Gradually, our legal and social systems have been getting rid of biases, so that laws now protect against all sorts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, and more recently disability and sexual orientation. So what about beauty? Could there be another class of people who are discriminated against—those who are unattractive or ugly, however that might be defi ned?
Generally, everyone agrees that being attractive is an asset, especially today. That ’s why the business of plastic surgery has been booming, and shows like The Swan and The Biggest Loser have featured a personal transformation from being unattractive and/or overweight to looking good. This concern with being good-looking is why an already beautiful woman like Heidi Montag would doubt her attractiveness and submit to 10 surgeries to look like a modern-day blonde goddess, and why many males, sometimes dubbed “metrosexuals,” primp and get pampered at salons to further enhance their looks.
In fact, extensive statistics show the bias toward people who are more attractive, supporting what just about everyone knows. For example, a June 2010 article in Newsweek by Dahlia Litwith cites a new book, The Beauty Bias by Deborah Rhode, that describes how those who are unattractive are discriminated against. Citing Rhode ’s research, Litwith notes “The less attractive you are in America, the more likely you are to receive a longer prison sentence, a lower damage award, a lower salary, and poorer performance reviews. You are less likely to be married and more likely to be poor.” Also, Litwith provides many examples of women in public life concealing any signs of aging, such as graying hair or wrinkled skin, because “you can ’t succeed in public life if you look old in America.”
Certainly, everyday examples of beauty bias abound. For instance, get on a plane and you ’ll see a very attractive, trim fl ight crew. Watch a show like The Apprentice, and you ’ll see mostly attractive young women and handsome young men not only on the show but among the fi nalists. Some restaurants and nightclubs like Hooters and the Playboy Club feature ultra-attractive or “hot” women as a draw for audiences, while the Chippendales show features hot young men stripping for women. Or consider the gyms and beaches where those who are fi t and attractive tone and show off their bodies. And for many jobs where one has to deal with the public, such as being a receptionist or selling airline tickets or cars, one ’s appearance is especially important.
But what of those who aren’t so well favored by nature? Well, now there ’s an emerging movement to consider them a discriminated-against class and protect them by law. This legal change is being promoted by Rhode, who uses The Beauty Bias to argue that discrimination based on appearance shouldn’t be allowed, and she cites extensive examples of the way this discrimination, sometimes called “lookism,” occurs. One common example is not hiring people who don ’t meet a certain standard for attractiveness and fi ring those who later fall short. That ’s what occurred at Abercrombie & Fitch, where top managers would review the photos of their sales associates at weekly meetings, and should any of them show signs of weight gain or unattractive breakouts on their skin, they would be terminated—or at least that happened until the media exposed this practice.
So could such a movement to end a beauty bias work and what would it mean? Well, there ’s sure to be plenty of resistance, especially from industries that thrive on people being beautiful or striving to be, such as the entertainment industry, diet industry, health clubs and gyms, plastic surgeons, and the makers of all manner of cosmetics and health aids. Certainly members of the general public, who enjoy watching hot male and female stars or seek to make themselves more attractive, might resist as well.
Yet, consider the high percentage of less attractive individuals who might gain under such a law but aren’t yet organized to support this cause, such as computer geeks and professors, who are often the butt of humor in fi lms and on TV for their social awkwardness and ineptness. There are numerous examples of people who have been considered unattractive but have later gone on to excel at something and become rich, such as Bill Gates, a socially inept geek in his younger years. Thus, if this movement catches on, being unattractive might even become the new cool. For instance, just as there is a popular “Ugly Dog” competition each year to select the ugliest pooch (and commonly a Chinese Crested dog runs away with the prize), there might be an “Ugly Man” or “Miss Ugly USA” competition. Restaurants and nightclubs might put out calls to feature heavy-set and unattractive waitresses. Airlines and hotels might show off their new “no discrimination against unattractiveness” policy by putting its most unattractive hires front and center. Advertisers might now put out a call for ugly models to be in their ads.
For now, attractiveness seems to rule in the United States and around the world. But perhaps sometime in the future, if this new anti–beauty-bias movement catches on, being ugly might be the new beauty. Or maybe looks may no longer matter as much. Or then again, maybe this might be a passing fad. At least for now, whatever might happen, one can only dream.
Extracts taken from "The Very Next New Thing ~ Commentaries On The Latest Developments That Will Be Changing Your Life" by Gini Graham Scott (2011)
Extracts taken from "The Very Next New Thing ~ Commentaries On The Latest Developments That Will Be Changing Your Life" by Gini Graham Scott (2011)
“Beauty is pain”, they said. When I heard about this saying, I dont understand this. Why? Well, after some research I discovered that many women nowadys will take everything and brave enough to take some big risks just to look and feel good about themselves. I dont disagree with their point of view and actions, because every people has their own will and dreams. If their dream is to become pretty, that dream doesn’t bother me, so why should I judge them? For me, I will judge people that say other people is ugly. I disagree with these people because they are the one that is responsible for making women do everything and took risks to look pretty. People dont have the right to talk about other people that doesn’t even bother them. People should have respect and just mind with their own business, not harming other person with their words. When so many people likes to talk bad about other people, this will create a society that never stop to talk bad about other people. This form of society will always make other people insecure, feels bad about themselves, and be someone who they aren’t really are. Why don’t people just mind their own business, not look at other people just from their physical but also from the inside, and be respectful to other people? When people start doing this, I’m sure that the future is not about what other people look about you, but what you can do and give to other people.
ReplyDeleteWith this hierarchy that’s controlling over our society since only God knows when, beauty (as in appearance) was never something I’ve ever associated myself with. Not only do I feel so unworthy and physically unattractive comparing to all these people with ethereal looks, but I also know that I’ll never get the chance to part of the upper class. This is also an essential issue within the high school students, especially the girls, where the need to wear makeup is a compulsory. I personally think it is depressing and very unnecessary. Metal revolution is needed to overturn this ugly hierarchy that’s been looming over us for years and it could be done by some small little actions. We can talk about other things and not commenting on someone’s appearance whenever we chit chat. Even if it’s said to be a very cultural thing in Indonesia, body shaming is very unsettling and it’s not right. It affects everyone in the system—both the not-so-attractive ones and the ones we thought to be attractive. We can also apply the five-minute rule which is not to point out or criticize things on people’s appearance if they can’t fix it in five or ten minutes e.g. pimples, weight, etc.
ReplyDeleteEven if this mental revolution takes ages to process, I believe there would be a huge change caused by these small actions and it’s the positive kind of change.
As a Marketing Student, these kinds of topics are really important to me. Marketers are one of the first responsible for this “Beauty Bias”. They have created a stereotype of beauty, which includes being tall, skinny, with some curves, etc. But first of all, what is being really beauty? What defines someone as beautiful? In my opinion, there is no ugly person in this world. Of course, you might find some people more attractive to your taste than others. However, this is only a perception of humans. Personally, I see every person as a unique human being, with feelings and emotions. This might sound cheesy but I truly believe that what really matters is the inside of a person and by inside I do not mean the organs but the personality, their actions and the love for others. I have had the experience of meeting some people that might not full field the standards of beauty but you instantly fall in love with them because their way to be. The talent and capabilities of so many women are being undervalued only because they are not that “beautiful” enough as the society think. Over the years the definition of beauty has been changing. If you go to a museum and look at the old paintings, you will appreciate that the women being painted were really different from the nowadays models. Therefore, I truly believe that the solution to this kind of discrimination is to change people’s mentality of beauty. We should focus more on having good relationships, do charity, eat healthily, exercise more, but not to look better but feel better, etc. As a Marketer, I want to help change peoples minds and emphasize in things that really matter in life, not just superficial opinions.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do think that this article brings up a lot of good points, I do not agree that creating a law to destroy the discrimination. Beauty is not as easily defined as race or ethnicity, it is subjective. To create a law to stop discrimination against ugly people, it would have to build a standard: What do you formally define ‘ugly’ as? The word ugly would still be used in a negative context, what’s worse, is that the physical traits listed as the standards of ugly will now forever be seen as the 'true' definition of ugly. It will only continue to empower that negative connotation that is attached to the word 'ugly'.
ReplyDeleteInstead, let’s look at the word ‘fat’. In the past, it was used mockingly, something that would go alongside with the word ‘ugly’. But in the present today, it is used along with the word ‘Proud’, as people post a picture of themselves and their body shape. This is what we should do: to change people’s views and make them let go of this narrow standard of beauty that only exists within photoshopped models and photoshoots. Let’s call ourselves ugly and stand proud. Let’s color the word ugliness in the same rainbow beauty is painted with.
In my opinion the topic of beauty could be interesting for people who are considered beautiful because they are always and have been interesting. On the contrary, people that are considered ugly would be sensitive in this topic and would not be interested at all. Words such as “looks do not matter” would come out of their mouths. The topic of beauty is a hard topic to discuss as there is no universal beauty and depends on who are you asking about beauty. There are certain “standards” created by the society on being beautiful in the eyes of society. Some of these “standards” are gruesome and painful yet people still follow these “standards” created by the society. About beauty bias, it is no surprise that it still exists and is easily found. Our genetics are biologically programmed to be attracted to those that are beautiful in our eyes and it cannot be denied. But, there should be an effort for beauty bias to be reduced due to the fact that it could affect fair judgment and professionalism of people in certain professions. Last but not least, embrace your own beauty, the more we embrace who we are as people and rely less on our physical attributes, the more empowered we become. Beauty shouldn't be easily defined, as it is limitless.#yash
ReplyDeletePerspective; a standpoint that defines every single thing in this world. Human has a different perspective towards each object, depends on their taste, exposure, and experience, carried differently on each person. This creates diverse impressions of many things, including people’s appearance. Why do some people do makeup? Why do some people take plastic surgery? –to fulfil the beauty standards they have in their own mind. Their taste, exposure, and experience work together, form a set of goal of beauty that they desired to be. All people have the right to reach their self-actualization in every way for it doesn’t violate other people’s right. Everyone can have the urge and possess those beauty standards they admire.
ReplyDeleteSome works may require workers to have a good appearance, which is assessed by whoever be the evaluator in the company. The appearance standard –beauty standard depends on the evaluator’s or the whole company’s criteria. Not all the people are qualified enough to meet the appearance requirements, but that doesn’t have to take the wind out of their sails. Every person has their own speciality. Models have beauty as their advantage, scientists have brain as their main treasure, and it’s not vice versa. What we have to do is to maximize the potential that we have to reach the self-actualization in our own definition.
Beauty has always been a controversy amongst the society. I believe it is built upon the feeling of acceptance. What would people do to be accepted into their favoured communities? Going at it on the treadmill? Learning how to put on makeup in order to conceal the so called imperfections? Standards have been built, but is it really necessary for us to abide them? The current trend as of now is not to get other people’s acceptances, but rather to gain and prioritize self-acceptance. Enhancing our beauty for the sake of our needs and not others desires. Being beautiful can mean so many different things depending on the perspective you’re seeing from. To some people being beautiful might mean having a positive mental state, and to others it might mean having glass looking skin. As long as you feel happy pursuing that said meaning of beautiful, I believe that there really is no room for other people to say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThis article intrigues me so much, because it is so relatable considering the fact that the majority of people in this beautiful Mother Nature have very low self-esteem. I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all or anything, but I’ve learned that we have to embrace ourselves, accept the flaws that you have because every human being is unique. As in for the word beauty itself, has such a powerful meaning. People tend to standardize beauty due to the stereotypes the society has made (skinny, tall, tanned, name it all). Throughout the years, I met so many attractive people, but only few actually radiate kindness and positivity. As cheesy as it sounds, I truly believe that beauty is in the heart. And for you who may be struggling to cease the feeling of “not good enough”, please remember that every single person has their own insecurities, we are human beings, we always ask for more. So please, count your blessings not your flaws.
ReplyDeleteI think that the definition of "beauty" is different for everyone, especially in this day and age as stated in the article there are loads of beauty surgeons that costs a fortune, only the rich can afford to pay the surgery, those who does not have enough money would just have to stay patient. Beauty itself cannot be measured, God created us the way we are, we are all different and it is never mandatory to have a surgery to beautify ourselves, "beauty bias" is just a stupid term which could lower people's self esteem. How I see it is that, it is our own choice to look like whatever and however we want, only some people are confident enough with their looks, some people are very sensitive, for example fat shaming, fat shaming is a form of harassment, not bullying and it could lead to suicide. It is absurd to even think that there are competitions or even honours as to who is the "sexiest man alive" or "sexiest woman alive", some people are born more attractive but it does not make them a better person. It is to the point where it motivates young kids to be attractive because apparently being attractive gets you a higher social value. We should all just embrace ourselves, our body is our virtue.
ReplyDeleteWe all probably know and agree that what we see first in a person is their appearance. Talking about appearance, it is connected to beauty. But what does beauty mean? Beauty can be defined by so many perspectives. Beauty for me, is what makes a person feel right, feel nice, inside and outside. So, I don’t think that this beauty bias thing should exist. Society is really cruel, nowadays especially. These beauty standards that society creates, don’t have that much positive effects on people in compare with the negatives. Well, we have to admit that in model industry, or advertising company, it surely does matter whether you are qualified in these “beauty standards” or not. These standards were created back then for a purpose, to be the first thing that is “eye catching” to whoever sees it. But most of people especially women take that wrong. I don’t think people should try to be beautiful. It is just how we embrace ourselves. This “self-love” term should be spread more to our society. Imagine a world with just people who really love themselves. So much better just by thinking of it.
ReplyDeleteWell, in my opinion, when someone talks about beauty (mostly girls like to talk about it so much) only refers to physical appearance or the way someone looks like. Like for example, being beautiful is when someone is skinny, or white, or has a straight hair, or tall and etc. But how can it be a standard for everyone? How can it influence everyone to make them to be like what other’s people want? It seems so unfair how can someone feel like he/she can define whether someone is beautiful or not beautiful in his/her own way and it makes that person feel like it becomes his/her obligation to change his/her physical appearance just to make the person who judges them to feel satisfied. Another confusing thing is that how could a person is controlled by other people’s opinion about his/her own self. It seems so funny to see how this kind of things work in this world. It will be better if we just open up our own mind about the real definition of beautiful and realize it is more than just a physical thing. In my own perspective, being beautiful can’t be defined only by the appearance. It is something more than just that shallow word.
ReplyDeleteBeauty standards are a common problem these days. Body shamming happens everywhere. In Indonesia if we are not pretty, is very hard to keep up with the society. Majority of Indonesian teenagers concern a lot about beauty things. It’s a common thing to found high school students use makeup at school even though the rule is strictly prohibited to use make up at school. This beauty standards cause a lot of pressure in life especially for woman who are not gifted with an attractive face. What is the meaning of beauty actually? For me everyone is beautiful if they think they are beautiful and I believe that everyone is pretty and have their own beauty. So that’s why instead of erasing the beauty standards we need to change the beauty standards so that it could fit everyone. We need to put in mind that everyone have their own inner beauty and that inner beauty is more important than physical beauty. We as a human have to empower each other so we could live in peace happily.
ReplyDeleteNow we live in a society where standards of beauty are advertised everywhere in the media, tricking us into believing that ‘beauty’ is defined by having a toned physique, an aesthetically pleasing visual, porcelain skin and many more unrealistic standards. The term ‘beauty’ is just something molded by the society to classify people into what can and cannot be considered beautiful in our world (although I have no idea why this even exists). This over-represented standards of beauty based on what others believe every so often sickens me and has been overbearing for most children while growing up, and I’m no exception. I have grown up among many people who tends to judge one based on their appearances and I also know how it feels like to be treated that way but fortunately through this experience, I’ve learned lots of lessons. One of which is for people stop comparing themselves to others and should focus on self-acceptance,self-respect and health instead. I also think that what really matters is not someone’s appearance but the beauty that comes from within yet radiates to the outside. An independent and compassionate person is also just as beautiful. The subjective physical beauty might not last longer but innate beauty is inherent. Like they say, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
ReplyDeleteBeauty is a social construct. It is a social construct for its definition differs among cultures and for its meaning changes overtime. For decades our society have came across numerous beauty trends and standards. Beauty in the roaring twenties revolves around having slim figures and bobbed hair whereas beauty towards the end of Victorian Era are women with tousled hair and hourglass figure. Throughout history we have also witnessed women conforming to these standards, from wearing corsets, hairstyling, make up and many more.
ReplyDeleteOne important aspect that influence the existence and implication of beauty standard is the media. The media help shape our definition of beauty by constantly showing what it means to be desirable. The consistency of media in showing these desirable features really influence how we perceive the word beauty. Lately, models with long hair, skinny figures, jawlines, fair skin is present from food advertisement to automotive advertisement.
Unfortunately, conforming to the ever-changing standard of beauty is never truly within our control. Genetics for instance, play a significant role on the physical attributes of an individual. Can we really blame our genes for not having traits for fair skin or skinny figures? No, because it’s out of our control. True, that advancement in technology gave us the ability to modify our physical features, but at what cost?
The realization of the broad range of culture, the biological aspect that is out of our control have inspired many women to speak up. Campaigns about inclusivity of skin tone in makeup industry is a great example of challenging the existing beauty standard within the media. It is up to us and the media to redefine the meaning of beauty. The media should not indulge with a single trait of beauty. Instead, the media should embrace uniqueness among skin colors, eye colors, body shapes and sizes for beauty is supposed to be inclusive, not exclusive.
Personally, I believe that beauty standards are totally subjective since what’s considered as beautiful for an individual might be different for others and the “Beauty Bias” which’s the topic in discussion above are merely the standards of beauty which’s heavily determined by the media which in this case through the what’s called as “The Male Gaze” as stated by Mulvey (a sociologist) which leads to a statement based on this gaze that beauty standards for male and female, but in this case is heavily emphasised on woman’s beauty since this “gaze” are represented in media programs which’s based on man as a media owner sees and expect from a woman. This “gaze” will lead to somewhat illogical standards which could demotivate an individual if this person in particular did not meet the standards and expectatioms from the media. Which can lead to peer pressure or the pressure from the society forcing an individual to follow the “guidelines” which this person might not interested or dislikes the standard and eventualy will lead to social exclusion for this person due to the inability to follow the standards. For me personally what matters most are the way a person behave and how intellectual an individual is or we could say that inner beauty is the one that matters most out of a person. And personally, it would be better if we would keep the beauty standards as something that is unnecessary since every single individual are unique in their own ways and looks.
ReplyDeleteThe term ‘beauty’, whenever it is assigned as an attribute to a human being, could never be and should never be defined. From my point of view, beauty standards correlate with race or skin colour, and gender. Caucasian actresses and models are usually being commoditised to promote beauty standards to people. Thus, the industries have been brainwashing the people by implicitly saying that beauty equals to whiteness. How often do you see an actress or a model from non-Caucasian ethnic background? Exactly. However, in this day and age, the segregation of beauty standards in terms of skin colour has blurred, as people are no longer afraid of expressing whom they really love, without caring about the ‘standards’ set by society. Most people would think that ‘beauty’ is a feminine characteristic, and this is where the problem lies. Women are being objectified through men’s idea of ‘beauty’, and they are being expected to try to meet the standards set by men. The general ‘beauty standards are nothing but sexist implications of men’s effort to protect their fragile masculinity against women.
ReplyDeleteAll and all, the future of ‘beauty’ lies on an individual level. People should not be afraid to have their own definition of ‘beauty’, without having to conform to what the society shows. ‘Beauty’ is not only something that our eyes see; we can also feel the ‘beauty’ inside a person. Men can be beautiful too, through their actions and personality. Everybody can be beautiful. Everybody is beautiful.
Beauty is something that should never have a standard. In my opinion, beauty exists within everyone so there is no limit on defining the word beauty. Beauty is so much more than what society is trying to portray. Kindness is a form of beauty, intelligence is a form of beauty, compassion is a form beauty and also independence is a form of beauty so my point is, there are a lot of ways to consider something as a form of beauty. We can’t keep setting beauty standards that are clearly exclusive. There shouldn’t be any standards or bias in the first place. Someone’s appearance should not define them or even, make them feel as if they are less of a woman. In Indonesia, I have witnessed and came across multiple incidents of men body shaming women because those women didn’t fit their idea of beauty. They treated women as if they were objects. Women are not objects. Women are human beings who deserve to be respected regardless of how they look.
ReplyDeleteBeauty. What is the definition of being beautiful? For Ethiopian women having body scars cut onto the stomach of woman are seen as beautiful adornments meant to attract men who are husband material. For for Thai women long, giraffe-like necks are the ultimate sign of beauty and female elegance. On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese women pale, white skin is revered as a sign of affluence and attractiveness. So, what is the meaning behind the word beauty? According to my point of view, there’s no words or explanation when it comes to the meaning of beauty. It might be the most mainstream and common phrase but I do believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way. A lot of girls especially teenage girls these days always find ways on how to be thinner or how to have fair skin. Even some people are willing to pay millions of rupiah to “fix” their physical appearance. For me personally, I always think about how to increase my weight since a lot of people think that I’m too thin and I would never think about how other people who would pay millions to perform weight loss surgery. I would always think about how to “fix” and change myself toward what my society think is the definition of beautiful. At times I tend to think too hard about my physical appearance and I forgot about my true values. Being beautiful is not a negative thing, there’s really nothing wrong with being beautiful. It’s just sometimes I think that the society is too harsh and the reality is if you’re not considered as beautiful, people will see you differently. Although that might not be the case in your society but there are lots of people who don’t get the same advantage with those who are considered as beautiful. Some may think that being beautiful is not something that they chose but people have to realized and be grateful for that advantage. In conclusion, even though being beautiful isn’t a negative thing, you guys still have to realize and be aware of your true values in life. Always remember that how you see yourself is all that matter and not how other people or the how the society see you.
ReplyDeleteFor me, beauty is a relative term. People will have a different perspective when it comes to beauty. Some might said that a certain person is beautiful, but some might disagree with them. It is a subjective matter where people’s opinion plays a role in determining beauty through their gaze. However, there are standards of beauty at some point, having a thin body and smooth skin for instances. And most people put their best efforts to comply with the standards. They are the ones who believe the quote “Beauty is pain” and who would do anything in favor of people’s perspectives about their appearance, like avoiding foods that contain high calories. However, is the torture necessary? Is it worth spending millions of money only for beauty? For me, it is not necessary to torture yourself just to make people think that you are beautiful. “We can’t change the way they look, but we can change the way we see them.”, a statement that I strongly agree with.
ReplyDeleteBeauty standard is created by society. The standard varies to each country/region. In Indonesia, i do feel our beauty standard is fair skin, long straight hair, and skinny postures. Mostly the beauty standard is delivered through media. So many advertisement encourage people-especially woman- to have fairer skin, straighter hair, skinnier body etc. Nowadays in Indonesia the most popular beauty standard are Korean and Caucasian beauty. Appearance seems to matter the most these days. I've seen lots of Indonesian news that only talk about appearances, for instance: sport news that highlight the appearance of the athletes, and not the achievement. Especially now that Indonesia is the house of Asian Games 2018. Personally, i strongly agree and live by the statement 'the only one who can define our beauty is ourselves'. Even though society creates such standard, it is up to us whether we want to live by that standard or not. But still, it isnt a right thing to do to put down people that are comfortable in their own skin just because their appearance doesn't fit with the beauty standard. And it is important to know that beauty doesn't define our success, as it is shown in the article, people who are considered 'unattractive' by the society can be successful like Bill Gates. This shows that appearance (beauty) is not everything, after all.
ReplyDeleteIn society, i believe that there are some people who care about “beauty” while others don’t. The importance and standart of beauty itself depends on ourselves. Maybe some people think that they have to look pretty / beautiful in front of many people, but i personally think that beauty is not very essential. Due to the desire to be beautiful people choose to do make up (what i mean is not a simple make up, but a very thick make up) or even more worse, plastic surgery, that actually brings bad impact to our health. In my opinion, we just have to accept what we have instead of trying to be beautiful by doing things that are not good. Although i realize that people’s first impression mostly about us is our appearance. But, Instead of trying to be beautiful, we can just focus on our inner beauty, beause as we get to know people longer, we search for people who have a good personality and bring a good impact to us, not people who are looking good only in appearance.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their own definition of beauty. Every society has their own expectation on beauty. But is it wrong to have an expectation on beauty? Should we have our own expectation on beauty? In this generation where everything has grown rapidly, each individual are competing to have the most attractive look. It is not wrong to have certain standards of beauty. However, if your purpose is to impress others rather than to be comfortable in your own skin, that’s one wrong purpose. Beauty is not something that we should achieve but it something that will shine on its own. Eventhough, as a human being, we may find insecurity in the way, it is a normal thing to find a way to overcome it because it is a process to get to ourselves and to determine who we really are. Lastly, in my opinion the true definition of beauty is revealed from within because at the end your personality and kindness will define your beauty, not your physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteEvery country has their own beauty standard. Ever seen a Caucasian person trying to use a fake tan, or how Asian women are head over heels for whitening products? Some people aren’t satisfied with their own skin color, hence they try different ways to make them look better. I would say that as human, grass is always greener on the other side. Yes, the society used to set standard, although everyone is beautiful in their own way. Today, this habit is shifting since more beauty companies are convincing women that beauty is from within and that women should be comfortable with their own skin regardless of the color. For example, Dove is pioneering a campaign that states beauty as a source of confidence, not anxiety. The company is starting to market its product with models that have a different skin color. Dove also made an advertisement that is very interesting; there was this painter who assigned a child to describe their mother and asks their mother to describe themselves. The painter hasn't met them so they drew the mother solely on the description given. It can be seen that the painting that is described by the child is much more beautiful than the one described by the mother. This draws a conclusion that women tend to perceive themselves as ugly; although they are much more beautiful than they think. I think a small act like this will prevent the beauty standard and convince women around the world that everyone is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone has their own definition of beauty. Some people will only call themselves beautiful if they manage to reach a certain the amount of weight or height. Some people feel beautiful only with a full makeup on and some people already felt comfortable in their own skin. There was never a solid definition of what beauty is. Up until the 19th century, Marylin Monroe was considered the sexiest woman alive. But if we look at her pictures now, in our century, her physical look doesn't quite match our definition of beauty in this era. Her arms and calves were rather thick. She didn't have a flat tummy nor a thigh gap. She also didn't have long luscious hair everyone dreamt of. Ironically, now, if we look like her or one of our body parts are similiar to what she had, we would never be considered sexy nor beautiful. This is the effects of social media in this era, it generalized the meaning of beauty into 1 standard. In which a women should have long luscious hair, perfectly pouted lips, high structured cheekbones, small waist, flat stomach, etc if they ever wanna be called "pretty" or "beautiful". What breaks my heart is the fact that most women are willing to hurt themselves just to be categorized as the "pretty girl". I'm hoping in the future, more girls would notice how beautiful they already are and I hope you can see what others see in you, people who love you. I know going to the "I love me" phase is not an easy thing to do, but you will get there soon, it's only a matter of time. Just trust the process.
ReplyDeleteStereotyping beautiful standards has happened since a long time ago, being beautiful means being white and everything in the beauty industry caters to white people. If one goes into a drugstore as a person of color, they might not be able to find a foundation color to match their skin because the selection is small. Meanwhile, there are many choices for white people.
ReplyDeleteBeing thin, white, and having a long hair, have been advertised as the "ideal" by mainstream media. But there shouldn’t be a standard at all, the truth is we don’t have to agree with these beauty standards, and we don’t have to look at these bodies and agree that they are perfect either. We are allowed to form our own perspective of beauty. Nobody should expect someone to look in a certain way because humans shouldn’t be confined to these small boxes we try to force each other into. Every person should see her own beauty because every person is beautiful in their own.
I believe that the meaning of beauty is different for everybody. In this era people, especially women, are feeling pressured to be skinny and have clear skin by the society. I think that the reason they want to be skinny and have clear skin is because of the beauty campaign all over the television, radio, Youtube, Instagram, and other social media. Beauty campaigns always shows a skinny women with clear skin, and it made most of women feel they have to look like the women on the campaign to be beautiful. Like it or not, this made us create our own beauty standard. It made us want to have a plastic surgery just because we want to look like the women on the beauty campaign. I think that beauty itself can’t be measured. God have created us different from the others and have our own uniqueness. From my perspective, we have to embrace the face that have been given to us and also we have to respect other people that are very different looking than us. Different does not mean ugly. To be honest, I am quite happy that my face is different from the others. That means that I have my own uniqueness that nobody has. We also have to respect other people choices, because it is their own choice if they want to look however and whatever they want. Bullying is not an option. Just because some people are fat, does not mean that you could fat shame them. Fat shaming is a type of harassment that I experience almost every day. In the beginning, I started to believe the things that people were saying to me. They said that I have to be skinny to be beautiful. Because of that words, I hate my body. I hate that I am not skinny like most of my friends. I hate my curves. It was a long way before I realized that beauty does not mean skinny. I believe that beauty is not about the surface, beauty is deeper than the eyes can find. Beauty is about acceptance and embrace. So now I embrace my curves and I am confident in my own skin. I also don’t envy the women on the beauty campaign anymore. I love me for who I am, and I think that you should to.
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