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I found many of the things that I researched interesting. Starting with the Goddess Lakshmi, who these woman pray to and honour. Her many sides and representations are what women in India have created their image off of, and continue to look at as a role model in how they should be. Lakshmi creates expectations for women, and also men, for how they should look, act and feel, which in my opinion is not necessarily a positive thing, because women are put under this pressure to do certain things or else they are going against their Gods.

The second thing I looked into and was interested in was when I branched off of Lakshmi's expectations for women and I looked into societies expectations for Indian women. Every society has different expectations for the ideal women, and India just has their own, so not much surprised me with what they expect of beauty. What did surprise me however, was what women were expecting of themselves. In this case I am talking about the obsession and want of fare skin. Women in India are so obsessed with American beauty standards that they are lightening their natural skin to match it. When you think about it though, the roles are really reversed when you look at American  women who think being beautiful means being tanned.

The last thing to me that was interesting but not so different than our culture was the prostitution. The only main difference between theirs and ours is that the women in India use this as a day to day job to support their families and it is classified as a job, whereas here prostitution is frowned upon. Other than that, it's the same, the "better looking" you are the more money you will make and the more money you have the more people you will attract.

All-in-all, the research I did showed to me just how different we all are but how beautiful we all are in our own way. You might look completely different from someone else, but no matter what you are beautiful in your own way, and in your own beliefs.

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Woman in India live under high expectations from men. They are expected to dress colourfully to impress men and to show off themselves for money. Something I found that women are using their beauty for is prostitution. Many women in India will be thrown into prostitution and human trafficking at a young age. The sad part is, most of them are thrown into it by their families as a source of income. The more beautiful you are, depicts how much money you may receive. Wearing plenty of jewelry and colourful clothing went from being something that Indian cultures did historically to show off wealth, to now something they do to show off their bodies. Some women will use sex as their income for their entire lives.

Picture: (Red Light Areas

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Where the Bindi is placed on the body (between the eyebrows) is believed to be where the sixth Chakra "Ajna" resides. It is right on the pineal gland which can also be referred to as ones "third eye." This gland releases the melatonin hormone which regulates sleep but also it heats up when someone is tense or stressed. The Bindi is believed to be a relaxing agent, it cools down the area and when applied while reciting "OM" it is supposed to help cool ones ego, which helps with internal peace. This is important for woman in the Indian culture because since they are supposed to be homemakers, they must be at peace and calm.

Picture: (Bindi Business)

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Derived from the word "Bindu" meaning dot or point, the Bindi is worn between a woman's eyebrows to signify different things in their life, depending on marital status and other things. The Bindi is most commonly made from vermilion powder and can differ in colour. When red, it signifies the woman wearing it is married and is in true love, when black it is to signify loss of a significant other or in some parts of India is it to signify the loss of anyone. For those who are not married, they are free to wear any colour of Bindi, although it is still typically red or pink. This traditional beauty mark is now not only worn by Indian woman to signify their status, but it is worn all over the world as a beauty statement now too.

Picture: (More Than a Dot of Hue

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This ad shows that after the women uses the product her man is more interested in her.

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Funny ad- Clean and Dry Intimate Wash Advertisement Clean and Dry female

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website http://onlybabugiri.blogspot.in/ Designed to address the problems women face in their private parts, Clean and Dry Intimate Wash offers protection, fairness and freshness. To be used while showering, its special pH-balanced formula cleans and protects the affected area, and even makes the skin fairer. Life for women will now be fresher, cleaner, fairer!

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And not the kind of fair as in "you get one, I get one." Indian women for years now have had an obsession with the lightening of their skin. Creams such as "Fair & Lovely" have been around for many years, and are giving the message to women that the fairer you are, the better. This fad started off as something women used mainly on their faces and not on their entire body, but as the years grew, the demand for full body products grew too and the 10 billion dollar industry is in high demand. In 2014 a product called "Clean and Dry" was released for the whitening of a woman's intimate areas. The product however, caused a bit of a stir when the message they provided was essentially "the lighter you are there, the more desirable you are." The advertising for the product was soon stopped.

Picture: (Is Light Right?)

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Women now, still live up to high expectations of beauty. The "ideal woman" would have almond shaped eyes, full lips, a straight and sharp nose, hairless body, thick black hair and an hourglass figure. A strange fad in India is having fair skin, instead of their tan skin.

Pictured is Shriya Saran. A South Indian actress who is a "perfect image" of beauty.

Picture: (Who is the perfect Indian woman?)

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Obviously with time, beauty expectations will change, and people will fall into new trends of what they believe is "beautiful." Historically, India's beauty expectations were written as women being enticing to their lovers with large breasts, small waists, almond eyes, long dark hair and feet as small and delicate as a lotus.

Picture: (Quora)

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Some facts about Lakshmi and what she represents:
-The four arms represent the four directions of space and symbolize omnipresence, while the four hands represent the four ends of human life (righteousness, genuine desires, wealth and liberation from birth to death.)
-The lotus signifies that while one should enjoy living in this world, we should not take advantage of it. Such as the lotus, it sits upon water but it does not take from the water.
- The elephants signify name and fame that are related to worldly wealth.

FACT: Diwali is a celebratory day in India devoted to the celebration of Lakshmi

Picture: (scholarblogs)

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(n.d.). Retrieved from https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/rel100hinduism/2015/11/25/goddess-lakshmi/

Biakolo, K. (2016, July 11). Skin-lightening is a $10 billion industry, and Ghana wants nothing to do with it . Retrieved from Quartz: https://qz.com/718103/skin-lightening-is-a-10-billion-industry-and-ghana-wants-nothing-to-do-with-it/

BINDI - Meaning and significance of the "dot" on forehead. (2013, November 25). Retrieved from Sanskriti: http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/culture/bindi-meaning-and-significance-of-the-dot-on-forehead/

Das, S. (2016, November 28). Lakshmi Goddess of Wealth & Beauty. Retrieved from ThoughtCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/lakshmi-goddess-of-wealth-and-beauty-1770369

Gupta, T. (n.d.). Bindi Business. Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0694qgn

Meg. (2011, May 22). Who is the Perfect Indian Woman? Exploring the Indian Beauty Ideal. Retrieved from Jolie Asie: https://jolieasie.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/who-is-the-perfect-indian-woman-exploring-the-indian-beauty-ideal/

Pandit, B. (n.d.). Hindu Deities. Retrieved from Kashmir: http://www.koausa.org/Gods/God6.html

Patel, R. (2016, May 10). Is Light Right? The Trend Of Skin Bleaching. Retrieved from ODYSSEY: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/light-right-trend-skin-bleaching

Shah, P. (2014, June 2). 8 Red Light Areas In Popular Indian Cities. Retrieved from TopYaps: http://topyaps.com/8-red-light-areas-popular-indian-cities

Tracey, S. (n.d.). Women did not cover their breasts in ancient India. Is it true? Why? Retrieved from Quora: https://www.quora.com/Women-did-not-cover-their-breasts-in-ancient-India-Is-it-true-Why

Yadav, K. (n.d.). Bindi – More Than A Dot Of Hue. Retrieved from Shimply: https://www.shimply.com/articles/bindi-more-than-a-dot-of-hue/

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In ancient India the people created Gods and Goddesses in which they pray to. Each God and Goddess represents something different, whether it be wealth, food, love, or beauty. The Goddess of beauty who created the standards for women and men of India is named Lakshmi.

Picture: (Lakshmi Goddess of Wealth & Beauty)