By Madeleine Glass
From a young age, thousands of women are told that they are beautiful, strong, smart and unique. We are taught the importance of treasuring our differences and accepting others for all their flaws. Motivational speakers preach self-love and that beauty lies within, as opposed to our superficial appearance. Then, we become exposed to a world in which the media has an unbelievably strong presence, that manipulates society’s interpretation of the standard of beauty.
It’s no secret that the mainstream media are obsessed with the appearance of women. Living in a modern era, the media is a large part of our daily lives and whether we recognise it or not, it influences our opinions and reshapes our view of the world, and ourselves. For many of us, our first instinct when bored is to scroll through social media, and become susceptible to self-comparison as we see images of women that are declared beautiful by society, causing us feelings of inferiority and self-doubt. While many of us do acknowledge the possibility of Photoshop being used to ‘perfect’ images prior to being displayed to the public, we fail to understand that while women are being digitally altered, so are our perceptions of what is truly beautiful, healthy and realistic.
So how does this relate to feminism? We live in a culture that makes it close to impossible not to subconsciously compare ourselves to other women. The increasing prominence of the media in modern society places jealousy at high risk of becoming an epidemic, which could have detrimental effects not only on our self-confidence, but the unity of women worldwide.
source: Unsplash
Self-comparison promotes the constant evaluation of our personal worth through domains like attractiveness, money, success and intelligence, which consequently manifests into excessively competitive and judgemental attitudes. Beauty standards particularly relate to feminism as they imply that women are mere objects, appreciated solely for their physical appearance. Feminism values the cooperation of women, not the competition and comparison promoted through the endless images presented by the media, that encompass unattainable standards that supposedly determine beauty. Upon researching the topic of beauty standards, the first quote that I was presented with states that the feminine beauty ideal is “the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women’s most important assets , and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain” ("The standard of beauty: A dangerous ideal", 2020).
Beauty standards are ever changing and evolve with time, culture and trends. The social expectation – that women should adhere to these standards – is completely unreasonable and unworldly. The butterfly affect that the media has established manipulates us to believe otherwise. Many women are utterly convinced that they aren’t beautiful, and likewise, they also believe that they aren't strong, worthy or powerful, as we are falsely conditioned that our worth is determined by our attractiveness.
Additionally, these standards invasively attempt to define our extent of femininity, as the media not only idolises particular physical features in context of what is considered ‘beautiful’, but also what is considered ‘feminine’. Due to the extent of influence the media has on modern society, traits that are deemed ‘feminine’ likely become cultural expectations of how a woman must look in order to be beautiful and accepted. Some of the most stereotypical traits include that women have long hair, a narrow waist, large breasts and little to no body hair.
From a perspective of intersectional feminism, this is highly exclusionary of the diverse variety of equal identities and experiences that all women are entitled to. Realistically, women are not the same. We don’t all have an hourglass figure, perfect hair and clear skin, and we should not be labelled by social stereotypes or have our level of femininity intrusively gauged. The liberty of self-expression and individuality is within our right as equal humans, and not even the undeniable power of the media should define us.
Beauty standards are one of the most prominent challenges facing modern feminism today, as they destroy the bond between women, by replacing compassion and collaboration with competition and comparison. The media is a powerful platform that allows voices to be heard, and arises the opportunity of changing societal standards, stereotypes and expectations that prevent each and every one of us from letting our true individuality shine through.
There are many strategies we can use to work together and reshape society to further the feminist movement. These include: supporting Instagram accounts, charities or blogs that promote incredible causes, speaking up for what you believe in, sharing ideas, becoming involved within the community, and encouraging all women by letting them know they're beautiful, strong, smart and unique to reinforce an empowering feminist environment.
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Reference:
The standard of beauty: A dangerous ideal. (2020). Retrieved 6 April 2020, from https://www.thewilkesbeacon.com/opinion/2018/10/30/the-standard-of-beauty-a-dangerous-ideal/