A deep dive in the beauty standards
"Women are not supposed to be put in boxes. We are not Barbie dolls—and never will be—so defying society’s
standards is how we learn to love our true, authentic selves. If you want to put on a full face of makeup,
do it. If you are hungry, eat a meal. If you don’t want to shave, then don’t."
The Sartorial magazine
Beauty standards are culturally and historically specific ideals of physical attractiveness, defining desirable traits like body shape, facial features, skin tone, and grooming, heavily influenced by media and societal norms, often leading to unrealistic expectations
https://sartorialmagazine.com/beauty/2023/11/15/unrealistic-beauty-standards
and negative mental health impacts, though movements for body positivity challenge these narrow views
The first example of beauty standards can be seen as early as the Paleolithic Age ( 25,000 BC )
Venus of Willerdof represents the ideal standard for women in that age emphasising on sexuality and motherhood while toning the most "attractive" parts of a womans body such as large breasts, thighs, stomach, and pronounced genitals.
The idea that women should have stereotypically feminine bodies can also be found in Ancient Greece. The ideal woman should be plump, with wide hips and small breasts. In ancient Greece also appears the first growing trend of women sacrificing their health for beauty. Women would often use toxic white lead as a skin bleacher and vinegar for dying their hair which can cause hair loss and damage
During the Rennaisance era the standard was to look wealthy. Women would avoid the sun at all costs and often shave their eyebrows so that their forehead would appear larger. During this period of time being skinny equals with poverty and not being fed enough
These standards wouldnt change untill the 1800s where being skinny was everything
Women used to wear tight corsets which could cause the organs to move inside or in some cases cause
atrophy of the lower limbs
Another symptom that was caused by the incredibly tight corsets was the fainting due to the fact that breathing was extremelly difficult while the corset was pressing the lungs
@_imlydiaa Τι εννοείς φυσική ομορφιά;; #anthropology #learnontiktok #beautystandard ♬ LABOUR - the cacophony - Paris Paloma
In the 1920s the androgynous body types started became a growing trend. This era was defined by the Roman-style backless short dresses which eventually lead women to start shaving their legs. Companies started to promote hair-removal machines which were extremely dangerous and could cause from amputation and to even cancer.
In the 1950s The beauty industry took off providing fashionable dresses and cosmetics at affordable prices to women of every class. The availability of these products, amongst other factors, created a societal expectation for women to “keep up appearances”, and always look their best.
In the late 90s and 00s while there was an emphasy on accepting and embracing natural beauty the obsession with skinny body types was what defined this era. The standard was not to look skinny but to look sick with hollow cheeks and visible ribs. Kate Moss became the blueprint of the trend which was named "heroine chic" and the famous quote " Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" became the standard.
This can also be seen in recent studies where 90 % of the girls that they were asked admitted that they still follow at least one account that made them feel more insecure. Along the same lines Buzz Feed asked viewers about the most ridiculous beauty standards
https://irinigeorgi.com/en/masculinity-role-models/
In the late 90s and 00s while there was an emphasy on accepting and embracing natural beauty the obsession with skinny body types was what defined this era. The standard was not to look skinny but to look sick with hollow cheeks and visible ribs. Kate Moss became the blueprint of the trend which was named "heroine chic" and the famous quote " Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" became the standard.
https://www.nenasterner.com/journal/its-all-relative-how-beauty-standards-have-evolved-throughout-history
The beauty standards were so harsh that producers would tell Kate Winslet that she should settle with the "fat girl parts". At that era we can also see a growing trends of the "ugly duckling " trope in movies where the "not conventionally attractive" main character had to go through a makeover in order to prove their worth to their inner cyrcle and society. This trope can be found in movies like Shes all that, The princess diares, Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada
@blondegirldiary The black swan parody always gets me 🤣😭 #f#fypf#foryoupageg#girlbloggerr#relatables#scarymovie5s#scarymovieb#blackswana#ashleytisdale ♬ Glitter on my eyes - 💵
One of the many noticeable examples was in one scene of the original Mean Girls movie (2004) when the Plastics would look themselves in the mirror and they would compare their insecurities
Karen: God. My hips are huge!
Gretchen: Oh please. I hate my calves.
Regina: At least you guys can wear halters. I've got man shoulders.
Cady: I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But apparently there's lots of things that can be wrong on your body.
Gretchen: My hairline is so weird.
Regina: My pores are huge.
Karen: My nail beds suck.
Cady: I have really bad breath in the morning.
Karen: Ew!
In the late 2010s the focus swifted from being overly skinny to look overly plastic. And while this trend was benefited from noumerous factors, the Kardashians where the ones who popularised the trend. Their extraordinary appearance would be used for advertisment while they shaped a general beauty standard and influence countless women to perform life risking surgeries and change their bodies permanently. In March 2016 young actress Khloe Grace Morettes criticised Kim Kardashian for her explicit selfies writing
" I truly hope you realise how important setting goals for
young girls teaching that we have much more than -"
The Kardashians responded by publicly insulting the actress who was 18 at that time.
The irony in that is that Khloe was right about her statement. The Kardashians plastic face has influenced pop culture more than we might thought. In April 2024 Dove Beauty created The Code a short film emphasising on how AI is trained to recognise a beautiful woman highly emphaises on specific body types and features.
"I’ve heard WAY too many men talk about how they just want an 'ordinary' girl who looks 'natural.'"
" Sorry, but Hailey Bieber does NOT just wake up looking that way. It’s a toxic trend that promotes the idea that women are supposed to look perfect naturally."
"You can be fat, but you have to be the RIGHT KIND of fat"
"The trend of teenagers buying all this skincare they DON’T NEED.
All someone that age should be starting with is a cleanser and moisturizer, maybe a toner
if they’re acne prone. But whoever is coaching these kids that they need expensive anti-aging products needs to be stopped."
"That 'aging well' means not only looking like you haven't aged, but looking like you haven't tried to look like you haven't aged."
"Wanting women to have children but not look like they have children"
All these are examples of how the internet created some of the most unachievable beauty standards and there were many times where the "perfect" celebrities that shaped the beauty standards were harshly criticised.
Scrolling on social media we can find plenty of videos where celebrities are being judged for their stylistic choices or whether or not they had surgery. In many cases these videos are a way of advertising colour analysis businesses. Some of the actresses and singers that were being used are Florence Pugh , Millie Bobbie Brown , Sabrina Caprpenter and Ariana Grande.@bunniesdrs ⌗ beauty ˙˖ 𖥔 i’d like to change everything . #fyp #parati #girlhood #girlcore #beautystandard #beauty #insecurities #audreyhepburn #winonaryder #cher #margotrobbie #beyonce #viral #blowthisup #follow #edit #whatwasimadefor #women #beautystandards ♬ original sound - 𝒮.
After seeing all this celebrities slowly tried to achieve the perfect look. The 90s skinny became trendy again. At the 2022 Met Gala Kim Kardashian showed up wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress.
She later admitted that she had to lose a big amount of wait so that she can fit in and still managed to ruin it. After that and despite the backlash that she received both from the audience and other celebrities such as Lillie Reinhart actresses and singers started losing weight using a substance called Ozempic. Ozempic is supposed to help diabeitcs by mimicking a naturally occurring hormone.
As those hormone levels rise, the molecules go to your brain, telling it you're full. It also slows digestion by increasing the time it takes for food to leave the body. When a healthy non diabetic person starts using it can cause major side effects one of them being emotional dysregulation meaning that you will overly emotional and being attached to certain people.
.Last but not least the extencive use of Ozempic can cause the skin to age rapidly. This has lead to many celebrities to get plastic surgeries in order to remain their youthfull look. The two most used plastic surgery technics are buckle fat removal in which you are getting your fat pads in your cheeks removed and deep plane facelift which goes under skin pulling the muscles. Plastic surgeries have become a growing trend among younger people. Acording to a recent study there was a 45% increase in cosmetic forehead lifts among people under 30
As we 've seen earlier the beauty standards throughout the centuries beauty standards have been defined by gender roles, class, age , race and capitalism
The beauty standards are solely a biological tool that helped us to procreate. For example the brain will find a symmetric face more attractive while a non symmetrical will be perceived as uncanny. In the modern day and age beauty standards can help a person to succeed financially and professionally.An example of that being actresses over 40 who refuse to do plastic surgeries so they re being forced into the "mom" roles However it is really important not to let someone elses standards to ruin young peoples lives.As Marina Mc Bain states
"When you have 380 million followers mot of them
young girls your body isnt your body anymore. It becomes a standard"
According to 2020 research from the National Library of medicine women and girls who feel bad about their bodies are more likely to go through eating disorders or develop unhealthy habits. The study also suggests the connection between bad body image and depression
People and especially women shouldnt be demanded to look perfect but to look human and this should be a priorite
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