avatarDestiny S. Harris

Summary

The website content discusses the pervasive culture of beauty and its impact on societal perceptions of attractiveness, self-esteem, and gender oppression, advocating for a shift away from dependency on beauty-enhancing techniques.

Abstract

The article "What Is The Culture of Beauty?" delves into the societal constructs that define beauty, emphasizing the often-overlooked truth that women possess natural beauty without the need for enhancements. The author shares a personal journey of abstaining from makeup for a year, which led to increased self-esteem and a reevaluation of societal beauty standards. The piece critically examines how media and advertising perpetuate a culture that profits from women's insecurities, reinforcing gender oppression by objectifying women and undervaluing them as they age. The author's intent is not to criticize the beauty industry or its consumers but to foster awareness of the unconscious influences that shape our beauty ideals and to encourage a healthier relationship with our natural selves, free from the constraints of a beauty-obsessed culture.

Opinions

  • The author believes that society's dependence on beauty-enhancing techniques is detrimental and perpetuates an artificial culture of beauty.
  • The media significantly influences beauty standards, often marginalizing older women and those who do not fit Western ideals of attractiveness.
  • The culture of beauty is seen as a form of gender oppression, reducing women to objects for male consumption and contributing to gender inequality.
  • The beauty industry thrives on women's insecurities, which reinforces the culture of beauty and its oppressive effects on society.
  • The author promotes the idea that understanding the culture of beauty is crucial to mitigate its powerful influence on individuals globally.
  • The piece suggests that conscious participation in beauty culture, acknowledging one's natural beauty as sufficient, is healthier than being brainwashed by societal standards.

What Is The Culture of Beauty?

Part 1 — We Forget We Are Beautiful Without Adjustments

Photo by Dom Aguiar on Unsplash

As women, we often forget that we are simply beautiful without making any adjustments to our faces and bodies. We also forget that there are other types of beauty aside from physical beauty. Though these are simple truths, we often live our lives constantly trying to enhance our bodies in some shape or form to be more beautiful and to appear more attractive to ourselves and others.

My No-Makeup Journey

One day, I decided to go one year of not utilizing any makeup products. This experience helped me to love and accept my natural self, more than I did before I commenced the journey; my self-esteem and self-confidence inevitably benefitted and soared from completing this journey. I have never heavily and consistently utilized makeup, but I still often used mascara and eyeliner to give me that “pop”. This journey of not using makeup enlightened me of how dependent a woman can become on even the simplest makeup tools and techniques to enhance her appearance.

Society Teaches Us We Need To Make Adjustments

The culture of beauty thrives on others’ consistent dependence on different “beauty-enhancing” techniques such as cosmetics, plastic surgery, and fad diets; my goal is to avoid dependence on beauty-enhancing techniques to prevent myself from being an active participant in this artificial culture.

I spent a lot of my life as an unconscious participant in the culture of beauty. The consistent messages, advertisements, and media have affected me at many points in my life, and I often allowed (without even realizing it) these messages to internalize and influence me in ways that made me more self-conscious of my body. I know that if the media and the beauty industry have affected me, then they have probably affected numerous others as well.

The Purpose of This Piece

This article derives from a research paper I completed at the University of Georgia. I felt it necessary to expand on the paper because beauty culture affects ample amounts of people across the globe, which makes it a relevant topic. I do not write this piece to criticize the beauty industry, but to speak candidly about it. I do not write this piece to chastise people who take meticulous care of their appearance and utilize beauty techniques to enhance their appearance. The purpose of this piece is to communicate how the culture of beauty can affect people in ways they may not even realize; furthermore, I wrote this piece to help people understand the reasons why they choose to engage in beauty-enhancing techniques. There is a difference between being brainwashed and influenced to believe your body is inadequate versus consciously, but still willingly participating in beauty culture because you want to — knowing your natural body is good enough.

The Culture of Beauty Defined

You may ask, “What is the culture of beauty?” According to Caffrey (2015), “The culture of beauty refers to the prevalent standards of physical attractiveness as dictated by popular opinion.” Within this culture, certain features are usually focused on such as symmetry, body weight, hair type, and skin tone. The media (e.g. music, magazines, film, entertainment, news, and advertisements) greatly influences what is considered beautiful and attractive.

How The Media Discriminates Against Women

If you take time to observe the media, you may notice that most women who are in the news, film, entertainment, and broadcasting industries are often young (or look younger than their age) and are doused with makeup to enhance their physical appearance. Older women, and presumably less attractive (according to Western societal ideals) women, are often shunned by society and are not often seen in the visible spotlight; it is as if once a woman ceases to be a sexually consumable object or past a presumable reproductive age, she loses value. Furthermore, there seems to be a negative correlation between a woman’s value and the age of her body. You may also notice that there are considerably more men, who are older, that are actively involved in the industries I listed above in comparison to older women.

Gender Oppression

I believe the culture of beauty perpetuates gender oppression and gender inequality amongst women and men because it often conveys to society that women are objects to be enhanced — often for male consumption. Women are continually reduced to their bodies; consequently, women are frequently not seen as full human beings. Moreover, through this timely cultural norm, women have ended up unconsciously perpetuating and participating in their own objectification.

There are many forms of gender oppression that are directed at women, and the culture of beauty is only one of them. Many people have never considered the beauty industry to be an extension of the patriarchy or an example of oppression on women; however, if a person observes just how successful this billion-dollar beauty industry is, one may notice that this industry thrives off the insecurities of women, which is the fuel that feeds the culture of beauty. Understanding the culture of beauty and its effects on society will help mitigate the powerful influence it has on individuals across the globe.

Gender Oppression: There is not one exclusive definition for gender oppression. Gender oppression can represent unjust treatment or control of a human being. It can also signify mental pressure or mental distress on someone.

This is only part one of the Culture of Beauty; we are just getting started here. Until next time, cheers.

Bibliography

Caffrey, C. (2015). Culture of Beauty. Salem Press Encyclopedia

Espejo, Roman. The Culture of Beauty: Opposing Viewpoints. Greenhaven Press. 2010. Print

Ford, T. K. (2015). Sexist humor as a trigger of state self-objectification in women. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 28(2), 253–269

Hooks, b. (2000). Feminist theory: From Margin to Center. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, c2000

Spelman, E. V., Shanley, M. L., & Pateman, C. (1991). Simone de Beauvoir and Women: Just Who Does She Think ‘We’ Is?. Feminist Interpretations And Political Theory, 199–216

The Culture of Beauty Series

Destiny S. Harris is a writer, poet, entrepreneur, teacher, and techie who offers free books daily on amazon. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, or @ destinyh.com

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Beauty
Feminism
Women
Makeup
Media Criticism
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