or 
The Global Makeover
How we are remaking ourselves and—in the process—creating a new global
standard of beauty
By Fred Guterl and Michael Hastings
NEWSWEEK
Nov. 10 issue — When the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa wrote his epic tale
of love between Lord Shiva and his consort, Parvati, his vision of female beauty
had little to do with the half-starved waifs of Western catwalks or the lean-muscled
athletes of cereal boxes. To Kalidasa, Parvati was a soft, voluptuous temptress.
In the centuries since, ampleness has remained a great female virtue in India.
This classical image of beauty is inscribed on temple walls and depicted in sculpture,
paintings and literature, including the famous treatise on esthetics, the Kama
Sutra. The ideal Indian beauty, says Alka Pande, author of “Indian Erotica,”
has always been “heavy breasted, with a languorous gait, large child-bearing
hips, full—in every sense of the term—luscious lips.” The ideal
has been expressed, too, in crude but simple measurements of chest, waist and
hips, most often in inches: 36, 24, 36.