How are beauty standards harmful to society?
Studies prove that beauty standards directly contribute to anxiety and depression. They can trigger body dysmorphia and disordered eating. They can fuel low self-esteem, self-harm, and even suicide. All of these conditions have risen in recent years, and all of them are unequivocally connected to beauty standards.
It signifies that the society sets up expectations of how we define beauty by manipulating beliefs of people to recognize that body shape, skin color, race, ethnicity, or anglicized features are what makes a person distinguish their beauty instead of what people actually look like in reality.
Beauty standards make others feel insecure and they are really stupid, eating disorders and insecurities are caused by beauty standards. People are even getting plastic surgery or photoshop. Standards are negativity affective and make you feel bad if you don't look a certain way.
We constantly see these unattainable standards of beauty in the media and it can cause a lot of harm on young girls. The media can cause body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, and disordered eating. When girls compare their bodies to what is seen in the media, it increases their chance of having a poor body image.
However, the pursuit of beauty can indeed be harmful when taken to extreme. Policymakers can reduce this extreme focus on appearance by creating organisational cultures and environments that are diverse, with a more inclusive definition of beauty.
In particular, men and women have found themselves battling identity issues due to the unrealistic beauty standards set by what they see on social media. Many have developed serious mental heath issues, identity issues and even body dysmorphia trying to emulate the beauty standards that are simply unattainable.
It all began 2,400 years ago in Greece and Rome, when the West's standards of beauty were set. "But the Greeks knew that there was more to a person than just a face," says Dr. Dietrich von Bothmer, chairman of the Greek and Roman department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
These standards, unfortunately, shape our society and for a lot of people how you live your everyday lives. any beauty standards are to do with looking one idealistic way in the modern world when it comes to your body.
Studies have shown that such ideals can often lead to psychological issues such as depression, reduced self-esteem, eating disorders, and so much more. Girls from a very early age are subjected to these images of perfection and their exposure extends to adulthood.
A person's level of physical attractiveness contributes to the level of attraction they receive from other members of the opposite sex, as well as their self-esteem. In general, those who are less physically attractive tend to have lower self-esteem and confidence than those who are more physically attractive.
How can we overcome beauty standards?
- Take the time to get to know yourself. ...
- Resource your friends to help. ...
- Identify the sticky points. ...
- Determine if the sticky points are really you, or simply habits you've acquired. ...
- Rid yourself of unhelpful habits; embrace the true core of you.
Social media can negatively affect body image by over-exposing you to "idealized" body types. While posting selfies may help body image, trying to edit out perceived flaws can be harmful. To reduce harm on social media, unfollow accounts, find a healthy community, and take breaks.
Adolescents with negative body images are more likely to be depressed, anxious and suicidal than those without intense dissatisfaction over their appearance, even when compared to adolescents with other psychiatric illnesses, according to a 2006 study by researchers at Bradley Hospital, Butler Hospital and Brown ...
The greater our discontent with how we measure up when compared to the societal or media supported norms, the more negative our body image, and the greater the risk for extreme weight or body control behaviours occurs.
Some examples of toxic beauty standards and advice online include: #Fitspo, which tells young people the perfect body can be achieved with diet programs and products like diet supplements. #Thinspo, which often shows images of extremely thin bodies or shares quotes discouraging eating.
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 finding of the study revealed that even 30 minutes on the social media app can “make women fixate negatively on their weight and appearance,” according to The New York Post. Additionally, the participants displayed dissatisfaction about their own bodies after looking at “fitspo” images and idolized celebrities.
For people of all ages, social media can cause individuals to have a negative body image and even eating disorders. According to a study by Florida House Experience Health, 87% of women and 65% of men compare themselves to others on social media.
Today's standards for women are small waists, long hair, and flawless skin. Girls are required to be this “perfect image” when nobody is perfect. They are also expected to wear makeup in their daily lives, work out at the gym, stay skinny with curves in the right places, and be young.
It's constantly being molded by what you see and experience around you, and it absorbs new information throughout your life. So when you see ads for vitamins that feature extremely thin women as an "ideal" of fitness, your brain is quick to pick up on that messaging (no matter how misleading that may be).
Who decides the standard of beauty?
Our perception of beauty is guided by cultural influences and ideas of aesthetics determined by fashion dictates of that era. Women, and sometimes men, often go to ridiculous lengths and a lot of pain to achieve that elusive beauty ideal. One may ask if their idea of perfection is worth the price.
Beauty isn't just superficial, and is actually a key part of how we understand and interact with the world around us. Beauty helps us form relationships with our environment, from food to landscape to art, and even with each other.
Representation and diversity are vital to the beauty industry in disrupting Euro-centric and heteronormative beauty standards. An inclusive approach not only caters to wider markets but also offers the opportunity to develop products that are specifically targeted to the different needs of consumers.
| beau ideal | epitome |
|---|---|
| archetype | model |
| perfect example | embodiment |
| example | paradigm |
| standard | essence |
Because of the pervading unrealistic beauty standards, women are at a higher risk of suffering from the most common low self-esteem to complex problems like eating disorders, depression, and other negative effects on their mental and physical well-being. This can also lead to more problems in other areas of their life.
Solution. A beautiful thing gives us happiness. Relaxation and peace. It inspires us and makes us love life despite troubles and sufferings.
Research clearly shows that media exposure contributes to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Social media is unfortunately shaping our concept of beauty. With constant exposure to images posted online, it is evident that there is a link to how individuals compare themselves and perceive their own body.
Step 1: Pursue Pleasure in Beauty, Avoid the Pain
As Wolf says in the last chapter of her book: "The beauty myth did not really care what women looked like as long as the women felt ugly, we must see that it does not matter in the least what women look like as long as we feel beautiful...
Social media tends to impact mindsets as well. The phenomenon of air-brushing and editing photos of naturally beautiful women to make them look unnaturally stunning puts immense pressure on women everywhere, and makes them insecure about their own bodies. In fact, there is no such thing as a perfect body.
Studies have shown that such ideals can often lead to psychological issues such as depression, reduced self-esteem, eating disorders, and so much more. Girls from a very early age are subjected to these images of perfection and their exposure extends to adulthood.
How do beauty standards affect mental and physical health?
When a person's realistic body and their ideal body images do not match, this can often lead to mental health issues such as eating disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Several serious eating disorders are centered around body image concerns.
In 2015, a global survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons placed South Korea in the top ten of countries who had the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries. Korean beauty standards prioritize a slim figure, small face, v-shaped jaw, pale skin, straight eyebrows, flawless skin, and larger eyes.
A person's level of physical attractiveness contributes to the level of attraction they receive from other members of the opposite sex, as well as their self-esteem. In general, those who are less physically attractive tend to have lower self-esteem and confidence than those who are more physically attractive.
