Unit 2 Portfolio

                        BEAUTY STANDARDS

***For my unit 2 project, I decided to take a completely different approach when it comes to my topic than I did for my unit 1 portfolio as I feel beauty standards are a complex topic that has a great effect on our society today as a whole and I have a personal connection to this topic.***

***My target audience is young individuals consumed by the media***

Beauty standards are a topic of great complexity. This is due to various reasons such as cultural, social, historical, and individual factors. Beauty standards, perpetuated by media, culture, and societal norms, impose unrealistic and often harmful expectations on individuals, leading to issues of self-esteem, body image dissatisfaction, and a need for reevaluation to create inclusivity and acceptance in all forms of beauty rather than trying to conform to societal standards. My first source talks about the impact of "digitally altered images of individuals' body satisfaction and beauty aspirations”, while also using theories that help to support my thesis. This source explains that extensive research shows that women high in social comparison are more likely to experience increased dissatisfaction when it comes to their image. “When idealized media images are used as comparison standards, upward comparisons lead to more negative perceptions of our appearance.” This source goes into theories that can be used to demonstrate how/why digital modification affects people. The first theory looked at as it relates to beauty standards is the Social Comparison Theory. This theory in its simplest form “postulates that humans have the desire to self-evaluate and that where no objective measurement of our attributes is possible, as with appearance, we do so through comparison with others.” This simply means that when we as humans have a difficult time measuring something ourselves we turn to comparison of others to see where we essentially stand. Hence, when we use unrealistic images for these comparisons, it leads to even more negative perceptions when it comes to our appearance. While this topic has become a big issue in societies across the globe, it has more specifically impacted younger generations who grew up with the media and know no different. Efforts are being made to help combat beauty standards and we are seeing this globally. Action is being taken in both Israel and France to help battle this major issue. In these two countries, there is a legal requirement to disclose when photographs of models have been digitally modified. My first source also states that “Several types of school-based interventions aimed at improving body image have been trialed.” These efforts serve as inspiration that hopefully society as a whole will start to break the cycle when it comes to culture surrounding beauty standards. This is also related to the social comparison theory which states that the “rationale for recommending disclaimer labels initially was that social comparison targets are chosen based on their self-relevance and their salience.” This means that the awareness of digital enhancement should hopefully lead to less comparison and less body dissatisfaction overall. The second framework discussed to help support my thesis includes the self-discrepancy theory. What this theory expresses is that “individuals hold self-perceptions in three domains: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self.” The actual self is the attributes we believe we have, the ideal self is the attributes we aspire to have and lastly the the ought self which are the attributes we believe we should have. When inconsistency occurs with the comparison to the actual self and the ideal self many experience great sadness and disappointment. These two theories provide more psychological and scientific insight into beauty standards and their negative impacts. 

                                       

My second source takes a deep dive into the history behind beauty standards and their evolution over time. I selected this source as I believe that it provided valuable background information and insights when it comes to beauty standards and how they have become what they are in today's world. The Author of this piece Kate Povey talks about an article “Perception and Deception: Human Beauty and the Brain”, which is a piece written by Daniel Yarosh who was a researcher in the field of behavioral sciences. In the piece, he argues that “Beauty standards are set by a human nature to seek reproductive health in other but also explains that people tend to “deceive” others by using clothing, makeup, and other methods to seem more attractive”, all of which is true. However, Povey expresses how he “fails to address the impacts of non-evolutionary influences such as cultural and social differences.” While Daniel Yarosh makes interesting and valid points in regards to the evolution behind beauty standards, in my opinion, today cultural and social standards have a substantial amount of impact on societies and conforming to social norms to feel accepted. Capitalism is another topic mentioned in this source that contributes to the large presence of beauty standards in various societies. This portion of my source expresses the link between capitalism and beauty in the U.S. starting in the 1920s. This link started the “conceptions of what new women could be assisted by the emergence of feminized mass consumerism, as beauty products came to symbolize female freedom and Western political emancipation.” This in simpler terms means that beauty products started to represent female freedom in terms of becoming more independent and gaining more rights. This was done by making beauty products seem more “feminist and empowering which was just another way for them to reach a new customer base and sell more products.” While at the time it was effective and provided women with a sense of belonging and independence, over time this has slowly taken a turn. Overall, concerning the link between beauty standards and gaining capital, “women still need to utilize beauty as a means of gaining capital”, which is why beauty is considered to work under the system in terms of gaining capital. The following topic discussed when it comes to the evolution of beauty standards is social media. As the majority of us know Social media has an extreme impact on beauty standards today and demonstrate just how harmful they can be when it comes to using the media. Statistics have shown that “out of 1000 adolescent girls surveyed, 88% of the girls believe that media puts a lot of pressure on them to be thin.” I believe that the media is the #1 reason that beauty standards as a whole have gotten so destructive. Not only have I seen it with my personal experiences but I have experienced it firsthand when it comes to my friends and peers as we are growing up in the digital era. I also think that a lack of diversity in the media has greatly contributed to the issues we see today concerning beauty standards and expectations. There are countless reasons as to why a lack of diversity in the media is harmful such as Pressure to conform, Reinforcing stereotypes, and exclusion and marginalization. While many reasons such as racism, capitalism, media, and evolution have contributed to beauty standards, the mix of all of them has created the social issues we all across different societies today when it comes to beauty standards and self-acceptance.

For my final source, I chose a piece from Allure a women's magazine focused on beauty. For this portfolio, I wanted to make sure that I have a variety of sources from different genres to create a detailed write-up on beauty standards considering many different factors that contribute to beauty standards. This allure piece talks about what is currently happening in the media and how it is affecting beauty standards. It is a confusing topic because many are learning to love themselves no matter “age, race, or weight.” On the other hand, we are seeing videos that “reveal when someone has spent a substantial amount of time money, or effort into fitting those standards continue to hit our social feeds daily.” Not only do these two points have contracting outcomes but one is about acceptance and the other is about conforming. The two topics that we constantly see stressed in the media. I wanted to include some more statistical data to help support my thesis and show just how destructive these standards can be to more women than one may think. According to Kara McGrath in regards to acceptance: “while 74% of women surveyed agree that there has been a trend toward more diversity in ads from large brands, they also emphasize the word trend”. This means that about “three in four women don't buy that these companies have a true commitment to a conclusion but rather that they're well aware of how it may look to consumers if they don't appear to care.” All of which I believe can we tied into my previous source that talks about capitalism and how it is heavily related to beauty standards. Age is also a significant factor when it comes to being concerned with one's image. “Younger women are nearly twice as likely to say they feel a significant amount of pressure than women 50 and over.” I feel as though this can be related to factors such as transition periods, media influence, and peer pressure. 

 

In Summary, Understanding the Influence of Unrealistic Images &  Beauty Aspirations, the Evolution of Beauty Standards, and Shifting Beauty Standards are the three parts of beauty standards that were addressed by my three sources. Overall, these three sources covered the most essential components of beauty standards. The exploration of unrealistic images & beauty standards deep dives into the impact of media representation as well as societal ideals of beauty. It emphasized these unattainable standards through pop culture, social media, and advertising. The evolution of beauty standards goes into the historical course of beauty ideals and how categories such as cultural, social, and economic factors have a great influence. Lastly, the shift of beauty standards and expectations explores demographics and helps to foster acceptance for all rather than trying to conform to societal norms. Addressing these crucial components, helped to provide valuable insights to support my thesis of beauty standards. 

        Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eAL4JNQQU8

Source 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6061013/

Source 2: https://uw.manifoldapp.org/read/beauty-standards/section/cff23c1e-aced-4e24-b14e-25a2728170d3

Source 3: https://www.allure.com/sponsored/story/beauty-standards-are-shifting-but-women-are-still-feeling-the-pressure