Definition Essay On Beauty Standards
Beauty is combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. This is how the majority of people define beauty without having an understanding of its different points. We are so closed minded about how we should look and how we should not look that we overlook the big picture. Beauty gives us confidence and should make us feel confident in how we choose to express yourself. There should not be one ideal way we should look, but we somehow put ourselves into categories that we think define us. We have programmed in our minds that we have to fit certain standards to be able to fit in. Beauty standards are unrealistic and culturally arbitrary; therefore, people should not cause themselves
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undue harm in conforming to them. A major aspect in our society is how social media emphasizes the "ideal body" that everyone wants.
Most people check their social media constantly throughout the day viewing different pictures and tweets. We all see pictures of people with a perfect body: tan skin, white teeth, shiny hair, fit, and skinny. Social media gives us the perception that we have to look like this to look and be beautiful. Judging ourselves based on social media starts at all ages. Crain states in her article, " HSMABI," that, "More and more children are becoming sucked into the glitz and glamour of social media, and the ages that children are beginning to experience discomfort with their body is lowering." In this example, we see that social media plays a big role in our everyday lives and affects all ages. We do not notice how much we judge ourselves because it is our norm. If we do not look exactly like a model, we are ugly. If we do not wear exactly what everyone else is wearing, we are weird. Most women just wants to fit in with the latest trends and try to fit in as much as possible. Most people do not want to be different, so they become someone that they are not. There should not be one "ideal body type" because everyone is different in their own way which makes them
unique. Most of the time, our beauty inspirations come from actors, musicians, and recently, youtubers. They always keep up with the newest trends which create certain looks to re-create. Women and men have that certain role model they want to look like. By having a role model, it gives a person motivation to be brave and confident to achieve a particular look. The new type of beauty inspiration comes from beauty bloggers on YouTube. They show you how to create endless amounts of looks that varies on what we want to achieve. According to Dove, "Beauty has become more personalized and more inclusive on the Internet." We have endless amounts of inspiration to choose from. There is something for everyone such as different body types, skin types, face shapes, etc. We are molding ourselves into the type of person we want to be. By having role models, they lead us towards our mental and physical goals, and how we want to view ourselves. Role models have positive impacts on our beauty views and standards because they are usually who we lean towards when needing inspiration. They gives us motivation to be the best person we can be. All around the world, there are all different types of cultures, and they all perceive beauty in a certain way. Every country has different characteristics that define their particular culture. They vary from the area in which they live. "In the West, popular consensus will tell you that majority still values the aesthetic of a tall, slender-but-busy woman with delicate features." (Susy Alexandra) In this example, it shows the "ideal" body in more of the Western countries while in Korea, "One of the most coveted traits in Korea is their sought-after porcelain skin." (Alexandra) These two examples help us understand what different cultures value more than others. In some cultures, it is viewed as beauty to be thicker than skinny, or vice-versa. Other countries wear jewelry or fix their hair a certain way. Some like pale skin and some like tan, deep skin. All around the world, we will run into different cultures. They will all have different beauty standards based on how they look and how they dress. Beauty is defined in such a particular way and everyone tries to fit in the category of being beautiful. So, no matter where we live, we will still undergo the ongoing standards of looking a certain way to fit in with the culture. Throughout time, beauty was defined in different ways based off of what time period they lived in. The image of beauty twenty years ago has changed from the image of beauty now. There are many different views on how beauty was defined. "But one thing did unite them: huge hair! A dramatically sculpted face was also in style." (Laura Caseley) In this example, it showed the beauty trends in the 1980s. Yet, in the roaring '20s, "Flappers chopped their hair into bobs and started showing off their legs."(Caseley) It just depended on what time period you were born. Women followed the latest trends, especially when women were fighting for equal rights. Women wanted to stand out and be bold. We can understand their need for self-confidence throughout history based off of what they expressed to the public. After all these years, women are still expressing themselves through beauty. Recently, the trends are based off of different makeup looks and toned bodies. This was not the trend many years ago, so we can see how beauty does change over time. Even though beauty standards affect our daily decisions, it can cause many people to commit self-harm to themselves. It is known that self-objectification is closely related to bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Many people strive to meet the societal ideas of thinness which leads to high risk dieting, bingeing, or not eating all together. Women might exercise more to boost their appearance or for weight related reasons that might relate to social standards of thinness. One equal world states, " These beauty standards are increasingly detrimental to women, even models admit they don't look like the ads in real life." Models are constantly demonstrating how thin we should look, but usually it is not healthy. Many models are dying of starvation or vomit once a day to maintain their body shape. Disorders can be detected by symptoms such as depression, body shame, and appearance anxiety. Many people compare themselves to unrealistic beauty standards. Beauty standards are good until it begins to affect our health, mentally and physically. We should not have to compare ourselves to others to be able to have self-confidence. Nowadays, it is not a surprise that the ideal of beauty starts at such a young age. Many young girls have the impression that they have to fit a certain style to fit in with others. Teen require different advice on style than the advice from years before. They are constantly browsing social media and keeping up with the beauty community that start beauty trends. Libby Jourdan states, " They're told from the second that they're handed an iPhone that you have to look, dress and act like they're 12 going on 20." This shows that teens really do get the impression to fit a certain standard. Society has conformed into this ideal standard of beauty that was not present in older generations. Teens are already picking out their flaws because that is how society wants them to be. It wants us to be judgmental to ourselves and others. Some people begin to have dissatisfaction with their body as young as the age of 5. Our society has formed these standards to something we should be ashamed of because our younger generations are already trying to for fulfill them at such a young age. Our "everyday struggles" are constantly based around how we look. Some may not agree, but everything we do or say is focused around a certain standard. We are taught and influenced at such a young age about the complex views of beauty. Yet, the standards just continue to change as years go by. As people grow up, they form different opinions and viewpoints. Something that is important now, might be irrelevant later in life. It all just depends on where you stand in the world. Our society is always going to have beauty standards. We can either change them to fit healthy and accepting factors, or we can accept what we have become.
undue harm in conforming to them. A major aspect in our society is how social media emphasizes the "ideal body" that everyone wants.
Most people check their social media constantly throughout the day viewing different pictures and tweets. We all see pictures of people with a perfect body: tan skin, white teeth, shiny hair, fit, and skinny. Social media gives us the perception that we have to look like this to look and be beautiful. Judging ourselves based on social media starts at all ages. Crain states in her article, " HSMABI," that, "More and more children are becoming sucked into the glitz and glamour of social media, and the ages that children are beginning to experience discomfort with their body is lowering." In this example, we see that social media plays a big role in our everyday lives and affects all ages. We do not notice how much we judge ourselves because it is our norm. If we do not look exactly like a model, we are ugly. If we do not wear exactly what everyone else is wearing, we are weird. Most women just wants to fit in with the latest trends and try to fit in as much as possible. Most people do not want to be different, so they become someone that they are not. There should not be one "ideal body type" because everyone is different in their own way which makes them
unique. Most of the time, our beauty inspirations come from actors, musicians, and recently, youtubers. They always keep up with the newest trends which create certain looks to re-create. Women and men have that certain role model they want to look like. By having a role model, it gives a person motivation to be brave and confident to achieve a particular look. The new type of beauty inspiration comes from beauty bloggers on YouTube. They show you how to create endless amounts of looks that varies on what we want to achieve. According to Dove, "Beauty has become more personalized and more inclusive on the Internet." We have endless amounts of inspiration to choose from. There is something for everyone such as different body types, skin types, face shapes, etc. We are molding ourselves into the type of person we want to be. By having role models, they lead us towards our mental and physical goals, and how we want to view ourselves. Role models have positive impacts on our beauty views and standards because they are usually who we lean towards when needing inspiration. They gives us motivation to be the best person we can be. All around the world, there are all different types of cultures, and they all perceive beauty in a certain way. Every country has different characteristics that define their particular culture. They vary from the area in which they live. "In the West, popular consensus will tell you that majority still values the aesthetic of a tall, slender-but-busy woman with delicate features." (Susy Alexandra) In this example, it shows the "ideal" body in more of the Western countries while in Korea, "One of the most coveted traits in Korea is their sought-after porcelain skin." (Alexandra) These two examples help us understand what different cultures value more than others. In some cultures, it is viewed as beauty to be thicker than skinny, or vice-versa. Other countries wear jewelry or fix their hair a certain way. Some like pale skin and some like tan, deep skin. All around the world, we will run into different cultures. They will all have different beauty standards based on how they look and how they dress. Beauty is defined in such a particular way and everyone tries to fit in the category of being beautiful. So, no matter where we live, we will still undergo the ongoing standards of looking a certain way to fit in with the culture. Throughout time, beauty was defined in different ways based off of what time period they lived in. The image of beauty twenty years ago has changed from the image of beauty now. There are many different views on how beauty was defined. "But one thing did unite them: huge hair! A dramatically sculpted face was also in style." (Laura Caseley) In this example, it showed the beauty trends in the 1980s. Yet, in the roaring '20s, "Flappers chopped their hair into bobs and started showing off their legs."(Caseley) It just depended on what time period you were born. Women followed the latest trends, especially when women were fighting for equal rights. Women wanted to stand out and be bold. We can understand their need for self-confidence throughout history based off of what they expressed to the public. After all these years, women are still expressing themselves through beauty. Recently, the trends are based off of different makeup looks and toned bodies. This was not the trend many years ago, so we can see how beauty does change over time. Even though beauty standards affect our daily decisions, it can cause many people to commit self-harm to themselves. It is known that self-objectification is closely related to bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Many people strive to meet the societal ideas of thinness which leads to high risk dieting, bingeing, or not eating all together. Women might exercise more to boost their appearance or for weight related reasons that might relate to social standards of thinness. One equal world states, " These beauty standards are increasingly detrimental to women, even models admit they don't look like the ads in real life." Models are constantly demonstrating how thin we should look, but usually it is not healthy. Many models are dying of starvation or vomit once a day to maintain their body shape. Disorders can be detected by symptoms such as depression, body shame, and appearance anxiety. Many people compare themselves to unrealistic beauty standards. Beauty standards are good until it begins to affect our health, mentally and physically. We should not have to compare ourselves to others to be able to have self-confidence. Nowadays, it is not a surprise that the ideal of beauty starts at such a young age. Many young girls have the impression that they have to fit a certain style to fit in with others. Teen require different advice on style than the advice from years before. They are constantly browsing social media and keeping up with the beauty community that start beauty trends. Libby Jourdan states, " They're told from the second that they're handed an iPhone that you have to look, dress and act like they're 12 going on 20." This shows that teens really do get the impression to fit a certain standard. Society has conformed into this ideal standard of beauty that was not present in older generations. Teens are already picking out their flaws because that is how society wants them to be. It wants us to be judgmental to ourselves and others. Some people begin to have dissatisfaction with their body as young as the age of 5. Our society has formed these standards to something we should be ashamed of because our younger generations are already trying to for fulfill them at such a young age. Our "everyday struggles" are constantly based around how we look. Some may not agree, but everything we do or say is focused around a certain standard. We are taught and influenced at such a young age about the complex views of beauty. Yet, the standards just continue to change as years go by. As people grow up, they form different opinions and viewpoints. Something that is important now, might be irrelevant later in life. It all just depends on where you stand in the world. Our society is always going to have beauty standards. We can either change them to fit healthy and accepting factors, or we can accept what we have become.