The Bittersweet Taste of Beauty

Here we are, bringing our concept Saman to life—and already diving into our first spirited debate. While our artist, Mauricio, sketches the Nitya Devis, the conversation turns to their bodies. Should their breasts appear perfectly sculpted, almost plastic, or more natural and truer to life? One view says, 'They are Goddesses—they should be flawless, beautiful in every way.' Another voice counters, 'But why not break the male gaze that has been prevailing since Antiquity and depict them in forms that reflect real women’s bodies?'

Caught between these two paradigms, I find myself wondering: do we ask the same questions when illustrating male deities like Shiva, Vishnu, or Ganesha? Are we just as concerned with their 'perfection'? And deeper still—what defines beauty in the divine, and who decides?

In many philosophies, beauty is seen as a manifestation of truth, harmony, or divine order. The idea is that the divine is perfect, and that perfection expresses itself through symmetry, radiance, grace, or awe-inspiring presence—qualities we often label as "beautiful." Experiencing beauty, whether in nature, art, or another being, can evoke awe, stillness, or transcendence, making us feel closer to something greater than ourselves. In that sense, beauty becomes a gateway to the divine, a moment where the veil between the material and the sacred feels thin.

However, since ancient times, many dominant beauty standards have roots in patriarchy*, though it's a complex issue shaped by multiple forces like culture, economy, colonialism, and media. Patriarchy plays a central role because it historically positions women’s value in relation to how they look, particularly in ways that are pleasing or acceptable to male desires or societal control.

Patriarchy tends to reduce women to how they appear—treating the body as something to be judged, possessed, or improved for the gaze of others. Beauty becomes a currency: if you’re closer to the standard, you're seen as more worthy—of love, respect, visibility, even success.

One of the most painful and powerful truths: patriarchal beauty standards aren’t just enforced from the outside by media, men, or systems—they’re also deeply internalized and reproduced by women themselves, often unconsciously.

Back to our dear Nitya Devis, they are living archetypes of the soul’s journey through desire, love, power, pain, and liberation. They reveal what lessons we must learn, shadows we must face, and gifts we are here to embody.

In Tantra, Kala (Time) is a goddess, ever-changing and never still. The Nitya Devis are her faces, teaching us to live in tune with divine timing, emotional truth, and ritual rhythm. Their beauty is in their power, emotion, and mystery, reflecting the depth of each archetype. These are not just goddesses of ornament, they are goddesses of consciousness, transformation, and cosmic energy.

They reflect different faces of womanhood: fierce, tender, sensual, wild, wise, veiled, unbound. Yes, They are beautiful — in the way the Moon is beautiful: ever-changing, emotionally rich, quietly powerful, and unapologetically feminine.

We are taught to see beauty in still frames: in symmetry, smoothness, and surface. But the Nitya Devis ask us to look deeper. They remind us that true beauty is not frozen, flawless, or tame. It is alive. It trembles. It transforms. It breaks apart and begins again. Beauty may arrive as fierce clarity, wild longing, quiet grace, or bold truth. And all of it is sacred.

So ask yourself gently: What have I been calling beautiful? And what have I been overlooking, simply because it did not fit the image I was taught to revere? How do I perpetuate the legacy of the patriarchal beauty standard? How do you like your Goddess to look like?

Also raise the question of what inspires us in a Goddess: perfect unattainable qualities that we want to tend to, or a beautiful but more attainable image? (I think it is nice to end on a question to induce our public into reflection).

* Prescriptive Beauty Norms and Gender Hierarchy A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology examined the "Prescriptive Beauty Norm" (PBN), which mandates that women intensively pursue beauty. The research found that endorsement of PBN correlates with support for gender hierarchies and can lead to employment discrimination. This suggests that beauty standards are not merely aesthetic preferences but tools to uphold patriarchal power structures.