long hair...

I went to petrol station early this morning. After filling up my car, I was about to leave when one of the employee at the station asked me if my hair is actually my real hair or is just a wig. I burst out laughing and told him it is real hair not a wig. Then he explained that being in Malaysia so far he has only seen three women with long hair. According to him, everyone else has short hair. I guessed that he is from Nepal, so I asked him, do Nepali women have long hair. He said "of course. That is what makes them so beautiful. Here, everyone has short hair, like men." I am at them moment involved in a study on social construction of beauty. What he said reminded me of some of the things I have found in my study. Many things in our lives are socially constructed, from what is considered beautiful or feminine and masculine. Many of it are actually socially constructed. Beauty especially, different societies consider different features as beautiful. even though in recent years, such beauty standards are going through various changes, socialization still plays a role on what is considered beautiful. Having said that, in recent years there are also many studies which tries to identify biological standards for beauty. There have been some studies which have identified that biologically, there are certain characteristics which are considered more attractive.