Manucy

Shelby Manucy

Professor McGriff

ENC1102

20 February 2021

Final Research Paper: Beauty Standards

When we think of beauty, we think of the models we see on tv and magazines, or we

think of the actors and actresses that are seen on the big screen or in media. They are tall but not

too tall, having a slim physique but not stick thin, with flawless skin not a blemish in sight,

having a beautiful smile that anyone would die to have. Many people idolize these looks and

often think of this look as their “ideal” look. What many people don’t realize is that what mass

media and the beauty industry market to us, the general consumers are all false. Many of the

people we idolize and see as the “ideal” look or the beauty standard are regular people that are

not perfect. The problem isn’t with the people that are also in a lot of cases subject to conforming

to beauty standard also but, it lies within how mass media and the beauty industry portray these

unhealthy, damaging, and often unrealistic beauty standards. Although we are more than often

told that “Beauty” is a subjective term, the mass media and beauty industry seem to only

prioritize one type of beauty.

Although many people see nothing wrong with wanting to look “your best” or liking how

models look in the magazines and on T.V, that mind set can have an everlasting mental and

physical effect on the people that are influenced by what is show in mass media and the beauty

industry. In the article “The Media Foster Misplaced Public Concern About Anorexia” by Laurie

Penny, she discusses how media has mispresented the seriousness of Anorexia and even caused

Anorexia to become a trend instead of a serious discussion. In the first paragraph it talks about a
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French model Isabelle Caro, that sadly died to her battle with Anorexia. The author goes on to

state, “Caro, 28, was the face of the world-famous Nolita campaign, a poster project designed to

show dieting teenagers the horrific effects of anorexia on the body.” (Penny) This project may

have sounded like it would be a beneficial campaign to help decrease the cases of Anorexia or

even deter teens from going down the horrible path of Anorexia however, how the media and

beauty industry portrayed this campaign caused the opposite reaction. The author then states,

“The poster campaign in which Caro was involved backfired spectacularly because it was based

on the assumption that anorexic women starve themselves to look more "beautiful", rather than

because of any deeper trauma.” (Penny) This shows how a misinterpretation of a sensitive topic

like that of eating disorders can do more harm than good. What the media wanted was to have a

compelling story that was based of the false conception that anorexia and eating discords come

about to make the person who has the eating disorder “more beautiful” not the actual truth that

eating disorders such as Anorexia come from mental disorders not just the thought of having to

be skinny to be beautiful. Also, this campaign with Caro as the posterchild provided

"thinspiration" to Pro-anorexia websites which worsened the situation rather than helping it,

showing how the media and beauty industry negatively impacted the mental and physical

wellbeing of many of the people who are exposed them. The next article that furthers the

statement that the media and beauty industry have a negative impact over the general public is

“The Pursuit of Beauty Is Harmful” by Shari Graydo. Graydo talks about how the pursuit of

beaty is harmful for many and cause a variety of negative effects such as poor self-image, mental

and eating disorders, and consulting for many dangerous cosmetic surgeries. In the section “A

DELUGE OF UNREALISTIC IMAGES” it’s stated, “The result is that, compared to our sisters

of a generation ago, women today have an unprecedented number of opportunities to judge

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themselves against a select and genetically freakish few.”(Graydo) This statement was referring

to the fact that a multibillion-industry (the beauty industry along with mass media) was derived

from showing women what they should look like instead of focusing how amazing women and

their natural bodies. This indicates that women and anyone in general are under such amounts of

pressure from the mass media and the beauty industry to conform to the ideal beauty standards

that it causes a tax on their mental states and physical selves. In that same section the author then

goes on to express, “Indeed, the more time we spend immersed in contemporary media, the more

likely we are to obsess about our appearance or develop disordered eating behavior.”(Graydo)

This furthers the fact that mass media and the beauty industry cause negative mental and

physical impacts on people because it raises the concern of becoming more obsessed with our

outward appearances aiding in the development of eating disorders and mental disorders as well.

Although previously when discussing how the beauty industry and media prioritize one

type of beauty standard, most of the information specifically brought up the effects this topic had

on women but not men. Most people think that men aren't affected by beauty standards set by

mass media and the beauty industry, but the reality is that they are affected just as much as

women are. The stigma surrounding the belief that men aren’t affect by beauty standards is

completely wrong and inaccurate. An accurate representation of this is in the article “Male Body

Stereotypes” by Chris Godsey, in his article he discusses how seeing these “seemingly” perfect

men the media markets as the beauty ideal negatively impacts men self-image including his own.

In his article he states, “But while I'm cool with thinking those guys are fine, I'm bothered by my

occasional inability to see them, Men's Health magazine, or any Soloflex commercial, without

honestly believing that unless I have three percent body fat, a hairless torso and washboard abs,

I'm a sorry human being.” (Godsey) This reveals how men are truly impacted by the beauty
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ideals that are also placed on men. As he said he didn’t mind seeing these good-looking men on

magazines and such, but those ideals do put mental stain on not just the author but many other

men as well when it comes thinking they have to look that way to amount to anything as a

person. As the article goes on it also conveys, “In fact, men now have 10% of all eating

disorders.” (Godsey) This brings to light that not only women suffer from eating disorders and

mental disorders due to the prioritization of ideal beauty standards, but men do too. The whole

article prioritizes the notion that mental illness and eating disorders that are caused by mass

media and the beauty industry effect not just women but men too, and that the problem isn’t a

“women” or “men” problem but a person problem. Another article that expresses how men are

also impacted mass medias and the beauty industry’s beauty standards is “Why more men are

wearing makeup than ever before” by Glen Jankowski. In his article he discusses how men are

now also feeling the pressure as women do to conform to beauty standards. As shown in the

article, “Many have problematic relationships with food and are turning to protein shakes—and

even steroids—in a desperate attempt to meet these pressures.” (Jankowski) This concludes that

not just women are affected by the mass media and beauty industry’s prioritization of beauty

standers. This quote specifically points out the struggle with food that is generally associated

with women but indicates that men also struggle with these issues and the negative effects of

these mass media and beauty industry when it comes to emphasizing certain beauty standers. The

article also states, “So while male makeup may represent a way in which men are breaking out of

gender norms, it also results in added pressure for men to look "perfect"—to have flawless skin,

strong eyebrows and sharp cheekbones. And as many women know, makeup has a dark side—

the more you wear it, the more you believe you could never be attractive without it.” (Jankowski)

This portrays that although men grooming and starting to wear makeup can break gender norms,
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it also comes with “a dark side” (Jankowski) this refers to the poor self-image wearing makeup

can have on those who wear it.

As we have discussed the impact that mass media and the beauty industry had on men

and women when it comes to the portrayal of beauty standards. What wasn’t discussed was the

impact these beauty standards have on the adolescent. In the article “THE IMPACT OF TEEN

MAGAZINES ON ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN NORTH CYPRUS” by Yonca Aybay and Nurten

Kara they discuss the negative impact that these magazines have on the adolescent girls of North

Cyprus. The study conducted involved 82 adolescent girls from the ages of 12-17 years old. The

article states “Although some participants referred to some physical differences from the ideal

beauty standard as being acceptable, from the point of view of most participants, the ideal

remained to be thin, blond, and white-skinned, with an upturned nose and large blue or green

eyes. In contrast, participants mostly had dark-colored hair and eyes.” (Aybay and Kara) This

shows that although the adolescent girls didn’t mind seeing the women with the ideal beauty

standards in these magazines, their ideals for themselves stem from what they see in the

magazines which they are not. The studies also show, “Our findings showed that these

adolescent girls have body dissatisfaction because they think that they do not look like the ideal

image of beauty. It is interesting to note that although the girls had young skin, they still believed

they should use beauty products to obtain smooth and shiny skin, and that skin treatment was

necessary for beauty and to attract boys.” (Aybay and Kara) This furthers the fact that the beauty

industry and mass media prioritize one type of beauty by indicating that the girls in this study all

look different from the beauty standards placed in the magazines they read. This caused the girls

to be dissatisfied with their looks and bodies showing how the portrayal of beauty standards in

the media and beauty industry have a negative impact on them. The next article that shows the
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effects that the ideal beauty standards present in mass media and the beauty industry is “Child

Beauty Pageants Give Children Unrealistic Expectations” by Martina M. Cartwright. In this

article the author discusses the effect that child beauty pageants have on young girls' self-esteem,

body image, and self-worth later in their adult life. In the article it states, “Unrealistic

expectations to be thin, physically beautiful, and perfect are at the heart of some disordered

eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction.” (Cartwright) This is portraying that these girls have

been negatively influenced by the ideal beauty standards placed on them by them by the media

and beauty industry and this negative effect has gone as far as to not only affect them mentally

but also physically which can later cause horrible repercussions. The article then goes on to give

the long term impacts these child beauty pageant can have on girls. The author states, “Intense

participation in activities that spotlight physical appearance instills the idea that physical beauty

and superficial charm are the keys to success, thus making self-worth and self-esteem

inextricably tied to attractiveness.” (Cartwright) This enhances the idea that mass media and the

beauty industry prioritize beauty standards by stating the everlasting effects the beauty industry

(in this case the beauty pageant world) has on impressionable individuals such as adolescent

girls.

Now that the impact on the general public was discussed going from men to women to

even adolescence it is time to discuss the statistical evidence that supports the thesis that the

beauty industry and media only support one type of beauty. In one statistic done titled “Extreme

Behaviors: What Girls Are Willing to Do to Be Model Thin” with no known author, it discusses

its findings in reference to have experienced or known someone who has experienced extreme

behaviors due to extreme beauty standards. The finding shows most girls who took the survey

have known someone to expresses these extreme behaviors such as self-starvation, dieting pills,
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eating disorders, and even gone as far as to use cigarettes to suppress their appetites. Even

though the ratio of personal experience to secondhand experience is lower, it is not zero and

these findings support the argument that the beauty industry and media only support unattainable

beauty standards by providing the statistical evidence that shows how women suffer to conform

to these beauty standards such as being thin. The next statistic that provides evidence of the

beauty industry and media only portray the ideal beauty standards is titled “Views among US

Women Regarding the Media's Portrayal of Beauty, 2018” with no author. The statistic

concludes that “73% of women surveyed prefer to see ads that future and celebrate women of

various ages.” (Views among US Women Regarding the Media's Portrayal of Beauty, 2018) This

shows that the women that took this survey don’t see much representation of various groups such

as people of different ages and rather see a more accurate representation in media . The statistic

also found that, “76% of all respondents wish ads had more realistic images of women.” (Views

among US Women Regarding the Media's Portrayal of Beauty, 2018) This shows that ads in

media and the beauty industry aren’t market to show accurate depictions of women from

different body types to various ethnic groups, they are marketing the beauty standards they feel

are ideal for every women to conform to.

Now that we have covered the impacts the beauty industry and media have on men,

women, the adolescent, and the statistical research done to provide more data on the situation, it

is time to talk about the opposing side that supports the beauty industry and medias portray of

beauty. Some may say that that the beauty industry and the media's coverage on the beauty ideals

are changing such as the article “The Beauty Industry No Longer Embraces the Unrealistic

Beauty Standards of Models” by Jessica B. Matlin. In this article it is discussed that the beauty

industry and the general public views of what makes a woman today beautiful has changed in the
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recent years. In the article it states, “And what's hot among fashion aesthetes is anything but

conventional beauty. On the runway, straightforward, Barbie-doll looks are currently the kiss of

death.” (Matlin) This is referring to the fact that nowadays the fashion industry is starting to

expand in terms of having models who are of different ages and that the previous ideal of a

model is changing from “Barbie-doll looks” (Matlin) to a more diverse stance. The article then

goes to state that, “While eerily fragile, childlike girls known as "doll faces" are all the rage on

the catwalk—think Heather Marks, Lisa Cant, Lily Cole, and the ubiquitous Gemma Ward—

MAC cosmetics, which once ran in lockstep with the runways, is taking things in the opposite

direction.” (Matlin) This shows that fashions brands now expanding their versatility when it

comes to having different look rather that have the same look they’ve had before. Although this

is great and shows that media and the beauty industry is taking steps in the right direction when it

comes to a more diverse representation, it still doesn't account for the fact that the beauty

industry and media still most often markets an unrealistic beauty standard towards the public.

This is apparent in the article “The Beauty Industry Promotes Unrealistic Beauty Standards” by

Stacy Malkan. In this article it talks about how the beauty industry promote advertisements and

such that are altered and don’t show an accurate representation of women. In the article Ken

Harris, a professional photo retoucher states “‘In that the central point of retouching is to enforce

an unrealizable standard of beauty, I suspect of myself some sort of covert obscure misogyny,

because I'm really screwing with people's sense of identity and self-worth by doing this.’” This

shows that no matter how much representation there is in the beauty industry and media, it is

always going to be false perception and is going to be retouched to fit into the beaty standards.

The article the goes on to state, “The reshaped bodies, the smoothed-out wrinkles, ‘all that is

there to alter your mind, to alter your conception of what physical beauty is ... and what the
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means of attaining it are,’” This communicates that misconstrued images alter the audiences

views on what the beauty ideal is, showing that the beauty industry and only priories one type of

beauty.

As I said “Beauty” is a subjective term; but the mass media and beauty industry seem to

only prioritize one type of beauty as shown from a multitude of sources from statistical evidence,

journals, and viewpoints. The beauty industry and medias portrayal of beauty has negatively

impacted people mentally and physically, it has impacted not only women but men and the

adolescent as well from various ethnic groups. What I found throughout my research is that the

beauty industry and media has caused a multitude of problems from mental disorders, eating

disorders, and even self-worth problems in various people. The beauty industry although it may

be in ways changing has done more harm than good over the years and is only just now starting

slowly change. My opinion still stands on the topic that the beauty industry and media only

prioritize one type of beauty but, I hope that in the coming future my opinion can change the

negative effects of the beauty industry and media can change with it as well.
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Bibliography

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NORTH CYPRUS." Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, vol. 46, no. 1, 2018,

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