Reading 5

I was confused in reading this excerpt from "The Revival of Beauty." I think most of my confusion stemmed from my own perception of beauty and what I have grown up to know. The phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is something I often refer to art. Some individuals enjoy one painting while others might enjoy another. Through reading this article, there are many thoughts that have opened up about beauty in my mind. The author talks about this idea of beauty being the cause of social injustice...what does that refer to? The example of a beautiful boy who turns birdlike because everyone gawking at him and he becomes miserable with discomfort...what does that refer to in actual life? This section of the excerpt really stumped my thinking about beauty. How can it lead to injustice? I started thinking about standards of beauty that society holds and how that might be an injustice.

The author also talks about "beauty prepares us for justice," another stumping idea. The relationship between the viewer who searches for beauty and the beauty to be sought sounds more familiar. We each individually have an idea of what beauty means to us and do search for it through art, clothing, make up, working out, everything in the world. But how does that prepare for justice? What does justice mean in this context? We all believe in internal beauty but it's the external beauty that we seek but what does that have to do with justice? I thought internal beauty is more just than external because of it's pureness. But even that raises the question how is that sought and how is it just?

Thinking about beauty as being just or unjust is something I haven't considered and reading the article, it was very bewildering. The author closes the article with talking about the caves that will closed because they can't allow too many tourists because it will destroy the beautiful caves. Through this I started understanding where the author saw justice fit into the beauty. Should it be hidden away so that it can live on forever or enjoyed for as long as it is there? This goes back to the whole idea of permanence and how we strive to keep the ancient artifacts but what is good about preserving them when they are out of context and barred from the public to enjoy or learn from them. Should beauty shielded or enjoyed?