In Chapter One, titled “Female Beauty”, Montez explains the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or that each person has their own specific taste when it comes to what they believe is beautiful. Montez offers that while people all over the world have different beauty standards, having the right “color and form” is of the utmost importance. Of course, the ideal “color and form” is different in every county and is largely influenced by habits and culture.

“So that there is nothing truer than the old proverb, that “there is no accounting for tastes.” This difference in opinion with respect to beauty in various countries is, however, principally confined to ‘color and form’ and may, undoubtedly , be traced to national habits and customs” (Montez 20). 

In modern times, this still remains true. In 2015, in an attempt to illustrate how unattainable beauty standards are, a pharmaceutical company asked 18 people from across the globe to photoshop the same picture of a woman into what their country would view as the "ideal woman". The result was 18 very different figures (shown below). 

These images reveal that no one person can possess all the qualities necessary to be considered "perfect" by everyone. You would think that having knowledge about how culture affects one's beauty preferences would make women less willing to modify their bodies in order to appeal to others, all of which will interpret these body modifications in a different way. 

Why though, does Montez, while acknowledging that "there is no accounting for tastes," attempt to point out how women should look? And why would she tell women that if they do not fall in line with what she believes to be beautiful, they still may be able to achieve this look with her how-to guides? 

By Montez writing and publishing this book, she is defining what women should care about and focus on. Giving Montez's history, it is likely that the answer is women should make themselves appeal to men, as this is the key to success. Continue on to the next section, "Appealing to the Male Gaze" for a more in depth investigation of what message The Arts of Beauty sends to women about their appearances.