Beauty Image of Laos Women in The Literature of Laos

Abstract

                  This article is a documentary study based on the Lao literally works that have found expression of distinguished heroines. The author has classified those writings into 3 categories: 1) the beauty image of Laos women in romantic sagas 2) the beauty image of Laos women according to physiognomy texts 3) the beauty image of Laos women according to their traditional teachings. The purpose of this study is to describe the aesthetic ideal beauty of Laos women from the Laos literature. This will help more clearly to understand the background beauty concept of Laos women in the past. The theoretical frameworks adopted are those Beauty Concept and Representation Concept. The study indicated that a beauty image of Laos women in romantic sagas is an ideal aesthetic. A beautiful woman should have light skin “as bright as gold”, black hairs, round neck, arched eyebrows, tapered arms and slender waist. According to the physiognomy texts, a beauty associated with the habit and nobility. Instead of Lao traditional teachings emphasized internal beauty which should be upheld in both personal and public life.