Anyone with a Barbie has been exposed to stereotypes of beauty. There are many women and girls who feel wrong because they don't fit some stereotype.
If you've read Time Magazine, The Guardian, Glamor, or just about any popular magazine or newspaper lately, you've seen reports of a new study comparing men's and women's views of beauty. The researchers asked both men and women to judge which photo of a model wearing different amounts of makeup would be most attractive to them, which photo would be most attractive to other men, and which photo would be most attractive to other women. Both men and women believed that models wearing more makeup would be considered more attractive to men. Interestingly, this was not the case. The results showed that more women than men prefer a model with more makeup.
So what's going on here? The researchers concluded that women adhere to a beauty standard that does not exist. Yes, that sounds right. But despite their findings, these researchers suggest that this standard of beauty is created and maintained exclusively by men, reflecting their version of attractiveness. We are bombarded with ideals of beauty 24/7, so isn't the media playing a pretty big role not only in creating this “perfect” version of beauty, but also in maintaining that standard in the daily lives of girls and women?
Sure, maybe there are many men who make decisions about what images are created and sold, but do they do it because of what they themselves find attractive, or to get girls to say “I want to look like her”? Isn't all this work about marketing and money and getting the attention of women? Isn't it corporate need, rather than individual male desires, responsible for perpetuating these unrealistic beauty standards?
It is also interesting to note that the Time Magazine article that can be read about this study was titled: "Science Shows Men Love Women With Less Makeup." But one has to wonder why the emphasis is on how men prefer women? How about how women view other women? In my experience, girls and women compare their beauty to that of other girls and women (just like girls and women do in the media). The results of this study may be that women who prefer a model with a lot of makeup do so simply because of the pressure they are putting on to want to be like the models they see in magazines.
When we think about how men and women perceive beauty, it is important to consider not only the physical attractiveness of men and women. In our society, there are so many factors that influence what we find attractive: for example, the media, marketing, and the way they influence our views of each other. This is not just about gender or even biology. It is only when we consider the larger forces at play that we can influence how these unrealistic standards of beauty affect our relationships and how we feel.
If you need further confirmation that unrealistic beauty standards affect girls at an early age, one online project surveyed young children. According to one participant, altered images on magazine covers and advertisements advertise unhealthy comparisons. “You cannot find your flaws, and then society will do it for you,” she said. As young girls contemplate weighing themselves before birthday parties and sucking in their bellies when they go swimming at children's camp, they prove that body image problems start at a young age. According to a Common Sense Media report, even children as young as 5 "complain about their bodies."
The project also features a second group of girls and their views on the impact of unrealistic beauty standards. They are clearly younger, but they still understand what it means to have a negative body image. Beauty standards affect girls and women of all ages, and you need to fight them as soon as possible.
Message Standards of beauty: who and why imposes these stereotypes on us? appeared first on Clever.
