The desire to be as physically appealing as possible may push some to modern technology’s products and surgery, but others believe in naturally and lovingly accepting themselves as they are.

Beauty is a natural and emotional perception of life’s favorable characteristics. In American women, a slim waist, shapely breasts, narrowed down to her apple-bottom and evenly dipped in a caramel skin may seem attractive to some, but other cultures have beauty standards of their own.

“I have always wanted black hair, and being Latina, brown hair is not too far from black,” said sociology major Roberta Davis, 25. “But just because I can dye my hair doesn’t mean I’ll lypo my thighs and booty fat.”

The Chinese culture has seen beauty transform from their cultural history to Western modernization.

According to the Web site BeautyMatters.com, beautiful standards to Chinese women have changed significantly throughout history. From slender to plump and frail to graceful, feminine aestheticism ideals that have been shifted in Imperial China can be traced through paintings, sculptures and contemporary accounts of women famous for their beauty.

While Chinese women are told to look modern and alluring, they are also expected to represent the Chinese culture and values through chastity and submission in their roles as housewives.

American entertainment products including films, music and MTV aim at the Chinese markets through Western beauty products and technologies that are rapidly changing the attractive norm among Chinese women in recent years. Western industries that promote breast enlargements, skin whitening procedures, limb lengthening and the creation of 'double' eyelids all counteract natural Asian beauty. Cosmetic surgery is also becoming increasingly popular as a means of altering the shape of noses and eyes to accord with Western appearances.

“I have double eyelids but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get surgery,” said BECA major Melanie Chin, 21. “I wouldn’t alter what my parents gave me.”

The Filipino culture has also seen changes to their idea of beauty because of globalization and acculturation, and so many have varying beauty perceptions of their own.

Likas soap is an imported product from the Philippines that evens and lightens skin tone. Filipinos use this for different reasons but a few are to lighten their brown skin to look more European because they believe lighter skin tone is more attractive.

While some Filipinos want to lighten their skin, others are proud when they naturally become darker.

“The darker I get the more I like it,” said Liezel Rivera, 23, Liberal Studies Major. “When I was younger no other female races really stood out to me the way Pinays did.”

Rivera is a member of the League for Filipino Students and says it’s sad that some Filipinos bring home Likas soap from the Philippines. “Pinay”, a reference to females of the Filipino race, are particularly beautiful to Rivera because of their eyes, black hair, and “skin that is sun-kissed.”

The US media has also played a significant role in society’s perception of beauty. In 1998, Professor Michelle Wolf of SF State broadcast and electronic communication arts, on media literacy, released a study about the relationship between body image and mass media among men and women.

It was found by Wolf that heterosexual women were more affected by the opinions the mass media formed on views of the body. Internalized views from boyfriends, family members and even complete strangers also affect women because their body images were more influenced by advertising, fashion magazines and movies.

“I think society and the media create the ideal body image for impressionable minds,” said Davis. “Really, what you have to do is know from your heart what attracts you, rather than believing that Hollywood stars are beauty’s prototype.”