beauty standards in social media essay

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Home > Books > Beauty - Cosmetic Science, Cultural Issues and Creative Developments

Social Media and Its Effects on Beauty

Submitted: 16 March 2020 Reviewed: 06 July 2020 Published: 21 September 2020

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.93322

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Beauty is concerned with physical and mental health as both are intimately related. Short-term decisions to alter one’s body structure irrespective of genetic, environmental, occupational and nutritional needs can leave medium- and long-term effects. This chapter analyzes the role of social media and its effects on the standards of beauty. The researchers have summarized the literature on how social media plays a role in affecting beauty trends, body image and self-esteem concerns. There is support that social media affects individuals negatively, in pushing them to engage in life threatening beauty trends due to social compliance and acceptance in society. The aim was to review social networking sites’ impact on perception of standards of beauty and newer unrealistic trends gaining popularity that could alter opinions and also cause harm to individuals in the long run. This is an emerging area of research that is of high importance to the physical and mental health in the beauty, health and hospitality industry with the latter being manifested in depression, anxiety and fear of non-acceptability and being seen as a social gauche.

• social media
• self-esteem
• body modification
• body dissatisfaction

Author Information

Mavis henriques *.

• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Goa Campus, India

Debasis Patnaik

• Department of Economics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Goa Campus, India

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

Social media refers to the use of websites and applications to create and share content or to participate in social networking [ 1 ]. Technological developments have given rise to various gadgets including smart-phones, tablets, and laptops to robots too. Living in a digitized era, communication has now become easier and faster with the emergence of various social applications available at the click of a button. While many may agree that social media has connected individuals globally, it has also been used to set standards of beauty for males, females as well as the third gender. This in turn has been known to affect the self-esteem of individuals with regards to body image, body modification and how they view themselves in society. In order to be accepted in society females have to battle body image issues from a very young age, where thin is considered to be the ideal body type [ 2 ].

This chapter focuses on the effects of social media on standards of beauty. We review the literature on the role of social media and how they affect the physical and psychological beauty of individuals in society.

2. Effects of social media on the aspects of body image

Today, Social Media is one of the most important factors contributing to the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health of an individual. With the media constantly portraying ideal beauty and body image comparisons, the decisions of men and women’s beauty choices are globally affected.

“Body image refers to a person’s perception of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings, positive, negative or both, which result from that perception” [ 3 ]. Social media has had a major impact on the perceptual, affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of body image [ 3 ] by encouraging lean body patterns and delivering anti-obesity messages [ 4 ]. Eating disorders determine a distorted relationship between the individual, their eating behavior and body shape [ 5 ]. Adolescence being a crucial age for positive and negative development of body image, the self-esteem and body dissatisfaction adolescents feel are known predictors of eating disorders [ 6 ]. Continuous pursuit for the perfect slender lean body may generate negative feelings which can result in a change in eating behavior, thereby increasing the chances of weight issues and eating disorders [ 4 , 7 ]. Social media portrays women who are slim as being more beautiful and successful compared to overweight women [ 8 ]. Body image misperception and dissatisfaction with body weight highlight an association between body dissatisfaction and psychological wellbeing [ 9 ].

3. Self-esteem issues in response to social media effects

Body image concerns are common in women and men globally, but social media has now increased these concerns through advertising, videos and the use of social media. Milkie [ 10 ] conducted in-depth interviews on 60 white and minority girls to examine the effect of media on self-esteem. Results indicated that most girls felt that the images shown in media were unrealistic and not real. White girls felt that boys evaluated them on the basis of the images found on media platforms whereas the minority girls felt that the images portrayed on media did not meet the expectations of the reference group they oriented themselves with. The evolution from adolescence to adulthood has seen 12–16 teenage girls experience emotional changes in interpersonal and intrapersonal development as well as bodily changes such as sudden weight gain and transition from a young girl to a fully grown woman [ 11 , 12 ]. In today’s world, the self-presentation of beauty and perceptions of others plays an important role in developing identities in girls [ 13 , 14 ]. New interactive platforms present in social media demonstrate how self-presentations and peer influences are interrelated with the standards of beauty [ 15 ]. Many women may imitate their ideal media personality due to the social, psychological and practical rewards associated with this ideal and the belief that their life would change for the better [ 16 ].

4. Social media: trends in behavioral outcomes

Social media comprises of social networking sites, image sharing sites, video hosting sites, community blogs, bookmarking sites and gaming sites. Fellow comparisons about self-image and appearances in teenagers have resulted due to social networking sites (SNSs) such as Instagram and Facebook [ 17 ]. Teenage girls engage in online self-presentation of posting selfies and sharing the outfit of the day pictures to differentiate themselves with their peers [ 18 ]. Media images of ideal beauty standards influence the content and sharing of pictures teenage girls’ post [ 19 ]. Individuals are constantly seeking feedback on SNSs through likes, followers and comments to uphold a perfect and stable image of themselves [ 20 ]. Teenage girls are vulnerable to the upward comparison as it means that they need to improve their beauty standards, thereby leaving them dissatisfied with their physical bodies, having doubts about their self-worth and also driving them to self-harm behavior [ 20 , 21 ].

Taking selfies and sharing them on popular social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat has increased at an alarming rate during the recent years. A recent study compared selfie takers and non selfie takers and their perceptions of their selfies versus photographs clicked by others. Results indicated that selfie takers perceived themselves as more attractive and likable in their selfies as opposed to pictures taken by others leading to positive distortions of the self [ 22 ]. Biases in self-face recognition were seen in men and women in selecting the most attractive modified pictures of themselves [ 23 ]. Selfies are no harm per se. But obsession with physical features reveals a lack of holistic perception of self-generated sub-consciously, following an “outside” standard of beauty not defined by the “inner self” of the receiver.

Popular socialites Kim and Khloe Kardashian have been slammed with media reports of them using photoshop to edit Instagram selfies by making unrealistic alterations to look thinner and more toned. Emily Bryngelson, an associate designer struggling with an eating disorder, admitted to deleting pictures if they did not receive enough “likes.” The time spent on Facebook photos was linked to self-objectification, weight dissatisfaction, thin idealization and pursuit of thinness [ 15 ].

5. Social media and unrealistic beauty standards

There are multiple factors that affect the beauty standards in the world today, which involve women and men and the third gender individuals trying new trends to be socially accepted. The purchasing decisions of millennials are influenced majorly by social media [ 24 ]. 72% of millennials procure beauty products based on Instagram posts and other social networks [ 25 ]. Makeup consists of the application of cosmetic products to beautify or change the way one looks either artistically or to conceal flaws. Jang-Soon and Hye-Jin [ 26 ] investigated 240 teenage males’ preferences for makeup use. Results indicated that their appearance was one of the major reasons for their social success. The male respondents who were young, unmarried and city residents had an overall positive perception about cosmetics [ 26 ]. With bloggers constantly advertising on social media, cosmetic products, have gained popularity.

The images on social media sites are idealized and unreal, due to digital alteration thereby setting high expectations from individuals in society. Imperfections are removed by airbrushing and using other digitized apps to whiten teeth, slim waists and reduce sizes in order to be accepted as beauty ideals [ 27 ]. These techniques may further lead to negative consequences of increased body dissatisfaction, body modification and low self-esteem issues. Unrealistic images of feminity, beauty, success and body shape promoted through social media images are associated with development of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction disorders [ 28 , 29 ].

Filters and beauty apps represent another area in which social media has a major influence. Beauty apps encourage women to see and surveil themselves within a “pedagogy of defect” [ 30 ]. They include filters and modification apps, surgery try out apps, and esthetic benchmarking apps which help individuals visualize how they will look after certain changes such as teeth whitening, eye bag removal and also whether the individual looks old or young [ 31 ].

“Body modification refers to the deliberate or permanent altering of an individual’s human anatomy or appearance” [ 32 ]. They involve two aspects: the processes that modify form or contours of the body such as metabolic manipulation (weight lifting, extreme dieting, use of drugs/steroids, hormones), cosmetic surgeries and procedures (liposuction, face-lifts, rhinoplasty, botox, eye lash extensions), genital surgery and sex reassignment surgery, restriction or compression (waist training, foot binding), abrasion (teeth filing, scourging, flagellation), elongation (neck, lips, earlobes), partial or full removal of body parts (breasts, penis, ribs, nose etc.), implantation of foreign objects (silicone implants, decorative items under the skin), and prosthetics (false limbs, finger nails, lenses) and processes that mark the surface of the body such as tattooing, piercing, tanning/bleaching, scarification, branding and hair removal [ 32 ].

Young women and teenage girls following fitness boards on Pinterest were likely to have intensions to engage in extreme crash dieting or extreme exercising as a result of social comparison leading them to feelings of inadequacy and body dissatisfaction [ 33 , 34 ].

6. Body modification trends in society

From professional athletes to celebrities, contouring, tattooing and body piercings has gained popularity in today’s society [ 35 ]. Individuals who get tattooed refer to it as a piece of art and piercing as fashion accessories, for the purpose of embellishment or as a self-healing effect after having being abused [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. A survey conducted at an American University found body piercings in 42% of men and 60% of women with piercings involving tongue, lips, nose, navel, genitals, nipple and eyebrow besides the earlobe piercing. Bacterial infections, bleeding and local trauma were common complications faced. “Tattoos were present in 22% of male students and 26% of female students” [ 40 ].

Another reason why individuals engage in body modifications is to maintain self-identities and be distinctive from others [ 41 , 42 ]. Physical endurance, lust for pain, spirituality and cultural traditions, addictions, resistance, sexual motives, group commitments are reasons why individuals adopt modification procedures [ 43 ]. Social Media has had a tremendous effect on how individuals perceive and endure painful tattooing and body modifications after viewing popular Instagram and Pinterest handles. Brief exposure to body modifications on popular social networking sites has seen an increase in tattoo searches and body modification procedures in young as well as older individuals, proving the impact of Social Media on Beauty trends in society.

7. Adopting to ever changing social media trends: Is it right?

Social media has a robust influence on the beauty, health and hospitality industry with women and men engaging in weight loss and diets to avoid gaining fat identities that impacted their wellbeing in the long run [ 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Women and men have turned to waxing, shaving and removal of unwanted facial and body hair in order to meet the beauty standards of societal acceptance [ 47 , 48 ]. Women who did not engage in hair removal were negatively evaluated as being dirty or gross [ 49 , 50 ]. In 2010, a concept of living dolls emerged online with women practicing the art of appearing “doll like.” These women would engage in usage of wide rimmed contact lenses, hair extensions, corsets, photo editing and surgery including, eye widening, breast implants, liposuction and rib removal to enhance their beauty [ 31 ]. Even though women knew the risks in false eyelashes and acrylic nails, they still reported to be continuing to engage in it to feel socially accepted [ 31 ].

8. Using social media for body positivity

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other networking sites have the potential to influence positive beliefs and attitudes in individuals [ 51 ]. The online platform has given many individuals a feeling of a “sense of belonging.” Men and women are obsessed with images on social media portals and often search for esthetic body types which are not similar to their own body. Instagram and Facebook often have stories of individuals who have fought hard to change beauty standards through sheer dedication and hard work, be it exercising, eating healthy or building self-esteem and body acceptance through support groups and communities found online. Blocking body shamers can help reinforce confidence in men and women globally. Promoting videos on life struggles with weight motivate others to believe in never giving up and taking charge of their lives. Today social media includes individuals of different race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, thereby focusing more on breaking stereotypes and building communities to support each other.

9. Conclusion

With technology advancing by the minute and newer apps surfacing online, social media has an immediate effect on beauty. Due to the ever changing body images depicted online, individuals are turning to social media handles for acceptance and support. The selfie culture has brought about a positive and negative change in how individuals perceive themselves. While most research today focuses on the negative impacts of social media on beauty, more interest should be laid on body positivity and using social media as a medium for self-acceptance whether beautified or not.

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• WOMEN OF IMPACT

The idea of beauty is always shifting. Today, it’s more inclusive than ever.

Whom we deem ‘beautiful’ is a reflection of our values. Now, a more expansive world has arrived where ‘we are all beautiful.’

The Sudanese model Alek Wek appeared on the November 1997 cover of the U.S. edition of Elle magazine, in a photograph by French creative director Gilles Bensimon . It was, as is so often the case in the beauty business, a global production.

Wek, with her velvety ebony skin and mere whisper of an Afro, was posed in front of a stark, white screen. Her simple, white Giorgio Armani blazer almost disappeared into the background. Wek, however, was intensely present.

She was standing at an angle but looking directly into the camera with a pleasant smile spread across her face, which wasn’t so much defined by planes and angles as by sweet, broad, distinctly African curves. Wek represented everything that a traditional cover girl was not.

More than 20 years after she was featured on that Elle cover, the definition of beauty has continued to expand, making room for women of color, obese women, women with vitiligo , bald women, women with gray hair and wrinkles. We are moving toward a culture of big-tent beauty. One in which everyone is welcome. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone’s idealized version can be seen in the pages of magazines or on the runways of Paris.

We have become more accepting because people have demanded it, protested for it, and used the bully pulpit of social media to shame beauty’s gatekeepers into opening the doors wider.

Eye of the beholder

Technology has put the power to define beauty in the hands of the people. Mobile phones allow people greater control of their image, and include apps that come with filters used for fun, appearance, and entertainment.

Wek was a new vision of beauty—that virtue forever attached to women . It has long been a measure of their social value; it is also a tool to be used and manipulated. A woman should not let her beauty go to waste; that was something people would say back when a woman’s future depended on her marrying well. Her husband’s ambition and potential should be as dazzling as her fine features.

For Hungry Minds

Beauty is, of course, cultural. What one community admires may leave another group of people cold or even repulsed. What one individual finds irresistible elicits a shrug from another. Beauty is personal. But it’s also universal. There are international beauties—those people who have come to represent the standard.

For generations, beauty required a slender build but with a generous bosom and a narrow waist. The jawline was to be defined, the cheekbones high and sharp. The nose angular. The lips full but not distractingly so. The eyes, ideally blue or green, large and bright. Hair was to be long, thick, and flowing—and preferably golden. Symmetry was desired. Youthfulness, that went without saying.

This was the standard from the earliest days of women’s magazines, when beauty was codified and commercialized. The so-called great beauties and swans—women such as actress Catherine Deneuve , socialite C.Z. Guest , or Princess Grace —came closest to this ideal. The further one diverged from this version of perfection, the more exotic a woman became. Diverge too much and a woman was simply considered less attractive—or desirable or valuable. And for some women—black and brown or fat or old ones—beauty seemed impossible in the broader culture.

In the early part of the 1990s, the definition of beauty as it applied to women began to loosen thanks to the arrival of Kate Moss , with her slight figure and vaguely ragamuffin aesthetic. Standing five feet seven inches, she was short for a runway walker. The British teenager was not particularly graceful, and she lacked the noble bearing that gave many other models their regal air. Moss’s star turn in advertisements for Calvin Klein signified a major departure from the long-legged gazelles of years past.

Moss was disruptive to the beauty system, but she was still well within the industry’s comfort zone of defining beauty as a white, European conceit. So too were the youthquake models of the 1960s such as Twiggy , who had the gangly, curveless physique of a 12-year-old boy. The 1970s brought Lauren Hutton, who stirred scandal simply because she had a gap between her teeth.

Even the early black models who broke barriers were relatively safe: women such as Beverly Johnson, the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue , the Somali-born Iman, Naomi Campbell, and Tyra Banks. They had keen features and flowing hair—or wigs or weaves to give the illusion that they did. Iman had a luxuriously long neck that made legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland gasp. Campbell was—and is—all va-va-voom legs and hips, and Banks rose to fame as the girl next door in a polka dot bikini on the cover of Sports Illustrated .

Wek was a revelation. Her beauty was something entirely different.

Her tightly coiled hair was sheared close to her scalp. Her seemingly poreless skin was the color of dark chocolate. Her nose was broad; her lips were full. Her legs were impossibly long and incredibly thin. Indeed, her entire body had the stretched-out sinewiness of an African stick figure brought to life.

To eyes that had been trained to understand beauty through the lens of Western culture, Wek was jarring to everyone, and black folks were no exception. Many of them did not consider her beautiful. Even women who might have looked in the mirror and seen the same nearly coal black skin and tightly coiled hair reflected back had trouble reckoning with this Elle cover girl.

See and be seen

Fashion and beauty magazines present a paragon of aspiration, often setting beauty standards for women across cultures. The magazines also serve as giant advertisements for the industries dependent on selling these ideals to willing customers.

Wek was abruptly and urgently transformative. It was as though some great cultural mountain had been scaled by climbing straight up a steep slope, as if there were neither time nor patience for switchbacks. To see Wek celebrated was exhilarating and vertiginous. Everything about her was the opposite of what had come before.

We are in a better place than we were a generation ago, but we have not arrived at utopia. Many of the clubbiest realms of beauty still don’t include larger women, disabled ones, or senior citizens.

But to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what utopia would look like. Is it a world in which everyone gets a tiara and the sash of a beauty queen just for showing up? Or is it one in which the definition of beauty gets stretched so far that it becomes meaningless? Perhaps the way to utopia is by rewriting the definition of the word itself to better reflect how we’ve come to understand it—as something more than an aesthetic pleasure.

We know that beauty has financial value. We want to be around beautiful people because they delight the eye but also because we think they are intrinsically better humans. We’ve been told that attractive people are paid higher salaries. In truth, it’s a bit more complicated than that. It’s really a combination of beauty, intelligence, charm, and collegiality that serves as a recipe for better pay. Still, beauty is an integral part of the equation.

But on a powerfully emotional level, being perceived as attractive means being welcomed into the cultural conversation. You are part of the audience for advertising and marketing. You are desired. You are seen and accepted. When questions arise about someone’s looks, that’s just another way of asking: How acceptable is she? How relevant is she? Does she matter?

Today suggesting that a person is not gorgeous is to risk social shunning or at least a social media lashing. What kind of monster declares another human being unattractive? To do so is to virtually dismiss that person as worthless. It’s better to lie. Of course you’re beautiful, sweetheart; of course you are.

We have come to equate beauty with humanity. If we don’t see the beauty in another person, we are blind to that person’s humanity. It’s scary how important beauty has become. It goes to the very soulfulness of a person.

Beauty has become so important today that denying that people possess it is akin to denying them oxygen.

There used to be gradations when it came to describing the feminine ideal: homely, jolie laide, attractive, pretty, and ultimately, beautiful. The homely woman managed as best she could. She adjusted to the fact that her looks were not her most distinguishing feature. She was the woman with the terrific personality. Striking women had some characteristic that made them stand out: bountiful lips, an aristocratic nose, a glorious poitrine. A lot of women could be described as attractive. They were at the center of the bell curve. Pretty was another level. Hollywood is filled with pretty people.

Ah, but beautiful! Beautiful was a description that was reserved for special cases, for genetic lottery winners. Beauty could even be a burden because it startled people. It intimidated them. Beauty was exceptional.

But improved plastic surgery, more personalized and effective nutrition, the flowering of the fitness industry, and the rise of selfie filters on smartphones, along with Botox, fillers, and the invention of Spanx, have all combined to help us look better—and get a little bit closer to looking exceptional. Therapists, bloggers, influencers, stylists, and well-meaning friends have raised their voices in a chorus of body-positivity mantras: You go, girl! You slay! Yasss, queen! They are not charged with speaking harsh truths and helping us see ourselves vividly and become better versions of ourselves. Their role is constant uplift, to tell us that we are perfect just as we are.

And the globalization of, well, everything means that somewhere out there is an audience that will appreciate you in all your magnificent … whatever.

We are all beautiful.

In New York, London, Milan, and Paris—the traditional fashion capitals of the world—the beauty codes have changed more dramatically in the past 10 years than in the preceding hundred. Historically, shifts had been by degrees. Changes in aesthetics weren’t linear, and despite fashion’s reputation for rebelliousness, change was slow. Revolutions were measured in a few inches.

Through the years, an angular shape has been celebrated and then a more curvaceous one. The average clothing size of a runway model, representative of the designers’ ideal, shrank from a six to a zero; the pale blondes of Eastern Europe ruled the runway until the sun-kissed blondes from Brazil deposed them. The couture body—lean, hipless, and practically flat-chested—can be seen in the classic portraits by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, and Gordon Parks, as well as on the runways of designers such as John Galliano and the late Alexander McQueen. But then Miuccia Prada, who had led the way in promoting a nearly homogeneous catwalk of pale, white, thin models, suddenly embraced an hourglass shape. And then plus-size model Ashley Graham appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 2016 , and in 2019 Halima Aden became the first model to wear a hijab in that same magazine , and suddenly everyone is talking about modesty and beauty and fuller figures … and the progress is dizzying.

In the past decade, beauty has moved resolutely forward into territory that was once deemed niche. Nonbinary and transgender are part of the mainstream beauty narrative. As the rights of LGBTQ individuals have been codified in the courts, so have the aesthetics particular to them been absorbed into the beauty dialogue. Transgender models walk the runways and appear in advertising campaigns. They are hailed on the red carpet for their glamour and good taste but also for their physical characteristics. Their bodies are celebrated as aspirational.

The catalyst for our changed understanding of beauty has been a perfect storm of technology, economics, and a generation of consumers with sharpened aesthetic literacy.

The technology is social media in general and Instagram specifically. The fundamental economic factor is the unrelenting competition for market share and the need for individual companies to grow their audience of potential customers for products ranging from designer dresses to lipstick. And the demographics lead, as they always do these days, to millennials, with an assist from baby boomers who plan to go into that good night with six-pack abs.

Hyejin Yun undergoes eyelid surgery in the Hyundai Aesthetics clinic in Seoul. The procedure makes eyes look bigger. South Korea has one of the highest rates of plastic surgery in the world; one in three women ages 19 to 29 has had cosmetic surgery.

Social media has changed the way younger consumers relate to fashion. It’s hard to believe, but back in the 1990s, the notion of photographers posting runway imagery online was scandalous. Designers lived in professional terror of having their entire collection posted online, fearing that it would lead to business-killing knockoffs. And while knockoffs and copies continue to frustrate designers, the real revolution brought on by the internet was that consumers were able to see, in nearly real time, the full breadth of the fashion industry’s aesthetic.

In the past, runway productions were insider affairs. They weren’t meant for public consumption, and the people sitting in the audience all spoke the same fashion patois. They understood that runway ideas weren’t meant to be taken literally; they were oblivious to issues of cultural appropriation, racial stereotypes, and all varieties of isms—or they were willing to overlook them. Fashion’s power brokers were carrying on the traditions of the power brokers who’d come before, happily using black and brown people as props in photo shoots that starred white models who had parachuted in for the job.

But an increasingly diverse class of moneyed consumers, a more expansive retail network, and a new media landscape have forced the fashion industry into greater accountability on how it depicts beauty. Clothing and cosmetic brands now take care to reflect the growing numbers of luxury consumers in countries such as India and China by using more Asian models.

Marked by beauty

We’ve been chasing beauty for millennia, primping and painting our way to a more desirable ideal. Cultures in every era have held different standards of feminine beauty and myriad means of achieving it, from the toxic lead cosmetics of the past to today’s Botox injections. But the standards often serve the same aims: to attract and retain a mate; to signal social status, wealth, health, or fertility; and of course, to simply feel beautiful.

Social media has amplified the voices of minority communities—from Harlem to South Central Los Angeles—so that their calls for representation can’t be so easily ignored. And the growth of digital publications and blogs means that every market has become more fluent in the language of aesthetics. A whole new category of power brokers has emerged: influencers. They are young and independent and obsessed with the glamour of fashion. And fashion influencers don’t accept excuses, condescension, or patronizing pleas to be patient, because really, change is forthcoming.

The modern beauty standard in the West has always been rooted in thinness. And when the obesity rates were lower, thin models were only slight exaggerations in the eyes of the general population. But as obesity rates rose, the distance between the reality and the fantasy grew. People were impatient with a fantasy that no longer seemed even remotely accessible.

Fat bloggers warned critics to stop telling them to lose weight and stop suggesting ways for them to camouflage their body. They were perfectly content with their body, thank you very much. They just wanted better clothes. They wanted fashion that came in their size—not with the skirts made longer or the sheath dresses reworked with sleeves.

They weren’t really demanding to be labeled beautiful. They were demanding access to style because they believed they deserved it. In this way, beauty and self-worth were inextricably bound.

Giving full-figured women greater access made economic sense. By adhering to traditional beauty standards, the fashion industry had been leaving money on the table. Designers such as Christian Siriano made a public point of catering to larger customers and, in doing so, were hailed as smart and as capitalist heroes. Now it’s fairly common for even the most rarefied fashion brands to include large models in their runway shows.

But this new way of thinking isn’t just about selling more dresses. If it were only about economics, designers would have long ago expanded their size offerings, because there have always been larger women able and willing to embrace fashion. Big simply wasn’t considered beautiful. Indeed, even Oprah Winfrey went on a diet before she posed for the cover of Vogue in 1998. As recently as 2012, the designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died last year and who himself was 92 pounds overweight at one point, was called to task for saying that pop star Adele was “a little too fat.”

Attitudes are shifting. But the fashion world remains uneasy with large women—no matter how famous or rich. No matter how pretty their face. Elevating them to iconic status is a complicated, psychological hurdle for the arbiters of beauty. They need sleek élan in their symbols of beauty. They need long lines and sharp edges. They need women who can fit into sample sizes.

But instead of operating in a vacuum, they now are operating in a new media environment. Average folks have taken note of whether designers have a diverse cast of models, and if they do not, critics can voice their ire on social media and an angry army of like-minded souls can rise up and demand change. Digital media has made it easier for stories about emaciated and anorexic models to reach the general public, and the public now has a way to shame and pressure the fashion industry to stop hiring these deathly thin women. The Fashion Spot website became a diversity watchdog, regularly issuing reports on the demographic breakdown on the runways. How many models of color? How many plus-size women? How many of them were transgender? How many older models?

One might think that as female designers themselves aged, they would begin to highlight older women in their work. But women in fashion are part of the same cult of youth that they created. They Botox and diet. They swear by raw food and SoulCycle. How often do you see a chubby designer? A gray-haired one? Designers still use the phrase “old lady” to describe clothes that are unattractive. A “matronly” dress is one that is unflattering or out-of-date. The language makes the bias plain. But today women don’t take it as a matter of course. They revolt. Making “old” synonymous with unattractive is simply not going to stand.

The spread of luxury brands into China, Latin America, and Africa has forced designers to consider how best to market to those consumers while avoiding cultural minefields. They have had to navigate skin lightening in parts of Africa, the Lolita-cute culture of Japan, the obsession with double-eyelid surgery in East Asian countries, and prejudices of colorism, well, virtually everywhere. Idealized beauty needs a new definition. Who will sort it out? And what will the definition be?

In the West, the legacy media are now sharing influence with digital media, social media, and a new generation of writers and editors who came of age in a far more multicultural world—a world that has a more fluid view of gender. The millennial generation, those born between 1981 and 1996, is not inclined to assimilate into the dominant culture but to stand proudly apart from it. The new definition of beauty is being written by a selfie generation: people who are the cover stars of their own narrative.

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The new beauty isn’t defined by hairstyles or body shape, by age or skin color. Beauty is becoming less a matter of aesthetics and more about self-awareness, personal swagger, and individuality. It’s about chiseled arms and false eyelashes and a lineless forehead. But it’s also defined by rounded bellies, shimmering silver hair, and mundane imperfections. Beauty is a millennial strutting around town in leggings, a crop top, and her belly protruding over her waistband. It is a young man swishing down a runway in over-the-knee boots and thigh-grazing shorts.

Beauty is political correctness, cultural enlightenment, and social justice.

In New York, there’s a fashion collective called Vaquera that mounts runway shows in dilapidated settings with harsh lighting and no glamour. The cast could have piled off the F train after a sleepless night. Their hair is mussed. Their skin looks like it has a thin sheen of overnight grime. They stomp down the runway. The walk could be interpreted as angry, bumbling, or just a little bit hungover.

Masculine-looking models wear princess dresses that hang from the shoulders with all the allure of a shower curtain. Feminine-looking models aggressively speed-walk with a hunched posture and a grim expression. Instead of elongating legs and creating an hourglass silhouette, the clothes make legs look stumpy and the torso thick. Vaquera is among the many companies that call on street casting, which is basically pulling oddball characters from the street and putting them on the runway—essentially declaring them beautiful.

In Paris, the designer John Galliano, like countless other designers, has been blurring gender. He has done so in a way that’s exaggerated and aggressive, which is to say that instead of aiming to craft a dress or a skirt that caters to the lines of a masculine physique, he has simply draped that physique with a dress. The result is not a garment that ostensibly aims to make individuals look their best. It’s a statement about our stubborn assumptions about gender, clothing, and physical beauty.

Not so long ago, the clothing line Universal Standard published an advertising campaign featuring a woman who wears a U.S. size 24. She posed in her skivvies and a pair of white socks. The lighting was flat, her hair slightly frizzed, and her thighs dimpled with cellulite. There was nothing magical or inaccessible about the image. It was exaggerated realism—the opposite of the Victoria’s Secret angel.

Every accepted idea about beauty is being subverted. This is the new normal, and it is shocking. Some might argue that it’s even rather ugly.

As much as people say that they want inclusiveness and regular-looking people—so-called real people—many consumers remain dismayed that this, this is what passes for beauty. They look at a 200-pound woman and, after giving a cursory nod to her confidence, fret about her health—even though they’ve never seen her medical records. That’s a more polite conversation than one that argues against declaring her beautiful. But the mere fact that this Universal Standard model is in the spotlight in her underwear—just as the Victoria’s Secret angels have been and the Maidenform woman was a generation before that—is an act of political protest. It’s not about wanting to be a pinup but about wanting the right for one’s body to exist without negative judgment. As a society, we haven’t acknowledged her right to simply be. But at least the beauty world is giving her a platform on which to make her case.

This isn’t just a demand being made by full-figured women. Older women are insisting on their place in the culture. Black women are demanding that they be allowed to stand in the spotlight with their natural hair.

There’s no neutral ground. The body, the face, the hair have all become political. Beauty is about respect and value and the right to exist without having to alter who you fundamentally are. For a black woman, having her natural hair perceived as beautiful means that her kinky curls are not an indication of her being unprofessional. For a plus-size woman, having her belly rolls included in the conversation about beauty means that she will not be castigated by strangers for consuming dessert in public; she will not have to prove to her employer that she isn’t lazy or without willpower or otherwise lacking in self-control.

When an older woman’s wrinkles are seen as beautiful, it means that she is actually being seen. She isn’t being overlooked as a full human being: sexual, funny, smart, and, more than likely, deeply engaged in the world around her.

To see the beauty in a woman’s rippling muscles is to embrace her strength but also to shun the notion that female beauty is equated with fragility and weakness. Pure physical power is stunning.

“Own who you are,” read a T-shirt on the spring 2020 runway of Balmain in Paris. The brand’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, is known for his focus on inclusiveness in beauty. He, along with Kim Kardashian, has helped popularize the notion of “slim thick,” the 21st-century description of an hourglass figure with adjustments made for athleticism. “Slim thick” describes a woman with a prominent derriere, breasts, and thighs, but with a slim, toned midsection. It’s a body type that has sold countless waist trainers and has been applied to women such as singer and fashion entrepreneur Rihanna who do not have the lean physique of a marathoner.

Slim thick may be just another body type over which women obsess. But it also gives women license to coin a term to describe their own body, turn it into a hashtag, and start counting the likes. Own who you are.

When I look at photographs of groups of women on vacation, or a mother with her child, I see friendship and loyalty, joy and love. I see people who seem exuberant and confident. Perhaps if I had the opportunity to speak with them, I’d find them intelligent and witty or incredibly charismatic. If I got to know them and like them, I’m sure I’d also describe them as beautiful.

If I were to look at a portrait of my mother, I would see one of the most beautiful people in the world—not because of her cheekbones or her neat figure, but because I know her heart.

As a culture, we give lip service to the notion that what matters is inner beauty when in fact it’s the outer version that carries the real social currency. The new outlook on beauty dares us to declare someone we haven’t met beautiful. It forces us to presume the best about people. It asks us to connect with people in a way that is almost childlike in its openness and ease.

Modern beauty doesn’t ask us to come to the table without judgment. It simply asks us to come presuming that everyone in attendance has a right to be there.

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On Being and Becoming Beautiful: The Social Construction of Feminine Beauty

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• v.14(6); 2022 Jun

Shifting the Standard of Beauty: Beginning of the Body Inclusive Model

Jaclyn b anderson.

1 Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, USA

Melissa R Laughter

Jonny hatch.

2 Medicine, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, USA

Payal Patel

3 Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA

Mayra Maymone

4 Department of Dermatology, Brown University, Providence, USA

Neelam A Vashi

5 Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA

Background: While the American standard of beauty idolizes unattainable thinness, social media exposure has been instrumental in crafting a more inclusive perception of beauty.

Methods: Using several websites with public data on models, we gathered body measurements and characteristics of both plus-size and the overall top 10 paid mainstream models. We then collected social media data for these models using the social media analytics tool called Social Blade. We compared social media data between plus-size and mainstream models.

Results: While plus-size models have increased BMI, the waist/hip ratio was 0.74 on average, compared to 0.71 in mainstream models. The average social media following among the top 10 plus-size models was 3.8 million compared to 38 million amongst the top 10 mainstream models (p = 0.039). There was no significant difference between the average likes per post, average comments per post, and total posts between the top mainstream models and top plus-size models (p-values 0.11, 0.12, and 0.15, respectively).

Conclusion: With the changing societal body image in America, plus-size models have gained in popularity and positively impacted a body-inclusive model of beauty. However, the mainstream model still prevails as the social media powerhouse of influence.

Introduction

The perception of the ideal body size has historically shifted over the years and varied across cultures. The American standard of beauty appears to idolize unattainable thinness as seen in Victoria's Secret models and their diminishing body size [ 1 ]. Social media exposure has become instrumental in the evolution and creation of beauty standards dichotomously leading to social dysmorphia [ 2 ] while also being instrumental in crafting a more inclusive perception of beauty. In this study, we explored the impact of plus-size models by reviewing their body size metrics and social media presence to better understand their emerging role in the current standards of beauty.

Materials and methods

A list of the top plus-size models was compiled using a composite of several websites [ 3 , 4 ]. Using The Fashion Model Directory (FMD), a professional source of fashion information, and various modeling agency websites, the following information was extracted for all plus-size models: eye color, hair color, height, bust measurement, waist measurement, dress size, and shoe size. Data pertaining to social media presence (number of followers, average number of likes, average number of comments, and number of posts) was collected for each model using Social Blade, a social media database and analytics platform [ 5 ]. For comparison, the top 10 highest paid mainstream models were determined using Forbes, a well-established global media company that provides information on business and technology. Social media involvement of these models was collected in a similar fashion to plus-size models. A t-test was used to analyze the data. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Institutional review board approval was waived by The University of Colorado Denver Institutional Review Board.

A total of 159 plus-size models and 10 mainstream models were included in this study (information for 23 of the plus-size models was not found). Overall group characteristics are shown in Table ​ Table1. 1 . Plus-size model height averaged 69 inches (in) (range: 60 inches to 73 inches, standard deviation (SD): 1.69), bust averaged 40 in the range: 30 inches to 52 inches, SD: 4.16, waist averaged 43 in the range: 24 inches to 49 inches, SD: 4.37, hips averaged 46 in the range: 32 inches to 60 inches, SD: 4.94, dress size averaged a size 14 (range: 0 to 26, SD: 4.01), and waist to hip ratio averaged 0.74 (range: 0.57 to 1, SD: 0.06). Hair colors included black (12%), brown (60%), blonde (23%), red (4%), and multi-colored (3%). Eye colors included brown (54%), blue (21%), green (14%), and hazel (12%).

Social media involvement for all plus-size models and top 10 paid mainstream models is shown in Table ​ Table2 2 (social media accounts for 22 of the 159 models were not found). Among the plus-size models, AG had the largest number of followers with over 12 million. Collectively, 144 plus-size models had over 51 million followers and over 190,000 total posts. The top 10 most followed plus-size models were compared to the top 10 highest paid mainstream models in terms of social media engagement and following. The top 10 highest paid mainstream models averaged over 38 million followers compared to the top 10 plus-size models with an average of approximately 3.8 million followers (p = 0.039). There was no significant difference between the average likes per post, average comments per post, and total posts between the top mainstream models and top plus-size models (p-values 0.11, 0.12, and 0.15, respectively). 

Top models were determined based on a Forbes net worth review indicating these presented are 10 highest paid. The top 10 plus-size models were determined through review of all models included in our study and were included based on the highest number of followers. Metrics were determined using a social media analytics website called Social Blade [ 5 ]. An unpaired, two-tailed independent samples t-test was performed to determine statistical significance with a p-value of <0.05.

Over time, the presence of plus-size models has increased within the fashion industry. Societal pressures on retailers to incorporate an increased body diversity that fully represents their consumer base of society with an average dress size of 14 to 16 and BMI of 26.5 is likely contributory to the increasing presence of plus-size models [ 6 , 7 ]. This shift can be seen within the results of this study, as many of the top plus-size models had a significant social media presence. The average number of followers for top plus-size models was over 3.8 million. However, this pales in comparison to the social media presence and popularity of mainstream models. The top paid model within this category was KJ with an Instagram following of nearly half the population of the United States, with over 154 million followers. Importantly, the top 10 highest paid Forbes models do not include any plus-size models and can all be considered “runway” sized between dress sizes 0-4. Of note, models in both categories may gain additional celebrity from tv shows, movies, etc., which further contribute to their followings.

These results are consistent with those of previous studies showing that popular mainstream models (with an average Bust-Waist-Hip of 32.9-23.9-34.5) do not represent the body of the average American woman (with an average bust-waist-hip of 38-32-41) [ 8 ]. Furthermore, popular Victoria’s Secret models have in fact decreased in bust, waist, hip, and dress size over the past 23 years, contradictory to the trend seen amongst the US population [ 1 ]. Certain studies have shown that plus-size models are viewed more critically and subjected to increased weight bias compared to their mainstream counterparts, particularly among males [ 9 ]. We uncovered plus-size models have a higher average waist-hip ratio (WHR) of 0.74 compared to mainstream models (0.69) and the universal body attractiveness WHR (0.7) [ 1 , 10 ]. WHR among the average women is 0.75-0.8 and increases with age [ 11 ]. While the fashion industry seems to continue the veneration of a thin unattainable body image ideal, there has also been an increase in body diverse campaigns to promote body acceptance and inclusion. Multiple studies have demonstrated that women who viewed these campaigns found them to be more uplifting and empowering while also positively impacting their self-esteem and mood [ 12 , 13 ]. However, plus-size and body-inclusive models require more societal acceptance to match the social media influence of thinner, mainstream top models. Prior to social media, mainstream media was primarily responsible for propagating certain trends; today, social media carries a large responsibility in the assemblage of certain beauty standards. Social media is created and received by society indicating that these beauty ideals are largely the result of our own influence and design. As such, the influence of thinner, mainstream top models prevails and perhaps will only fade with increased visual exposure to plus-size models. 

Limitations of our study include use of unreliable sources to obtain characteristics of plus-size models and missing information due to unavailability.

Conclusions

With the changing societal body image in America, plus-size models have gained in popularity and positively impacted a body inclusive model of beauty. However, the mainstream model still prevails as the social media powerhouse of influence. Currently, tension exists between groups desiring greater body inclusivity on social media, and the actual social media popularity of plus-size models. As plus-size models grow in popularity, this tension is likely to decrease. Yet, even as the desire for plus-size models grows, the WHR of models remains the same. Further research needs to be done regarding the public acceptance of body types without an ideal WHR in the body inclusive model.

The content published in Cureus is the result of clinical experience and/or research by independent individuals or organizations. Cureus is not responsible for the scientific accuracy or reliability of data or conclusions published herein. All content published within Cureus is intended only for educational, research and reference purposes. Additionally, articles published within Cureus should not be deemed a suitable substitute for the advice of a qualified health care professional. Do not disregard or avoid professional medical advice due to content published within Cureus.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Human Ethics

Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study

Animal Ethics

Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue.

The Filter Effect: What Does Comparing Our Bodies on Social Media Do to Our Health?

By Sarah Gabriele

Filters on social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok are great to take silly pictures alone and with friends, and they often give us a good laugh. However, as Dr. Christine Stabler from Penn Medicine writes , they also create an illusion, a perfection that we struggle to live up to every day. This is the case even if almost everyone is well aware that pictures are filtered and carefully selected, and that pictures do not always represent reality.

The use of social media does appear to be correlated to body image concerns and low-self esteem . A systematic review published in 2016 highlighted that photo-based activity on social media was linked to negative body image. In analyzing the roots of negative thoughts, studies have further shown that the activity of comparing ourselves is really what is detrimental to our own mental health. For example, researchers have found  a positive relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns , and, in particular, young women who spent more time on Facebook felt more concerned about their bodies. This study showed that these negative effects occur mostly because of the social comparison that users make to others. This problem is particularly amplified when it comes to women, highlighting that the danger of social media and the standard of beauty are gender-specific, as women are subjected to physical ideals more than men, and feel pressured to look a certain way.

Lately, I have been reading My Body by Emily Ratajkowski, where she does a beautiful job of describing what constantly comparing her body did to herself. In one essay, she describes what it means to be raised by a mother who is fixated on her beauty and who is constantly comparing her daughter to herself or to others. The book talks about much more as the author writes about how her own appearance has shaped her relationships, career, and psyche.

Comparing one’s body is also a constant problem in eating disorders. A recent study demonstrated  that participants were less satisfied with their bodies following upward comparison — a term used to describe a comparison to a person perceived by the subject as better-looking than theirself. However, the mere act of comparing seems detrimental — both upward and downward comparisons were associated with lower body satisfaction and increased anxiety.

Going back to social media, these platforms are especially well-suited to make users compare themselves, by constantly showing pictures of others, in almost perfect form. This is not something new: studies in the early 2000s had already shown how mass media transmits sociocultural symbols that are unrealistic and unachievable for most users, especially women. This, however, has become even more true as the ability to change our body has become as easy as using a filter. Another, more recent study has further suggested that greater intensity of social media use was associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in social media comparison. This scenario is even more frightening if we consider the business model of social media companies, which often monetize the anxiety of their users .

This leaves me with the question of what we can do to free ourselves from the negative health effects of social comparison. One solution could be to transform this comparison into a positive stimulus. In this respect, we could use the comparison as a positive driver as we feel inspired by someone’s life and attitude. For example, in sports, it has been shown that moderate comparison could lead to greater motivation (though extreme upward comparison resulted in reduced motivation). However, the comparison of physical traits and body features might not be as easy, especially as we often have subconsciously interiorized society’s beauty standards, making the comparison unhealthy from the beginning.

Users of social media should be aware of the negative health effects of internalized beauty standards. In this sense, it is important to highlight how our internalized beauty standards often lead us to compare ourselves in everyday life, and to learn how to control the impact on our own mental health and behavior. At the same time, influencers on social media should become aware that followers do not merely follow them, they also compare themselves to them. Finally, we should hold social media companies responsible and require structural changes in the ways that content is displayed and beauty standards are portrayed.

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Sarah Gabriele

Sarah Gabriele is a second-year Master of Bioethics candidate at Harvard Medical School. She obtained her law degree from the University of Trento (Italy) and an LL.M. from the Washington University in St. Louis. After graduating from law school, she worked at Hogan Lovells in their Milan office, specializing in pharmaceutical patent litigation. Currently, she is a student fellow with the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and a research specialist at PORTAL, in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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Guest Essay

Toxic Beauty Standards Can Be Passed Down

By Alexandra D’Amour

Ms. D’Amour is a writer based in California. She writes about motherhood and matriarchy.

When my best friend and I lived together 13 years ago, our shared bathroom had a handful of products: soap, tanning lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, potpourri and maybe, occasionally, a face cream that one of us found on sale at Walgreens. No serums, no toners, no anti-aging products. We never considered we wouldn’t be young forever. Our bank accounts were empty, our pores were clogged, our mascara wands were dry — but we were 22, and we were allowed to be messy. We were allowed to be young.

Our generation came of age during the ’90s toxic diet culture. Millennials weren’t taught to fear aging; we were taught to fear fat. Butter was our enemy . When we watched Victoria’s Secret Angels walk down the runaway, we loathed ourselves. Disordered eating may have been a psychiatric issue, but it was also symptomatic of a social problem . And if you had a mother who internalized diet culture and projected it onto her children, the damage could also happen from within the family. Researchers have found that mothers who encourage weight loss or food restriction or even express dissatisfaction with their body weight may lead to their daughters’ becoming more likely to have eating-related problems.

As my generation grew up and became more conscious of the impacts of diet culture, we began to openly celebrate and encourage body positivity. Many of us became aware of our own body dysmorphia. We began seeing clearly how we were manipulated to shrink and hate every part of our bodies.

And yet, even if parts of society came to terms with natural bodies, the same cannot be said for the natural process of women aging. Wrinkles are the new enemy, and it seems Gen Z — and their younger sisters — are terrified of them. A recent video on TikTok that has garnered more than eight million views features a 28-year-old woman showing her “raw,” procedure-free face, meaning no Botox or fillers. As some women and girls cheered on her bravery, others were left horrified. “Praying I’ll never look like that,” one comment read.

Gen Z-ers are being introduced to the idea of starting treatments early as preventive treatment. They are growing up in a culture of social media that promotes the endless pursuit of maintaining youth — and at home, some of them are watching their mothers reject aging with every injectable and serum they can find. Jessica DeFino , a beauty writer, recently coined the term Serum Mom to describe a mother who is “obsessed with meeting a certain standard of beauty and nurtures the same obsession in her children.”

For me, lessons of preventive skin care came from social media, not my mother. I was a few years shy of 30, digging into Instagram and series like Emily Weiss’s Into the Gloss’s Top Shelf . My skin care regimen suddenly became a 10-part routine, each step promising beauty and extended youth.

Since then, the rise of TikTok seems to have increased the way anti-aging beauty standards are consumed and internalized. Many girls and women now have endless access to social media posts of skin-care purchase hauls and plastic surgery before-and-after slide shows.

There’s a nickname for tweens and teenagers who have been influenced by social media to get into skin care: Sephora Kids . Johanna Almstead, a fashion industry friend, tells me that in her local mothers group chat, nearly every mom had “Skincare, skincare, skincare!” on the holiday gift lists they were given — by their fifth graders. Her 10-year-old daughter doesn’t have access to social media, but she is exposed to this skin care obsession through friends, who are copying TikTok beauty influencers and whose parents are buying the products for them — acids, peels and toners — even though many of these products are meant for actually aging or acne-prone skin .

Representatives for the pricey brand Drunk Elephant ( a tween favorite ) posted on Instagram in December a list of products safe for kids and tweens. Buying a 10-year-old a colorfully packaged lip gloss or adult moisturizer may seem trivial, but it seems to me it can create a pipeline to a 15-year-old discussing forehead wrinkles on TikTok. We need to be wary of how the cosmetics industry can manipulate both mothers and kids and how, by backing it, we as mothers create a new set of worries for our children.

The anti-aging craze comes with the same toxicity as diet culture does. Serum Moms didn’t create ageism, just as our mothers didn’t create diet culture. But considering the speed at which social media is pushing ever more unattainable beauty standards onto children, it’s time for us to consider our moral obligation to minimizing damage for the next generation.

Mothers are both victims and perpetrators of a culture that sells women the lie that we aren’t enough exactly as we are. And yet, if a mother’s insecurity can fuel her daughter’s own self-loathing, a mother’s radical self-love might just protect and even heal her daughter from a toxic culture. When I ask the few friends who haven’t gotten Botox why they haven’t, they tell me it’s because they love how their mothers are aging and how they embrace it. They don’t fear aging because their mothers don’t (or didn’t). Culture may set the tone for unattainable beauty standards, but we mothers and the women around us have power to change the trajectory of our daughters’ insecurities and internal monologue.

I still think about my weight every day, but I fear that the impact of Serum Moms and anti-aging culture will be worse than the lessons I learned as I was growing up. I wish I grew up with women who truly nourished themselves — mothers who ate when they were hungry; mothers who ate toast, pasta and birthday cake; mothers who simply ate. I look at my daughter’s beautiful face, cheeks full of butter and innocence, and I want her to know that she’s enough as is.

Alexandra D’Amour is a writer based in California. She writes about motherhood and matriarchy.

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When beauty causes harm

New podcast from students and faculty examines how toxic beauty products and unrealistic beauty expectations have led to injustices

December 21, 2022 – Maintaining society’s expected beauty standards can come at a high cost—financially, health-wise, and personally—and those costs fall most often on marginalized groups, according to a new podcast from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Beauty + Justice looks at the history and context surrounding beauty injustices, the potential impacts on health—from asthma to early menstruation to breast cancer —and the sometimes painful emotional toll of trying to attain a certain beauty standard. The podcast features guests from health care, academia, nonprofits, and clean beauty businesses to discuss, as student host Lissah Johnson says in the series trailer, “what it will take to create a more clean and equitable future of beauty for everyone.” Launched in November, there were three episodes as of mid-December, with plans for about 10 more in the coming months.

The podcast team includes Johnson, a doctoral candidate in the Biological Sciences in Public Health program who works in the lab of Kristopher Sarosiek studying how cell death gets dysregulated in ovarian cancer; Marissa Chan , a doctoral candidate in the Department of Environmental Health studying community- and neighborhood-level drivers of hair product use among Black women ; and Tamarra James-Todd , Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Reproductive Epidemiology and director of the Environmental Reproductive Justice Lab .

The idea for a podcast grew out of a desire to translate research results in a way that’s useful for people and policymakers. “There’s a lot of talk about environmental justice and health equity, but we actually need to get the science into the hands of the community members who are most impacted, and also those who are in power and who can affect change,” said James-Todd.

The podcast, she added, highlights the connection between racism and how beauty products are marketed, sold, and used. “The cost isn’t just our health,” she said. “It’s also an economic cost. People of color are paying more money—a ridiculously high amount—to try to achieve Eurocentric beauty standards. Basically, we are paying more money to make ourselves sicker.”

Experts featured in the podcast series delve into various aspects of beauty injustice. Guests have included Lori Tharps, an author, storyteller, and educator best known for a book she co-authored titled “ Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America ”; Tamara Gilkes Borr, U.S. policy correspondent at The Economist, who wrote a May 2021 article about some of the hidden costs of having and maintaining Black hair; Robin Dodson, associate director of research operations and a research scientist at the Silent Spring Institute; and Blair Wylie, director of obstetrics for the 1 st region Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit and founding director of The Collaborative for Women’s Environmental Health in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. An episode planned for spring 2023 will explore the role of big business in beauty justice with Boma Brown-West, former director of EDF+Business for the Environmental Defense Fund and currently chief growth officer at the Healthy Building Network.

A tool for ‘othering’

In the series trailer, Johnson says, “The fact is beauty is not harmless, nor frivolous, or only skin deep. It’s also a source of toxic environmental exposures and a tool for othering and excluding specific groups of people.”

The episode featuring Dodson focused on the types of chemicals people are exposed to from beauty products and ways to prevent those exposures. Dodson has been involved in research that has shown that most women use products with fragrance—which can have hundreds of different kinds of chemicals —and she recommended that people choose fragrance-free products instead. Other chemicals to watch out for, she said, include phthalates, parabens, and UV filters such as benzophenone-3, which are endocrine disruptors that affect people’s hormonal systems. She also noted that levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals tend to be higher in products marketed toward and used by Black women than in products for white women.

“The majority of people do not realize that chemicals do not need to be comprehensively evaluated for safety before they are used in products that you would use every day,” said Dodson. “I think people should … start making noise and calling as much attention as we can to these issues so that things will start to change.” She suggested speaking out in support of increased transparency around products, or calling your favorite brand to complain about unsafe ingredients.

Borr discussed the social consequences of being perceived as less beautiful. For instance, she noted, a 2020 study “found that Black women with natural hair, with curly hair, were perceived as less professional and less competent than Black women with straight hair and White women with curly or straight hair.”

And while many women spend a lot of money to have their appearance meet social standards, Black women face even greater hurdles. “Black women buy nine times more products than white women do,” Borr said, noting that the Black hair industry generated $2.5 billion in revenue in 2017. “And you also have to think about the fact that women make less money than men, and on top of that, Black women make much less money than White women do, and they’re spending so much more money to show up and go to work, to have their hair be appropriate for work, for that job. It’s really mind-boggling and kind of twisted when you really think about it.”

Chan said she found the episode featuring Borr very powerful. “She highlighted … that we’re not at the point yet where Black women or Black folks can just walk out the door without considering the impact of institutional and interpersonal racism as it relates to their appearance and Eurocentric beauty standards,” she said. Johnson agreed, noting that the episode made her think about how much time it takes to get ready to leave the house “in order to not get negative comments.” She talked about what Black women call “wash day”—the whole day it takes to wash, detangle, and treat your hair. “You miss out on time for so many other things, like being with friends and family,” she said. “And as a PhD student, I don’t have seven hours to spend every week making my hair in its natural state appear in line with those Eurocentric standards of beauty and professionalism.”

James-Todd spoke of her own struggles regarding her hair. At times, she said, she has worried about wearing her hair in a natural style. “I recognize that there are perceptions of what it looks like to be a Black woman wearing your hair in its natural state, one of which is to be perceived as being militant, or being perceived as not being particularly attractive,” she said. “And that has implications for whether or not I’m taken seriously.”

Borr said that one way to move the needle on societal standards surrounding Black hair is legislation prohibiting discrimination based on someone’s hair texture and hairstyle. In September, Alaska became the 19 th state to pass such legislation, known as the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act. Media images of women with natural Black hair can also help, she said.

Learning experience

For Chan, working on the podcast highlighted the importance of framing research toward solutions. “I think a lot of times in environmental justice and environmental health there’s a tendency to document disparities or differences in product use, which is important. But it’s also important to ask: What can people do about it, and what is the path forward in terms of achieving beauty justice? We’re really emphasizing that point through the podcast.”

Johnson, a bench scientist, said that the podcast has taught her how to be a better science communicator. “I’m a basic scientist. I’m really steeped in using technical language and scientific jargon,” she said. “But why I care about what I study are how the people of a community are affected. So really being able to explain … to a diverse audience about research [regarding beauty injustices] has been really helpful and really powerful. It’s making me more of the scientist that I want to be.”

– Karen Feldscher

Photo courtesy Tamarra James-Todd

Aspects of Society Beauty Standards Essay

Introduction, works cited.

Modern society is characterized by constant media appraisal of beauty. Every boy and girl receives the message that being beautiful is important in life. Entire industries revolve around the concepts of physical attractiveness and appeal. Yet, despite the overall acknowledged role of beauty in society, many struggle with identifying elements that characterize a person as beautiful. Comparing and contrasting, illustrating, and cause and effect explanatory strategies will offer insight into the essence of contemporary beauty standards, the most evident examples, and their origins.

The comparing and contrasting strategy will allow for ascertaining what is currently considered beautiful. Although beauty is a subjective concept and its expression is highly dependent on the geographical, economic, and social context, some physical features are most commonly considered attractive. Laham argues that “men tend to prefer women with large wide-set eyes, full lips, high cheekbones, a small nose, a narrow jaw, and full breasts; and who have a low waist-to-hip ratio” (75). This implies that a woman with small eyes, narrow lips, low cheekbones, a large nose, a wide jaw, small breasts, and a large belly would be considered unsightly.

Even though most of the beauty standards revolve around women, certain cultural expectations of male beauty exist as well. Laham lists the following features as most commonly considered beautiful: “a heavy lower face, high degree of facial symmetry, masculine facial dimorphism, broad shoulders, a relatively narrow waist, and a V-shaped torso” (75). In contrast, a man with a lighter face, evident differences between the right and left sides of the face, feminine features, a large belly, and a waist larger than shoulders would not be considered attractive.

Both physical ideals are common in that they accentuate sex-specific characteristics and promote weight stigma. In the same way, physical femininity is preferable for women, masculine features are suitable for men. However, the low weight ratio is a more unifying standard of male and female attractiveness. Current society praises slim bodies in both sexes while criticizing excessive fat. Body size is a significant psychological pressure point for the majority of people, albeit it does affect women more to such a point that many develop mental illnesses because their weight prevents them from feeling beautiful (Ciciurkaite and Perry 35). Therefore, the most distinctive characteristic of present-day beauty standards is low weight.

The illustrating strategy will allow an understanding of the beauty standards via the use of real-life examples. The most appropriate way to locate a woman considered more attractive than others is to analyze the results of beauty pageants. These competitions have been designed specifically to compare female contestants and crown the winner as Miss World, Miss International, Miss Earth, or Miss Universe – the most-known pageants in the world. The most evident element of these competitions is that most of the contestants and winners have similar body types, which fit into the previously described ideal (Willett-Wei and Shaw). The most meaningful change over the years is the increasing ethnic diversity of contestants, who still possess similar physiques.

However, beauty pageant winners are not as famous as cinema celebrities. Jayne Mansfield, Kim Novak, and Marilyn Monroe exemplify women with hourglass figures (Laham 80). Penélope Cruz and Angelina Jolie showcase the beauty standard for lips (Laham 157). Scarlett Johansson, Minka Kelly, and Emilia Clarke are praised for their seductive hair (Aziz, Neelum, and Akhtar 81). Finally, the most important beauty standard is youthful appearance, with photographers and cinematographers attempting using various techniques to hide one’s age as is the case with Charlize Theron (Aziz, Neelum, and Akhtar 84). These women are recognized as beauty icons in the industry and the general population.

As most of the media attention centers on ascertaining the most attractive women, icons of beauty among men are less evident. Nevertheless, there are cinema stars that have gained the most recognition for their appearance. For example, in the media perception, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Keanu Reeves are seen as objectively attractive (La Force). Another example of the cinema industry emphasizing male beauty is Tom Cruise’s role in the movie Top Gun . The only physical feature that would not characterize him as beautiful is his short height. However, scenes were shot in such a manner that this subtlety is almost not seen by the viewer, which further corroborates the established beauty standard for men.

The cause-and-effect exploratory strategy explains the origins of contemporary beauty standards. Even though there is evidence that infants who have not been exposed to media narratives react to beautiful faces more positively than to unsightly ones, the perception of beauty itself has changed over history (Aziz, Neelum, and Akhtar 78). One of the oldest explanations for why beauty is considered important lies in the perception of attractive people as noble and their opposites as evil (Srivastava 4). Even though cultural awareness has moved beyond this assumption, the reaction of toddlers suggests that such behavior is unconscious.

The biological explanation of physical attractiveness attributes the perception of beauty to the ability of humans to procreate and provide for the future. For instance, wide shoulders allowed men to carry prey that would feed the family, while “a tight, muscular rear is necessary to make the strong forward thrusting motion needed for successful sperm transfer during sex” (Pease and Pease 315). Meanwhile, the youthful appearance of a woman’s breasts, long legs, and rounded buttocks communicates the message of her fertility and childbearing ability (Pease and Pease 306). Even though the complexity of the human body is too high to make such assumptions, these signals are unconscious as is the perception of beauty.

Finally, mathematical proportions of parts of the human body are also a strong causative factor of attractiveness. The historic standards of Ancient Greece accentuated the importance of symmetry for beauty (Aziz, Neelum, and Akhtar 77). The beauty of the universally acclaimed portrait Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is also attributed to the use of facial symmetry (Laham 71). This aspect has been passed on through generations and is currently one of the most important criteria used in beauty pageants to identify the winner (Srivastava 4). As a result, there is a mathematical explanation of beauty, which has persisted through history and is expressed in the form of symmetry.

In conclusion, comparing and contrasting, illustrating, and cause and effect explanatory strategies showcase that society’s beauty standards are both unique and consistent with traditional values. The recent hundred years have seen the codification of principles of physical attractiveness for men and women. Symmetry, low weight, and sexual dimorphism determine whether a person is considered attractive or not. Most elements of beauty have a biological or mathematical explanation, which causes the unconscious perception of beauty. Combined with media exposure, it explains why current beauty standards are so similar despite the diversity of cultures and societies.

Aziz, Selina, Neelum Almas, and Amer Akhtar. “Feminine Beauty in the Hyperreal World: A Postmodern Analysis of Esquire’s Women We Love.” Journal of Gender and Social Issues , vol. 20, no. 1, 2021, pp. 77-88.

Ciciurkaite, Gabriele, and Brea L. Perry. “Body Weight, Perceived Weight Stigma and Mental Health among Women at the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status: Insights from the Modified Labelling Approach.” Sociology of Health & Illness , vol. 40, no. 1, 2018, pp. 18-37.

La Force, Thessaly. “Viggo Mortensen, the Unlikely Leading Man.” The New York Times , Web.

Laham, Martha. Made Up: How the Beauty Industry Manipulates Consumers, Preys on Women’s Insecurities, and Promotes Unattainable Beauty Standards . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020.

Pease, Barbara, and Pease, Allan. The Definitive Book of Body Language: How to Read Others’ Attitudes by Their Gestures . Orion, 2017.

Srivastava, Simpi. “Global Production of a Feminine Ideal: Behind the Scenes of Beauty Pageants.” Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation , vol. 1, 2020, pp. 1-15.

Top Gun . Directed by Tony Scott, Paramount Pictures, 1986.

Willett-Wei, Megan and Gabbi Shaw. “THEN AND NOW: How the Miss Universe Pageant Has Evolved over the Last 69 Years” . Insider , Web.

• The Play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
• Olive's Character in the "Little Miss Sunshine"
• Female Sexuality in Media of the 1950s
• Social Sciences: The “Culture of Smartness”
• Workplace Socialization and Newcomer Turnover
• Socialization: Obeying the Established Rules
• Working In Teams: New Norm in the Contemporary World
• Importance of Socialization for Personality
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, September 3). Aspects of Society Beauty Standards. https://ivypanda.com/essays/aspects-of-society-beauty-standards/

"Aspects of Society Beauty Standards." IvyPanda , 3 Sept. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/aspects-of-society-beauty-standards/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Aspects of Society Beauty Standards'. 3 September.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Aspects of Society Beauty Standards." September 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/aspects-of-society-beauty-standards/.

1. IvyPanda . "Aspects of Society Beauty Standards." September 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/aspects-of-society-beauty-standards/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Aspects of Society Beauty Standards." September 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/aspects-of-society-beauty-standards/.