EXTRA LESSON – BEAUTY STANDARDS AND THEIR

EFFECTS ON SOCIETY
VOCABULARY

Standard Privilege Body dysmorphia Body image

Low self-esteem Insecurity Anxiety Depression

Mental health Plastic surgery Photoshop Makeup

Social media Anti-ageing culture Consumerism

Skin bleaching Colourism Racism Sexism

Foot binding Hair removal Sexualization

Wig installations Eating Disorder (ED) Anorexia Bulimia

Obesity Binge eating Tanning Whitewashed

On top of internalizing beauty standards from a young age, children will also parrot
the beauty standards that they learned to other kids in school, often in the form of
bullying
Body image is the subjective picture or mental image of the way that you view yourself
physically.
Overweight men might get teased, but they aren’t condemned for their bodies being outside
the societal “norm.”
Struggling to survive in a body that you are repulsed by and terrified to bring with you
anywhere is absolute torture.
While men are expected or encouraged to look a certain way, for women it’s all but
a requirement.
Parents should be teaching us how to love our bodies and love what we put in them.
Media, unfortunately, begins putting expectations on children and their appearance from a
very young age.

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Unhealthy food relationships can often lead to eating disorders, which directly impact
physical health.
Westerners brought their beauty standards to other countries and gained social power in this
way.
White supremacy managed to creep into the everlasting concept of beauty.
Beauty standards are a very complex social process that are perpetuated through many
forms of social status.
In our society, it’s hard to live without constantly comparing yourself to the people around
you.

Questions

What’s the Brazilian standard? Do you know other country’s standards?

How beauty standards affect men?
Have you ever photoshoped your body on pictures before posting them?
Name five or more privileges that people with a standard body have over others.
Would you like to do plastic surgery? If yes, how many and where?
How the use of social media does affects people self-esteem?
What are some body image issues?
Have you ever suffered body shaming by someone close to you?
How is consumerism related directly to the raise of search for beauty products?
Explain how low self-esteem creates insecurity.
How the media normalized eating disorders?

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Unrealistic body standards create toxic environment
The mentality of a perfect body continues to exist in our era today, stimulating an
environment where many lack body confidence and self-esteem.
Society’s unrealistic body standards create an immense sense of pressure among teenagers
to achieve a perfect body, thus deteriorating their overall self-esteem and creating unhealthy
habits.
The idea of a perfect body is perpetuated through unrealistic photos of women and girls
portrayed in the media. Underweight and photoshopped models are everywhere, and they
act as examples for what teenage girls should supposedly look like.
The thought of being “fat” and “bloated” goes through people’s heads daily. The negative
connotations surrounding bloating coupled with the excessive online spread of excessive
dietary tips to “debloat” reflect the widespread mentality that nothing but a flat stomach is
acceptable.
Nowadays, beauty is not measured by uniqueness, but by a number on a scale or the size of
one’s waist. In order to be perceived as beautiful, individuals must conform to these
unattainable standards, characterized by a skinny waist, an hourglass figure, big lips, a thigh
gap and a flat stomach.
Body standards are a social construct that are enforced in day-to-day interactions and are
perpetuated by social media. On apps such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, teenagers
are exposed to endless posts of the “ideal” body type, particularly by Instagram models and
influencers.
According to Insider magazine, a 2015 study found that female-identifying college students
who spent more time on Facebook had poorer body images.
Furthermore, in a study conducted on 18 to 34-year-olds by the Huffington Post, it was
found that almost half of the participants said their social media feeds made them feel “ugly
or unattractive.” There is a significant relationship between excessive time on social media
and deteriorating self-perception.

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I too have experienced this. When I’m casually scrolling through my feed on Instagram or
Tiktok I feel as though I will never measure up to the girls that I see, pushing me to have
low self esteem.
This toxic environment has made it so that instead of acknowledging the beauty I see in
others, I compare myself to them.
The society we live in forces girls to be competitive, to beat themselves up if they can’t
reach perfection and to strive for an ideal body even when it’s unattainable.
Another recurring theme that emerges from social media is the desire for validation. The
need to obtain numerous likes on a post is directly linked to the need for acceptance.
In addition, when reflecting on the photos that tend to obtain the most amount of
recognition, I instantly think of the ones where a “perfect” body is depicted. Whether that be
a swimsuit picture or a casual everyday photo, posts that embody society’s beauty standards
are most popular among the public.
Furthermore, it is important to consider that body issues and standards are not only
significant for women, but they appear among men as well.
According to a study conducted by Bradley University, men tend to be quieter about their
body negativity due to shame and embarrassment if they don’t have the so-called-perfect
figure they too are under constant pressure by society to achieve the perfect body, such as a
muscular figure
Nonetheless, body negativity tends to be more prevalent among women due to the toxicity
of diet culture and social media. Exposure to the mentalities that entail the necessity to
control food intake and weight gain tend to be more common amongst girls.
Results from a psychology study state that girls are more inclined to be conscious about
how their body weight affects their appearance compared to men because they are more
frequently confronted with ideal bodies in the media.
I am often saddened by the comments that I hear amongst my peers surrounding clothing
and food intake. For instance, “I look too fat in this outfit” is a common concern.
Diet culture has significantly increased over the years as the popularity of extreme weight
loss, restricting food intake, calorie cutting and over-exercising have become more
common.

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Contextually, diet culture became popularized because it served as a solution for those who
struggled with achieving their desired body, providing means to quickly cut weight.
Furthermore, according to Common Sense Media, 80% of 10-year-old girls in the U.S. have
been on a diet. This shocking statistic highlights the fact that food restrictions are extremely
prevalent among youth.
Thankfully, the recent body positivity movement has challenged societal beauty standards
by striving to normalize all body types. This movement is monumental because it not only
breaks the stigma surrounding weight gain, but also allows for a society where individual
beauty is finally recognized.
An example of a brand that promotes body positivity is Savage x Fenty Beauty, which
rejects the universal one size fits all beauty standards in order to create a safe and inclusive
environment for women of varying body types. Many other brands such as Dove and Nike
have followed this path.
Portraying unedited and diverse women through campaigns such as Dove’s “real beauty” ad
plays a significant role in the upliftment of self-esteem because girls can finally relate to
what they see on screen.
Spreading body positivity throughout the modeling industry will create a positive effect on
teenagers growing up, abolishing unrealistic body standards and allowing for an inclusive
society. However, there is still much more progress to be made in achieving an inclusive
environment for a diverse range of body types.
Eventually, we must reach a consensus that being perfect isn’t possible, and ultimately allow
people to be comfortable in their own skin.