Who Is to Blame for Today’s Insane Beauty Standards?
Social and cultural trends, as well as beauty myths about the “perfect figure” and “perfect woman,” are all partially to blame for today’s heinous beauty standards. The factors which contribute to socially acceptable presentations of beauty and femininity are wide-ranging. For example, according to author Melissa Orourke, there are myriad influences which have helped shape and define society’s ideals for beauty and acceptable self-presentation. These include, “Inventions, end of wars, stock market crashes, women’s rights, global influence… Hollywood, movie stars, racial disparity, politics, greed” and many more (Orourke).
One major player that is responsible for insane beauty standards is the technique of photoshopping images in popular media and newsprint such as magazines, newspapers and online women’s journals or fashion websites. It involves dramatically enhancing a woman’s skin tone, clearing away any surface blemishes, and giving her enhanced breasts. Authors at Beauty Redefined published an article titled, Photoshopping: Altering Images and Our Minds, in which they explain that “one of the main strategies used to reinforce and normalize a distorted idea of “average” is media’s representation of women as extremely thin” (“Photoshopping: Altering Images and Our Minds”).
In her article, Culture Dictates the Standard of Beauty, Dr. Judy Scheel remarks that “our media-driven culture not only controls who is attractive but also allows for insults to be hurled against anyone who it deems unattractive” (Scheel). Women are not given enough of a chance to realize that they are more than just their bodies. There is constant pressure upon women to be perfect. Clearly, culture, media, and socially acceptable norms of beauty are all to blame for today’s insane beauty standards.
Works Cited
Orourke, Melissa. “Who Is to Blame for Our Insane Beauty Standards?” HubPages, HubPages, 22 May 2015, hubpages.com/style/WHO-IS-TO-BLAME-FOR-OUR-INSANE-BEAUTY-STANDARDS-TODAY.
“Photoshopping: Altering Images and Our Minds.” Beauty Redefined, 27 Apr. 2017, beautyredefined.org/photoshopping-altering-images-and-our-minds/.
Scheel, Judy. “Culture Dictates the Standard of Beauty.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 24 Apr. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-food-is-family/201404/culture-dictates-the-standard-beauty.
