the general population.

“Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown”: A Critical Race Analysis of the CROWN Act

Black hair in the United States remains misunderstood and othered against Eurocentric standards of beauty and professionalism as evidenced by the ongoing policing of Black hair in schools and workplaces. The CROWN Act of 2019 was passed in several states to protect Black adults and children from hair-biased discrimination, and was introduced to the United States Congress in December 2019. In September 2020, the CROWN Act passed in the US House of Representatives, however, it has not been passed in the Senate, yet. In this paper, I provide a critical race analysis of hair policies and challenges collected from news articles, the CROWN Research Study, and testimonies in support of the CROWN Act to demonstrate the importance of this bill’s passing at the federal level.

Konstruksi Sosial Atas Pemaknaan Dan Simbol Kecantikkan Pada Trending Hastag Tik Tok

Reality is only a social construction created by humans. Tik Tok is a new reality phenomenon constructed by the community as a form of self-expression. One of the features offered by Tik Tok is trending hashtag, which is a collection of the most popular videos. The number of Tik Tok users, especially women, are competing to create content related to the meaning of beauty. This study seeks to analyze the social construction of the meaning of the symbol of beauty in the trending hashtag Tik Tok. The samples of this study were 4 trending hashtags, namely: ladadida challenge, negligee challenge, dualism challenge and ah steady challenge. By using the Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki's framing analysis, the results show that there are beauty constructs from these 4 challenges. The symbol of beauty on Tik Tok proves that those users with beautiful faces, white, make up, and wear good clothes are those who are popular and get a lot of attention from other users. The results of this study are expected to be able to be used as literacy for the younger generation, especially Tik Tok social media users, to be wiser in constructing beauty, that everyone is basically beautiful and has different standards of beauty.

Standards of Classical Architecture Criticism: Between Mathematics and Philosophy

Criticism is an intellectual process that primarily searches for beauty aspects in the works of art, including architecture. This article explores the mathematical and philosophical principles of classical architectural criticism. It is hypothesized that design criteria during the Classic period were clear and specific. The research presents theories of classical art that focus on the process of beauty interpretation. It also assesses the mathematical evaluation of architectural art and beauty through “The Golden Ratio” and “The “Fibonacci Sequence.” Classical philosophy, and its perception of beauty, is discussed as an essential basis in any artistic critical activity. The research asserts that the science of aesthetics is both objective and subjective, which explains the difference in aesthetic evaluation across eras. Objectivity stems from conditions of proportionality that must be met for an architectural art to be aesthetically judged as beautiful. Subjectivity lies in the time and place of the architectural work, whereby tendencies, tastes, and needs related to the human and geographical environment can affect the standards of beauty. This makes the evaluation of beauty in classical architecture a delicate and complex process in which many aspects must be considered to have an objective, fair, and correct judgment.

Monster aesthetics as an expression of decolonizing the design body

Institutionalized design education aims at training the human body to become a design body, a subject capable of designing according to aesthetic canons. In colonized territories, the modern canon predominates over indigenous, vernacular and other forms of expression. Manichaeism, utilitarianism, universalism, methodologism and various modern values are inculcated in the design body as if it did not have any. The colonization of design bodies makes young designers believe that once they learn what good design is, they need to save others from bad design. This research reports on a series of democratic design experiments held in a Brazilian university that questioned these values while decolonizing the design body. Comparing the works of design produced in the experiment with some works of art from the Neoconcrete movement, we recognize a characteristic form of expression we call monster aesthetics: a positive affirmation of otherness and collectivity that challenges colonialists’ standards of beauty and goodness.

The representation of trans women in Brazilian magazine covers

This work refers to an investigation into the representations of trans women in magazine covers of the national editorial market during the decade of 2010. Methodologically, it is qualitative, descriptive, and bibliographic research. Data collection took place from documents (magazine covers) and the data were analyzed using the Image Analysis technique. As a result, in general terms, we can understand that fashion magazines, in a certain way, sell mass ideas and ways of dealing with the body based on socially imposed standards of beauty - thin, white, and aesthetically impeccable, whereas, the other magazines seek to emphasize plural bodies that are closer to real figures, based on producing cultural values that go beyond aesthetic issues. It is concluded, therefore, that the representations of this social parcel that is so marginalized and culturally stigmatized must be further investigated, to broaden discussions in the most varied contexts.

Environmental convergence in facial preferences: a cross-group comparison of Asian Vietnamese, Czech Vietnamese, and Czechs

It has been demonstrated that sociocultural environment has a significant impact on human behavior. This contribution focuses on differences in the perception of attractiveness of European (Czech) faces as rated by Czechs of European origin, Vietnamese persons living in the Czech Republic and Vietnamese who permanently reside in Vietnam. We investigated whether attractiveness judgments and preferences for facial sex-typicality and averageness in Vietnamese who grew up and live in the Czech Republic are closer to the judgements and preferences of Czech Europeans or to those of Vietnamese born and residing in Vietnam. We examined the relative contribution of sexual shape dimorphism and averageness to the perception of facial attractiveness across all three groups of raters. Czech Europeans, Czech Vietnamese, and Asian Vietnamese raters of both sexes rated facial portraits of 100 Czech European participants (50 women and 50 men, standardized, non-manipulated) for attractiveness. Taking Czech European ratings as a standard for Czech facial attractiveness, we showed that Czech Vietnamese assessments of attractiveness were closer to this standard than assessments by the Asian Vietnamese. Among all groups of raters, facial averageness positively correlated with perceived attractiveness, which is consistent with the "average is attractive" hypothesis. A marginal impact of sexual shape dimorphism on attractiveness rating was found only in Czech European male raters: neither Czech Vietnamese nor Asian Vietnamese raters of either sex utilized traits associated with sexual shape dimorphism as a cue of attractiveness. We thus conclude that Vietnamese people permanently living in the Czech Republic converge with Czechs of Czech origin in perceptions of facial attractiveness and that this population adopted some but not all Czech standards of beauty.

The dark side of occupation within the context of modern-day beauty pageants

BACKGROUND: The desire to be physically beautiful is inherent among human beings. In particular, some women who participate in modern-day beauty pageants tend to spend more time, energy, money and emotional resources to alter their natural body and looks to fit socially and culturally constructed standards of beauty. OBJECTIVE: The authors frame beauty pageants as the context where diverse occupations are at play with the purpose of becoming a ‘beauty queen’. This commentary aims to discuss the origins and culture of beauty pageants, the different perspectives on pageantry work, and essential and hidden occupations performed within the context of this form of performing art. APPROACH: Using the conceptual lens of the dark side of occupation, hidden occupations are characterised by the doings of pageant hopefuls that are less explored and acknowledged because they are perceived as health-compromising, risky, dishonest, illicit, and socially or personally undesirable. CONCLUSION: Furthermore, this commentary calls for the exploration of occupations beyond the conventional scope of its understanding and the acknowledgment of hidden occupations intertwined into people’s everyday doings specifically in the context of desiring to be ‘beautiful’.