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Beauty Standards Argumentative Essay Example

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Beauty , Skin , Europe , Women , Education , Workplace , Beauty Standards , Family

Words: 1100

Published: 2021/02/06

Popular culture has always revealed a lot about gender, sexuality, and class through a variety of perspectives. The notion of beauty itself is a social construction that becomes normative despite the fact that it is often used a tool for social control. Members of society at-large strive with conform to prevailing ideals in order to be validated as attractive. Beauty standards have historically and continue to reflect Eurocentric paradigms that prize light skin over dark skin, which is evident in media representations of ideal beauty. Because blackness has put certain individuals at an historical disadvantage, it is clear that beauty ideals continue to reflect a society that values whiteness. Eurocentric paradigms can have damaging and debilitating effects on the life trajectories of black men and women due to internalized self-disregard and self-hatred. Ultimately, dominant notions of beauty in the United States are racially defined and thus disproportionately impact black females in comparison with black men. Recently, CNN host Soledad O’Brien presented a two-day presentation about the lived experience of blacks in the United States (“Black in America”) in which she addressed topics such as socio-economic status, education, male-female relationships, parenting, HIV/AIDS stigmatization and reality, and the socio-economic diversity in the black community. During one interview with professor and author, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and his brother, Everett, O’Brien questioned what accounted for the conspicuous socio-economic differences between the two brothers. Dr. Dyson was an accomplished Princeton graduate while the other remains convicted murderer who is currently serving a lifetime in prison. To answer this question Dr. Dyson pointed to his brother’s dark-colored skin, and then subsequently to his own light skin to suggest that darker skinned individuals living in America are not given the same “opportunities” or leniency as lighter- skinned blacks are. Dr. Dyson articulated an argument based on the historical relationship between skin color and socio-economic successes enjoyed by lighter-skinned blacks, and how those advantages had enabled him to achieve a Princeton education while his darker- skinned brother became ensconced in a world of crime (Robinson-Moore 67). Black women have historically been quite vulnerable to European beauty standards that emphasize particular hair types and skin colors that exclude African-American women. Because of the frequency of European beauty standards in the media as well as in peer and family relations, black women often internalize these standards, which directly impact their academic achievement, self-perception, self-regard, employment, sexual behavior, and mental health. Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted an experiment during the 1940s in order to assess how skin color affects the self-perception and self-regard amongst non-white children. This study became known as the “Doll Test” and became famous when it was cited in the significant court case decision entitled Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. This test revealed how dark-skinned children were negatively impacted by European beauty paradigms. European beauty standards correlate the concept of beauty with distinctly European features in order to judge a person’s beauty from a point of view held by society at-large. These European standards prize whiteness or lighter skin tones, light-colored eyes, straight hair, and thin lips and nose as the ideal model of beauty against which all people are judged. Skin color and hair, according to Robinson-Moore, communicate racial beauty hierarchies. She asserts that hair textures and skin colors are “prominent signs of African ancestry [which] affect[s] attractiveness and therefore socialization” (Robinson-Moore 68). The education system in the United States reinforces certain messages about skin color that are taught and learned within the family unit and often encourage young African-American girls to internalize Eurocentric beauty standards that value lighter and whiter skin. Thus the intersectionality of race, identity, and back female beauty has remained an important site for scholarly research because of the power dynamics and relations that continue to influence certain behaviors in certain social groups. Income differentials and employment status further reinforce the argument that Eurocentric standards of beauty impute value onto skin color. Black women who have darker skin tones and textured hair that go against established beauty standards are more likely to remain unemployed than those who conform with them. Robinson-Moore cites a study conducted by Aschenbrenner in 1975 that concluded that poorer black women in Chicago often had dark-colored skin. Perceived attractiveness indeed correlated with employment status as “attractive” people in conjunction with European standards receive more employment and education opportunities than those who do not visibly conform (Robinson-Moore 68). Black women who have darker skin thus are more likely to lack employment and a higher education than those who have lighter skin. Most devastatingly, however, is the fact that racialized beauty standards impact the spousal status of black women. Racial hierarchies directly relate to how black men select their mates. A study conducted by Hughes and Hertal in 1990 concluded that light-skinned black women retained a higher status than those with darker skin. Black men prefer lighter-skinned women not only because of the socioeconomic advantages and acceptance attached to such mate selection but also because of a subconscious desire to have light-skinned kids (Robinson-Moore 69). Thus, statistic reinforce the reality that dark-skinned black women are less likely to get married. Black females thus must negotiate beauty ideals despite the fact that negative valuations have been imputed onto darker-skinned African Americans in the United States. While family and the educational system perpetuate Eurocentric standards of beauty, the media also plays an important role in perpetuating such specific standards. Gordon conducted a study that examined how black children reacted to media portrayals in relation to the amount of media consumption they participated in on a quotidian basis. Gordon concluded that black girls identified with black television and black music, and that skin tone and hair texture figured largely in the descriptions of the media images the participants were exposed to. Media portrayals of black women as sexual objects and/or objects of desire contribute to the centrality of appearances in the lives of adolescent black girls. Black girls thus are more susceptible to negative messages discussed by the media with regards to their attractiveness and physical appearance than girls who have lighter skin. As a result, dark-skinned black girls often engage in risky behaviors over a long period of time (Robinson-Moore 70). Taken together, European beauty paradigms negatively impact the lives of darker-skinned females and often suffer from poor mental health during their adult lives. The root of African-American struggles stems from their darkened skin color within a society that prizes Eurocentric beauty ideals. Eurocentric beauty paradigms impact the identities of black females in a largely negative manner. The cultural identities of black women are adapted and subsequently communicated because dominant standards of beauty. Black men and women internalize European beauty ideals especially black women. Black women who have lighter skin tones and long straight hair have testified that they felt more socially accepted and validated, as they feel more confident and report more individual successes and higher self-esteem. Individuals with darker skin and shorter hair tended to experience more alienation, lower self-esteem and limited socioeconomic opportunities. In order to combat European beauty standards, studies have shown that nonwhite families need to fortify cultural identities from an Afrocentric perspective rather a Eurocentric one that has proven crippling vis-à-vis beauty standards. Families also need to confront negative sentiments and messages about beauty to their children in a way that boosts their self-esteem and self-regard. Black women who have darker skin are seemingly set up for failure beginning in their childhood as a result of living in a society steeped in Eurocentric values that grants light-skinned black females far more employment and educational opportunities than their dark-skinned counterparts.

Works Cited

Robinson-Moore, Cynthia L. “Beauty Standards Reflect Eurocentric Paradigms—So What? Skin Color, Identity and Black Female Beauty.”

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An argument about beauty

argumentative essay on beauty standards

Susan Sontag has been a Fellow of the American Academy since 1993. Best known as a novelist and essayist – her books have been translated into thirty-two languages – she has also written stories and plays, written and directed movies, and worked as a theatre director in the United States and Europe. In 2000 she won the National Book Award for her novel In America , and in 2001 received the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work. Last year, a new collection of essays, Where the Stress Falls , was published. Her next book, Regarding the Pain of Others , will appear in early 2003, and she is also writing another novel.

Responding at last, in April of 2002, to the scandal created by the revelation of innumerable cover-ups of sexually predatory priests, Pope John Paul II told the American cardinals summoned to the Vatican, “A great work of art may be blemished, but its beauty remains; and this is a truth which any intellectually honest critic will recognize.”

Is it too odd that the Pope likens the Catholic Church to a great – that is, beautiful – work of art? Perhaps not, since the inane comparison allows him to turn abhorrent misdeeds into something like the scratches in the print of a silent film or craquelure covering the surface of an Old Master painting, blemishes that we reflexively screen out or see past. The Pope likes venerable ideas. And beauty, as a term signifying (like health) an indisputable excellence, has been a perennial resource in the issuing of peremptory evaluations.

Permanence, however, is not one of beauty’s more obvious attributes; and the contemplation of beauty, when it is expert, may be wreathed in pathos, the drama on which Shakespeare elaborates in many of the Sonnets. Traditional celebrations of beauty in Japan, like the annual rite of cherry-blossom viewing, are keenly elegiac; the most stirring beauty is the most evanescent. To make beauty in some sense imperishable required a lot of conceptual tinkering and transposing, but the idea was simply too alluring, too potent, to be squandered on the praise of superior embodiments. The aim was to multiply the notion, to allow for kinds of beauty, beauty with adjectives, arranged on a scale of ascending value and incorruptibility, with the metaphorized uses (‘intellectual beauty,’ ‘spiritual beauty’) taking precedence over what ordinary language extols as beautiful – a gladness to the senses.

The less ‘uplifting’ beauty of face and body remains the most commonly visited site of the beautiful. But one would hardly expect the Pope to invoke that sense of beauty while constructing an exculpatory account of several generations’ worth of the clergy’s sexual molestation of children and protection of the molesters. More to the point – his point – is the ‘higher’ beauty of art. However much art may seem to be a matter of surface and reception by the senses, it has generally been accorded an honorary citizenship in the domain of ‘inner’ (as opposed to ‘outer’) beauty. Beauty, it seems, is immutable, at least when incarnated – fixed – in the form of art, because it is in art that beauty as an idea, an eternal idea, is best embodied. Beauty (should you choose to use the word that way) is deep, not superficial; hidden, sometimes, rather than obvious; consoling, not troubling; indestructible, as in art, rather than ephemeral, as in nature. Beauty, the stipulatively uplifting kind, perdures.

The best theory of beauty is its history. Thinking about the history of beauty means focusing on its deployment in the hands of specific communities.

Communities dedicated by their leaders to stemming what is perceived as a noxious tide of innovative views have no interest in modifying the bulwark provided by the use of beauty as unexceptionable commendation and consolation. It is not surprising that John Paul II, and the preserve-and-conserve institution for which he speaks, feels as comfortable with beauty as with the idea of the good.

It also seems inevitable that when, almost a century ago, the most prestigious communities concerned with the fine arts dedicated themselves to drastic projects of innovation, beauty would turn up on the front line of notions to be discredited. Beauty could not but appear a conservative standard to the makers and proclaimers of the new; Gertrude Stein said that to call a work of art beautiful means that it is dead. Beautiful has come to mean ‘merely’ beautiful: there is no more vapid or philistine compliment.

Elsewhere, beauty still reigns, irrepressible. (How could it not?) When that notorious beauty-lover Oscar Wilde announced in The Decay of Lying , “Nobody of any real culture ever talks about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old-fashioned,” sunsets reeled under the blow, then recovered. Les beaux-arts, when summoned to a similar call to be up-to-date, did not. The subtraction of beauty as a standard for art hardly signals a decline of the authority of beauty. Rather, it testifies to a decline in the belief that there is something called art.

Even when Beauty was an unquestioned criterion of value in the arts, it was defined laterally, by evoking some other quality that was supposed to be the essence or sine qua non of something that was beautiful. A definition of the beautiful was no more (or less) than a commendation of the beautiful. When, for example, Lessing equated beauty with harmony, he was offering another general idea of what is excellent or desirable.

In the absence of a definition in the strict sense, there was supposed to be an organ or capacity for registering beauty (that is, value) in the arts, called ‘taste,’ and a canon of works discerned by people of taste, seekers after more rarefied gratifications, adepts of connoisseurship. For in the arts – unlike life – beauty was not assumed to be necessarily apparent, evident, obvious.

The problem with taste was that, however much it resulted in periods of large agreement within communities of art lovers, it issued from private, immediate, and revocable responses to art. And the consensus, however firm, was never more than local. To address this defect, Kant – a dedicated universalizer – proposed a distinctive faculty of ‘judgment’ with discernable principles of a general and abiding kind; the tastes legislated by this faculty of judgment, if properly reflected upon, should be the possession of all. But ‘judgment’ did not have its intended effect of shoring up ‘taste’ or making it, in a certain sense, more democratic. For one thing, taste-as-principled- judgment was hard to apply, since it had the most tenuous connection with the actual works of art deemed incontestably great or beautiful, unlike the pliable, empirical criterion of taste. And taste is now a far weaker, more assailable notion than it was in the late eighteenth century. Whose taste? Or, more insolently, who sez?

As the relativistic stance in cultural matters pressed harder on the old assessments, definitions of beauty – descriptions of its essence – became emptier. Beauty could no longer be something as positive as harmony. For Valéry, the nature of beauty is that it cannot be defined; beauty is precisely ‘the ineffable.’

The failure of the notion of beauty reflects the discrediting of the prestige of judgment itself, as something that could conceivably be impartial or objective, not always self-serving or self-referring. It also reflects the discrediting of binary discourses in the arts. Beauty defines itself as the antithesis of the ugly. Obviously, you can’t say something is beautiful if you’re not willing to say something is ugly. But there are more and more taboos about calling something, anything, ugly. (For an explanation, look first not at the rise of so-called political correctness, but at the evolving ideology of consumerism, then at the complicity between these two.) The point is to find what is beautiful in what has not hitherto been regarded as beautiful (or: the beautiful in the ugly).

Similarly, there is more and more resistance to the idea of ‘good taste,’ that is, to the dichotomy good taste/bad taste, except for occasions that allow one to celebrate the defeat of snobbery and the triumph of what was once condescended to as bad taste. Today, good taste seems even more retrograde an idea than beauty. Austere, difficult ‘modernist’ art and literature have come to seem old-fashioned, a conspiracy of snobs. Innovation is relaxation now; today’s E-Z Art gives the green light to all. In the cultural climate favoring the more user-friendly art of recent years, the beautiful seems, if not obvious, then pretentious. Beauty continues to take a battering in what are called, absurdly, our culture wars.

That beauty applied to some things and not to others, that it was a principle of discrimination , was once its strength and appeal. Beauty belonged to the family of notions that establish rank, and accorded well with social order unapologetic about station, class, hierarchy, and the right to exclude.

What had been a virtue of the concept became its liability. Beauty, which once seemed vulnerable because it was too general, loose, porous, was revealed as – on the contrary – excluding too much. Discrimination, once a positive faculty (meaning refined judgment, high standards, fastidiousness), turned negative: it meant prejudice, bigotry, blindness to the virtues of what was not identical with oneself.

The strongest, most successful move against beauty was in the arts: beauty, and the caring about beauty, was restrictive; as the current idiom has it, elitist. Our appreciations, it was felt, could be so much more inclusive if we said that something, instead of being beautiful, was ‘interesting.’

Of course, when people said a work of art was interesting, this did not mean that they necessarily liked it – much less that they thought it beautiful. It usually meant no more than they thought they ought to like it. Or that they liked it, sort of, even though it wasn’t beautiful.

Or they might describe something as interesting to avoid the banality of calling it beautiful. Photography was the art where ‘the interesting’ first triumphed, and early on: the new, photographic way of seeing proposed everything as a potential subject for the camera. The beautiful could not have yielded such a range of subjects; and soon came to seem uncool to boot as a judgment. Of a photograph of a sunset, a beautiful sunset, anyone with minimal standards of verbal sophistication might well prefer to say, “Yes, the photograph is interesting.”

What is interesting? Mostly, what has not previously been thought beautiful (or good). The sick are interesting, as Nietzsche points out. The wicked, too. To name something as interesting implies challenging old orders of praise; such judgments aspire to be found insolent or at least ingenious. Connoisseurs of the interesting – whose antonym is the boring – appreciate clash, not harmony. Liberalism is boring, declares Carl Schmitt in The Concept of the Political , written in 1932 (the following year he joined the Nazi Party). A politics conducted according to liberal principles lacks drama, flavor, conflict, while strong autocratic politics – and war – are interesting.

Long use of ‘the interesting’ as a criterion of value has, inevitably, weakened its transgressive bite. What is left of the old insolence lies mainly in its disdain for the consequences of actions and of judgments. As for the truthfulness of the ascription – that does not even enter the story. One calls something interesting precisely so as not to have to commit to a judgment of beauty (or of goodness). The interesting is now mainly a consumerist concept, bent on enlarging its domain: the more things that become interesting, the more the marketplace grows. The boring – understood as an absence, an emptiness – implies its antidote: the promiscuous, empty affirmations of the interesting. It is a peculiarly inconclusive way of experiencing reality.

In order to enrich this deprived take on our experiences, one would have to acknowledge a full notion of boredom: depression, rage (suppressed despair). Then one could work toward a full notion of the interesting. But that quality of experience – of feeling – one would probably no longer even want to call interesting.

Beauty can illustrate an ideal; a perfection. Or, because of its identification with women (more accurately, with Woman), it can trigger the usual ambivalence that stems from the age-old denigration of the feminine. Much of the discrediting of beauty needs to be understood as a result of the gender inflection. Misogyny, too, might underlie the urge to metaphorize beauty, thereby promoting it out of the realm of the ‘merely’ feminine, the unserious, the specious. For if women are worshiped because they are beautiful, they are condescended to for their preoccupation with making or keeping themselves beautiful. Beauty is theatrical, it is for being looked at and admired; and the word is as likely to suggest the beauty industry (beauty magazines, beauty parlors, beauty products) – the theatre of feminine frivolity – as the beauties of art and of nature. How else to explain the association of beauty – i.e., women – with mindlessness? To be concerned with one’s own beauty is to risk the charge of narcissism and frivolity. Consider all the beauty synonyms, starting with the ‘lovely,’ the merely ‘pretty,’ which cry out for a virile transposition.

“Handsome is as handsome does.” (But not: “Beautiful is as beautiful does.”) Though it applies no less than does ‘beautiful’ to appearance, ‘handsome’ – free of associations with the feminine – seems a more sober, less gushing way of commending. Beauty is not ordinarily associated with gravitas. Thus one might prefer to call the vehicle for delivering searing images of war and atrocity a ‘handsome book,’ as I did in the preface to a recent compilation of photographs by Don McCullin, lest calling it a ‘beautiful book’ (which it was) would seem an affront to its appalling subject.

It’s usually assumed that beauty is, almost tautologically, an ‘aesthetic’ category, which puts it, according to many, on a collision course with the ethical. But beauty, even beauty in the amoral mode, is never naked. And the ascription of beauty is never unmixed with moral values. Far from the aesthetic and the ethical being poles apart, as Kierkegaard and Tolstoy insisted, the aesthetic is itself a quasi-moral project. Arguments about beauty since Plato are stocked with questions about the proper relation to the beautiful (the irresistibly, enthrallingly beautiful), which is thought to flow from the nature of beauty itself.

The perennial tendency to make of beauty itself a binary concept, to split it up into ‘inner’ and ‘outer,’ ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ beauty, is the usual way that judgments of the beautiful are colonized by moral judgments. From a Nietzschean (or Wildean) point of view, this may be improper, but it seems to me unavoidable. And the wisdom that becomes available over a deep, lifelong engagement with the aesthetic cannot, I venture to say, be duplicated by any other kind of seriousness. Indeed, the various definitions of beauty come at least as close to a plausible characterization of virtue, and of a fuller humanity, as the attempts to define goodness as such.

Beauty is part of the history of idealizing, which is itself part of the history of consolation. But beauty may not always console. The beauty of face and figure torments, subjugates; that beauty is imperious. The beauty that is human, and the beauty that is made (art) – both raise the fantasy of possession. Our model of the disinterested comes from the beauty of nature – a nature that is distant, overarching, unpossessable.

From a letter written by a German soldier standing guard in the Russian winter in late December of 1942: “The most beautiful Christmas I had ever seen, made entirely of disinterested emotions and stripped of all tawdry trimmings. I was all alone beneath an enormous starred sky, and I can remember a tear running down my frozen cheek, a tear neither of pain nor of joy but of emotion created by intense experience. . . .” 1

Unlike beauty, often fragile and impermanent, the capacity to be overwhelmed by the beautiful is astonishingly sturdy and survives amidst the harshest distractions. Even war, even the prospect of certain death, cannot expunge it.

The beauty of art is better, ‘higher,’ according to Hegel, than the beauty of nature because it is made by human beings and is the work of the spirit. But the discerning of beauty in nature is also the result of traditions of consciousness, and of culture – in Hegel’s language, of spirit.

The responses to beauty in art and to beauty in nature are interdependent. As Wilde pointed out, art does more than school us on how and what to appreciate in nature. (He was thinking of poetry and painting. Today the standards of beauty in nature are largely set by photography.) What is beautiful reminds us of nature as such – of what lies beyond the human and the made – and thereby stimulates and deepens our sense of the sheer spread and fullness of reality, inanimate as well as pulsing, that surrounds us all.

A happy by-product of this insight, if insight it is: beauty regains its solidity, its inevitability, as a judgment needed to make sense of a large portion of one’s energies, affinities, and admirations; and the usurping notions appear ludicrous.

Imagine saying, “That sunset is interesting.”

  • 1 Quoted in Stephen G. Fritz, Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II (Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 1995), 130.

On beauty (2002)

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Beauty Standards In Today’s Society: Free Sample Argumentative Essay To Follow

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Surgery , Plastic , Plastic Surgery , Beauty , Self-Esteem , Cosmetic Surgery , Esteem , Life

Words: 1500

Published: 03/08/2023

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In today’s society, beauty is believed to be one of the keys to having a happy life. There are billboards across the nation advertising what a beautiful face and body can do to improve your self-esteem. This belief seems to be inescapable due to all the social media, television shows, and movies dedicated to showing what life is like for the “beautiful people”. Due to all this, a person can become convinced that their entire self-worth is tied to how well they look, thus leading to them getting plastic, cosmetic, surgery. Cosmetic surgery can alter any part of a person’s body to reflect what they believe should be fixed in order to become beautiful. A few of the more common forms of cosmetic surgeries are breast and buttocks implants, face-lifts, nose jobs, liposuction, and eyelid surgery. This beauty standard has become so common, that in some families it is a tradition to have some form of cosmetic surgery done at the age of sixteen. However, there are many people who are against these forms of surgery because they believe it is slowly warping people’s minds on what is beautiful and what is not. This essay will examine how and why people with low self-esteem become addicted to getting plastic surgery and whether it is healthy. Every human being deserves the opportunity to hone their external beauty in order to raise their self-esteem. The man is described as an imperfect being, which is in continuous search of complete perfection. In our daily life, walking in the street, talking on the phone, at home, at work, everywhere, we can see the pressure of the world on us, people around you, your clothes, your lifestyle, your way of acting (Cash p.16). Inner beauty is something that gives you the spark, the charisma, sensitivity. All fall into the conclusion that inner beauty, which transmits from within, is the most important, but we do not think that external beauty complements the internal. If a person is at a party, dancing, having fun, that it makes them feel satisfied, but if the person has low self-esteem, they will not enjoy themselves at the party and continue to compare their looks to other people’s looks. (Parkhouse p.45). A person’s looks and their self-esteem has become a hand-in-hand problem when it comes to whether they should accept cosmetic surgery or not. Those with low self-esteem are not estimated themselves, and not consider others, projected onto them their own frustration. They have the habit of seeing situations from a narrow-angle and misinterpret everything that affects them. A view that can help us, it is extremely important to address the inner and outer beauty simultaneously for each person to reach their full potential" this great event we want to leave said that everyone must balance your life, feel well internally and externally (Rohrich p.741). Each person has different goals and dreams that differ in their own unique ways. They dress, act, speak, and express themselves differently. Self-esteem in a person is everything, the man deserves full happiness, and if someone has a very low self-esteem will not feel that happiness. Their main concern and worry will be about what others think. There is something that can help us all; even taking an average self-esteem, better is always good for us all. The plastic surgery, aesthetic, pursuit of perfection is rated as the source closest to perfection. Of course, perfection is something that cannot be obtained throughout plastic surgery as well as varying from person-to-person. Despite that, the idea is that can feel good inside and out which will help with their self-esteem. Celebrities can greatly influence whether someone will want to get plastic surgery to boost their self-esteem and confidence. Celebrities influence beauty standards by creating an image to consolidate certain traits preferred by the population. Consultations plastic cosmetic surgery are affected by these global trends and analyze this phenomenon the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, ISAPS, recently produced a survey of 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries. The results are: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were the names most often mentioned as a reference for patients and a greater number of anatomical regions. Other local celebrities were an as influential while and classical figures such as Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor. The word 'plastic' means to mold or transform. Plastic surgery can provide aesthetics to reshape bodies to make them more beautiful and more perfectly insider improvement. It may be reconstructive or cosmetic; we will focus on our topic of interest, aesthetics. This is done in order to modify, improve, those parts of the body that are not satisfactory for the patient. Plastic surgery has a great development in European countries and American countries such as England, France, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, among others. Having these surgeries involves sacrifices, which many believe would only be the operation and nothing else. Many believe that cosmetic surgery is something that lasts a short time, temporary, and partly have reason, but if you apply what the doctor tells them will be more successful in your life (Pruzinsky p.91). There are two large groups of patients, conscious and unconscious. The conscious patients are those who listen to professional and have a view of the preserved aesthetics, such as do not smoke, do sports, so the work we do will be more durable. They follow the advice of neighbors and believe that surgery changed their metabolism and eat to get worse before liposuction. These patients are going to want to touch up every 6 months, thereby creating an addiction. It is very important to note that we must properly choose the surgeon who will attend us, it is a task that must be done very carefully. It is a final decision which may depend on as much the result you are looking for as his security personnel. In recent years it has documented a rise of cosmetic surgeons to perform cosmetic plastics whom have no formal surgical training and base their practice on small courses of a few weeks or months. In the United States, one is required possess a Degree in Medicine and Surgery legally authorized to perform any medical or surgical procedure. However, it is clear that various branches of medicine and surgery require some post-graduate studies to achieve the level of knowledge and experience in each of these disciplines. Therefore, this means that we must observe well if our surgeon is specialized certification Postgraduate Degree in General Surgery and Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. A person may choose whether to have the operation to have plastic surgery in order to mold out the imperfections, thus greatly improving their self-esteem and value to society. Therefore, it is very important to know what kind of professional a person is choosing and whether or not they have good reviews on the operations they have successfully completed. The sentimental welfare and physically is something that stays with you, save, invest, seek loans because you will do a good purpose, improve your life (Mathes p.73). Therefore, the people who have the money and come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to continuously undergo plastic surgery in order to finally look like what they believe is perfect. If a person manages to look good, others will see and they will feel satisfied with themselves on their new look in the world. Everyone deserves an opportunity like this, in order to obtain the perfection that they seek in life. People conclude that each person is independent, all have the right to raise our self-esteem, one of the best methods is plastic surgery, and life is one and must know how to take full advantage. What for one person is perfect, for another it may not, but they should never forget is that what matters is how that person feels: happy with how they look. If not, there are many ways to improve a person’s life. Everyone deserves the opportunity to hone their beauty, both internal and external, in order to reach happiness and confidence. This research paper seeks to examine the technological processes that invoke a successful cosmetic plastic surgery, and how it has been applied in changing different body parts. The enhancement of the body comes with a completely new look upon undertaking a cosmetic plastic surgery. For example, the cosmetic plastic surgery procedures and techniques are entrenched on the enhancement of the patient’s appearances, improvement of the aesthetic appeal, body symmetry, as well as body proportion. Therefore, cosmetic plastic surgery has the same consequence as real surgery, thus, the patient’s discretion is advised.

Cash, Thomas F., et al. Psychological aspects of reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery: clinical, empirical, and ethical perspectives. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006. Parkhouse, Nicholas. "Cosmetic Plastic Surgery." Medico-Legal Journal 73.2 (2005): 45-57. Rohrich, Rod J. "The importance of cosmetic plastic surgery education: an evolution." Plastic and reconstructive surgery 105.2 (2000): 741-742. Pruzinsky, Thomas. "Cosmetic plastic surgery and body image: Critical factors in patient assessment." (2001). Mathes, Stephen J., and Vincent R. Hentz. Plastic surgery. Vol. 1. Saunders, 2006.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Beauty — Why Beauty Matters: Significance of Aesthetic Appreciation

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Why Beauty Matters: Significance of Aesthetic Appreciation

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argumentative essay on beauty standards

Social Media And Beauty Standards Essay

Body image and self-esteem are important issues for people of all ages, but they can be especially damaging for young people. The pressure to meet unrealistic beauty standards can lead to serious health problems, including eating disorders, anxiety, and depression.

Social media plays a big role in perpetuating these harmful ideals. Every day, users are bombarded with images of perfectly-styled celebrities and models. It’s no wonder that so many people develop body image issues.

The good news is that there is increasing awareness of the problem and more people are speaking out against unrealistic beauty standards. There is also a growing movement of body positive influencers who are promoting healthy attitudes towards appearance. Hopefully, these trends will help to create a more realistic and healthy standard of beauty.

It’s difficult to imagine a world without idealized female imagery, but our current situation is a relatively new occurrence. Before the mass media existed, our notions of beauty were confined to our own communities.

We compare ourselves to those around us, and our idea of beauty is based on what we see. Now, with social media, we are constantly bombarded with images of perfectly sculpted women, and it’s having a damaging effect on our body image.

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina revealed that “women who frequently browsed Facebook felt worse about their own bodies.” The constant stream of images depicting the “perfect” female form can lead to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. In a culture that already puts so much emphasis on physical appearance, social media is exacerbating the problem.

It’s not just women who are affected by these standards; men feel the pressure as well. In a study conducted by the University of Phoenix, it was found that “men who frequently used social media sites were more likely to compare their physiques to others.” This comparison can lead to body dysmorphic disorder, a condition characterized by an obsession with perceived physical defects.

The images we see on social media are often Photoshopped and unrealistic, which furthers the problem. A study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that “comparing oneself to retouched images of models in magazines was associated with increased body dissatisfaction, dieting, and bulimic symptoms for both men and women.”

These standards are having a negative impact on our mental and physical health. Body dissatisfaction can lead to disordered eating, depression, and anxiety. It’s time for us to break free from these unrealistic ideals and learn to love our bodies just the way they are.

Society has always been obsessed with appearance, but until 1839, people were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies. Most people did not even own mirrors. Today, we are more fixated on our looks than ever before; however, it is quite normal and understandable given society’s standards.

The standards of beauty that we see in the media are unrealistic and unattainable for most people. The average fashion model weighs 23% less than the average woman, and has a Body Mass Index (BMI) that is considered underweight. In addition, photoshop is used to edit images of models so that they appear even thinner and have perfect skin. As a result, many people develop body image issues and eating disorders from comparing themselves to these unrealistic standards.

Social media plays a big role in perpetuating these beauty standards. We are constantly bombarded with images of perfectly-styled celebrities and Instagram influencers. It’s easy to forget that these pictures are often edited and don’t represent reality.

For many young people, especially girls, the ideal continues to pursue them as they mature into young women. Young ladies begin to internalize the preconceptions and judge themselves based on media’s impossible criteria. The influence that the media has over youngsters’ lives is damaging, and it eventually has an impact on their body image, enjoyment of their own body, and portrayal of their body as an object.

Body image is “the way you see yourself when you look in the mirror or how you picture yourself in your mind” (NEDA 1). It affects both girls and boys, but girls seem to be more prone to developing Body Dysmorphic Disorder and eating disorders because of the overwhelming pressure to be thin and beautiful that society puts on them. Social media plays a big role in young people’s lives, and it has a significant impact on their body image.

One study found that for every hour spent on Facebook, participants reported a lower body satisfaction (Tiggemann & Slater 546). Another study done with adolescents showed that those who used social media more had 2.6 times the odds of reporting poor body image (Paxton, Wertheim, Gibbons, & Lamble 6).

Social media not only has an impact on how people see themselves, but it also changes the way they perceive other people’s lives. A study done with young adults showed that those who spend more time on social media sites such as Facebook tend to believe that others are leading happier and more successful lives than them (Tong, Van Der Pligt, & Verwijmeren 566).

This can lead to feelings of envy and jealousy, as well as a decrease in self-esteem. Social media also has a huge impact on the way people diet and exercise. Studies have shown that seeing pictures of thin models or friends on social media can lead to unhealthy dieting and exercise habits (Tiggemann & Slater 547). In one study, participants who were exposed to thin-ideal images on Facebook reported more body dissatisfaction and desire to diet than those who were not (Paxton et al. 6).

It is clear that social media has a negative impact on the way people see themselves and others. This can lead to a number of health problems, such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, eating disorders, and body image issues. It is important for young people to be aware of the dangers of social media and its impact on their lives.

Ongoing exposure to certain ideas can shape and distort our perceptions of reality. This is especially true for young girls, who are constantly bombarded with images of perfect-looking people in the media. As a result, they often develop negative body image issues.

Body image is “the way we see ourselves when we look in the mirror and how we feel about our bodies.” (NEDA) It becomes an obsession when someone “can think of nothing else but their appearance and how they can change their looks, no matter how often they diet or exercise.” (NEDA)

The media is partly to blame for this Body Dysmorphic Disorder because it is “plagued with images of perfect people with perfect lives.” (Mintz 2007) Television, movies, magazines, and now social media, are all outlets that display these so-called “perfect people”. With the rise of social media came a new form of advertisement: influencers.

An influencer is “a person with the ability to influence potential customers’ purchasing decisions because they have authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience.” (Meyerson) There are two types of influencers: micro-influencers and macro-influencers. Micro-influencers have a smaller following, usually between 1,000 to 100,000 people, but they have “much higher engagement rates than macro-influencers.” (Meyerson)

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Best Media Essay Examples

Media’s effect on beauty standards.

1430 words | 5 page(s)

This paper posits that the has been a correlation between mass media’ establishment of standards of beauty and body image and unhealthy effects on young women, such as eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification. With the increase in media exposure over the last several decades, this has become an issue that deserves further study. This paper uses research from such scholars as Vonderen & Kinnally (2012) and Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) to show that the effects of the beauty standard set by the media on young women have been widespread and pervasive.

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Beauty has always been a subjective concept, based on variables such as individual preference, cultural norms, time period, etc. The clich? ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ is a concept that is nonetheless relevant to how different people perceive beauty in different and unique ways. However, with the increase of media exposure since the latter half of the 20th century, there has been a shift toward a more universal concept of beauty, one that oftentimes creates an unfair standard to which young women, in particular, feel they have to conform. The pursuit of conformity established by the media can be difficult to manage for many women (and men, to a lesser extent), as it can set unrealistic expectations for body image and for beauty standards in general, ones that can create harmful consequences for women’s self-identity, body-image, and self-esteem. These expectations typically concern the need to achieve the ‘perfect,’ typically-thin, body shape as role-modelled by actresses on television and film, media advertisements, magazine exposure, etc. Furthermore, this paradigm often leads to a type of self-policing for women in social spheres and on social media, whereby those who do not conform to the standards set by the media can be outcast and stigmatized, creating a sense of social displacement for women whose body types do not fit into the perceived norm. Ultimately, the media’s role in establishing unfair beauty and body standards for women cannot be understated, and its effects are widespread and can include eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification.

In a study of advertisements and female cultural icons in the mass media, Park (2005) noted that those women depicted have been progressively getting thinner over the past several decades (cited in Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012, p. 41). Even more distressing, a longitudinal study on ‘female beauty icons from 1959-1978 ‘ observed that over half of them met the medical criteria for the eating disorder anorexia nervosa’ (p. 41). With these study results, it is not difficult to imagine why so many young women experience symptoms of ‘body dissatisfaction’ (p. 42), a buzzword in contemporary society that points to women’s discontent over their body image as compared to those women role models portrayed on television, films, magazines, and in social media. As Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) noted, ‘approximately 50% of girls and undergraduate women report being dissatisfied with their bodies’ (p. 460). This is clearly a disturbing trend that can have a multitude of effects on women’s health. Specifically, it can lead to eating disorders and conditions such as those cited by Park (2005).

Regarding eating disorders, Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) cited that ‘research from prospective and longitudinal designs has identified body dissatisfaction as one of the most consistent and robust risk factors for eating disorders such as bulimia’ (460). When the mass media sets unrealistic standards for beauty and body image, women are encouraged to emulate this standard; the implication is that this standard correlates with financial success, attraction, fame, and quality of life. For many women who do not fit this model, dieting and diet pills become a go-to option. Furthermore, when harsh diets do not achieve the desired effects, young women can turn to even more severe starvation diets and fads that encourage the strict restriction of caloric intake. This asceticism can lead to binge-and-purge practices, which, if continued over a moderate period of time can develop into clinical bulimia, and anorexia’a condition of near starvation and obsessive desire to avoid food altogether for fear of weight gain. Women who suffer from these conditions often remain at the extreme end of body dissatisfaction and near-hysteria, where the image they see in the mirror does not at all conform to reality.

In addition to eating disorders, mass media’s beauty standard can also lead to a loss in self-esteem. Russello (2009) noted that ‘Research indicates that being exposed to thin ideal images lowers self-esteem and increases the drive for thinness in women and the drive for muscularity in men’ (p. 4). When the media reinforces an unrealistic body image and beauty standard, the failure to live up to that ideal often correlates with a decrease in self-esteem. Young women who feel they do not live up to thin ideal norms established by the media’whether in advertisements, films, television, magazines, news outlets, social media, etc.’can feel a debilitating sense of decreased self-worth, which, in turn, can exacerbate the situation. Instead of trending toward diet fads and eating disorders, these individuals may experience depression and a demoralizing sense of failure that can make them conversely eat unhealthily, even if they were not doing so prior to experiencing this loss of self-esteem. Self-worth is one of the most important factors in continued success and quality of life, and mass media’s effect on esteem can have serious consequences for millions of women who seek, and fail to find, the perfect body ideal norm.

Finally, mass media’s beauty standard can also create an unhealthy norm of sexual objectification, which can be defined as the treating of others, or even oneself, as an object without personal concerns or considerations of personal dignity. Vandenbosch & Eggermont (2012) observed that women and girls are expected to learn what the prevailing beauty ideals are from the media, and to internalize these standards. Subsequently, these beauty standards guide the formation of an objectified view of one’s own body, resulting in an increased monitoring of one’s appearance. (p. 869-70)

In their essay, Vandenbosch & Eggermont (2012) also used the buzzword ‘body surveillance’ as an indicator of possible sexual objectification, where the term is used to describe the obsessive concern over physical appearance and the near-constant monitoring of the physical traits of one’s body. According to Grabe and Hyde (2009), a study on female adolescents ‘reported that watching music television significantly predicted body surveillance (qtd. in Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012, p. 870). Clearly, there is an existing correlation between the images women see in the media and predictors of surveillance and objectification. Many young women who see body ideals portrayed in the mass media end up feeling a disconnection between themselves and their own bodies, leading to sexual objectification between themselves, their partners, and those in their social and online spheres of life. Vanderbosch & Eggermont (2012) noted how social cognitive theorists ‘imply that the rewarding of sexual objectification in media content teaches girls about how they may benefit from applying a sexually objectifying perspective toward their own body’ (p. 873). The implications and evidence here are clear. Mass media certainly plays a large role in encouraging unhealthy self-concepts, including those involving the objectification of women’s bodies.

With the influence of our digital culture on the rise, it is important to understand the increasing role of media on our lives, particularly in the lives of young women who may be targets of media influence and open to suggestibility. Certainly, the mass media over the past several decades has been aiding in the establishment of unrealistic beauty and body standards for women. The effects of the mass media and its establishing and enabling of beauty standard can have widespread effects, such as eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification.

  • Grabe, S., Ward, L.M., & Hyde, J.S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3): 460-76. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460.
  • Oranges, C. M., Schaefer, K. M., Gohritz, A., Haug, M., & Schaefer, D. J. (2016). The mirror effect on social media self-perceived beauty and its implications for cosmetic surgery. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 4(11), 1-2. http://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000001088.
  • Russello, S. (2009). The impact of media exposure on self-esteem and body satisfaction in men And women. Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research, 1(4), 1-13. Retrieved from http://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=jiur.
  • Vandenbosch, L. and Eggermont, S. (2012), Understanding sexual objectification: a comprehensive approach toward media exposure and girls’ internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. J Commun, 62: 869’887. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.x.
  • Van Vonderen, K.E. & Kinnally, W. (2012). Media effects on body image: examining media exposure in the broader context of internal and other social factors. American Communication Journal, 14(2), 41-57. Retrieved from http://ac-journal.org

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Argumentative Essay on Beauty Standards

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The results of the Eurocentric Beauty Standards on Black Women’s Hair Beauty Standards represent a fitting image of what is considered attractive; it usually works for women and can change at different times. Values ​​apply to many areas, such as body type, makeup, and even skin color. Looking back over the decades, beauty styles are changing dramatically, from fashion to hair. When discussing beauty issues, it is important to note what are the most common values ​​and the effect they have on those who do not share them. The promotion of Euro-centric features in the media has laid the foundation for ethical standards, making it difficult to unravel.

Western beauty practices have had a profound effect on a number of cultures, especially indigenous peoples, which have led to changes that began to erase their heritage.

The origins of Black people who should adhere to Western standards of beauty began in 1767 when Emperor Esteban Rodriguez Miró passed the Tignon Act. The law forbade black women to “dress excessively,” to adorn their hair, and required that they cover their hair with a handkerchief. This was fueled by the jealousy of white women that white men found Creole women’s hair attractive as they were adorned with ornaments. The hats worn by Black women were also sophisticated and a style that continues today. In the early 1900’s, African American women began to straighten their hair as a means of imitation in a “violent society”. Hair extensions like haircuts are designed to straighten the hair to make it look more pleasing. Black women often used it to enhance their social status because kinky hair was considered bad hair.

Those with 3c hair would work indoors “as the texture of their hair – and sometimes the color of the skin – was closer to that of white people”,. This racism encouraged the discrimination of the 4 hair type among the natural hair community, creating a “hair hierarchy”. If these superstitions are stopped, and the media embraces all forms of Black Hair, then the discrimination against Black Hair will go down.

In the 1960s, the organization Black is Beautiful began, and afros became commonplace and accepted throughout the black community, but Eurocentric standards of beauty still work without it. Some workplaces and schools consider afros and box braids as unacceptable and black women turn to relaxing items, silk jewelry, and wigs. Thanks to the combination of straight hair with beauty and professionalism, it has become a hair stylist used for special occasions, while their natural hair is more than a “home” head. In recent years, wigs have become popular, and although there are hair extensions for a variety of hairstyles, straight wigs have always been popular. Although it is common for a woman to take care of her hair, some black women will “spend hundreds of dollars on hairdressing”.

Another reason why the level of beauty against black women persists is because of cultural exploitation. Women of other cultures will copy the hairstyles of Black women and disrespect the culture around them.

Hair has become popular in some cultures, and while that may seem like a nice thing, it is not because black women are ridiculed for having the same hair even though it belongs to them. The trauma is deep, and even when people start to accept their natural hair, straight hair is still laid down. Black hair products or content are often classified as “Black Hair,” whereas straight hair is found under “hair.” This puts different types of hair in the box and some of them.

The representation of Black Hair seen in the media is also less than one type, usually the curls are more relaxed than those that are tightly integrated. The community is progressing towards adopting curly hair, but the standards are still based on how close the texture is to white. There is a wide range of hair texture, from the first type to the fourth. The most popular hair styling in the media is 3c because it reflects the volume and features of Black hair and is also very controllable. Because 3c hair characteristics are present, 4c hair is still seen as bad and difficult to control. Hair Love, a short animated film released in 2019, was born out of a desire to see more representation of cartoons but also to make black hair look normal, ”said Matthew Cherry, director of the film. It shows a father helping his daughter to do her hair, it seemed like a daunting task at first, but with patience and care she was able to do it.

The film breaks the stereotype that African American hair is hard to control, as well as the belief that Black fathers are “not productive in the lives of their children”. mainstream media. The root of the values ​​of beauty against the African American people is deeply rooted in American culture and it is not something that can change the way fashion works. With more precise presentations of Black women and their hair styles, America can move more and more towards the standards of beauty and perhaps end them together.

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  1. Beauty Standards and Their Impact

    The physical beauty of human beings fades away with time. The beauty of nature and of the soul is permanent. Society has set some unrealistic standards for women in terms of beauty which are vague and should be overlooked. References. Skivko, M. (2020). Deconstruction in Fashion as a Path Toward New Beauty Standards: The Maison Margiela Case.

  2. Free Argumentative Essay About Beauty Standards

    The notion of beauty itself is a social construction that becomes normative despite the fact that it is often used a tool for social control. Members of society at-large strive with conform to prevailing ideals in order to be validated as attractive. Beauty standards have historically and continue to reflect Eurocentric paradigms that prize ...

  3. Beauty Standards

    Beauty standards apply to many areas, such as body type, makeup, and even skin color. Looking back at past decades, beauty trends change dramatically, from fashion to hairstyles. In discussing the mat- ters surrounding beauty standards, it is important to note which beauty standards are most prevalent and the effect that they have on those who ...

  4. Essays About Beauty: Top 5 Examples And 10 Prompts

    She further delves into other beauty requirements to show how they evolved. In our current day, she explains that many defy beauty standards, and thinking "everyone is beautiful" is now the new norm. 4. Creative Writing: Beauty Essay By Writer Jill. "…beauty has stolen the eye of today's youth.

  5. Beauty Standards: Redefining Beauty Beyond Conventions: Free Essay

    Introduction. Beauty standards have long been a pervasive influence on society, shaping perceptions of attractiveness and self-worth. This essay explores the evolution of beauty ideals, the impact of media and culture on shaping these standards, the consequences of adhering to unrealistic beauty norms, and the importance of embracing diverse ...

  6. Impact of Beauty Standards on Women's Self-perception

    Impact of Beauty Standards on Women's Self-perception. The dominate ideological belief of the North American beauty standard is predominately associated with being fair skinned, thin and youthful (Johnston, 304). The hegemonic body norms found in society has created diet culture. Diet culture to me is a society that places excessive importance ...

  7. An argument about beauty

    8. Beauty is part of the history of idealizing, which is itself part of the history of consolation. But beauty may not always console. The beauty of face and figure torments, subjugates; that beauty is imperious. The beauty that is human, and the beauty that is made (art) - both raise the fantasy of possession.

  8. Beauty Standards and Media Influence on Body Image

    Beauty standards portrayed in media images have a significant impact on body image in today's society. While some experts argue that these standards have positive effects, there is a significant amount of evidence suggesting otherwise. Celebrities and advertisements often encourage young people to strive for specific body images, disregarding ...

  9. Part Iv. Rethinking Beauty Ideals and Practices

    Historicized Beauty Practices Allison Vandenberg Abstract: A great deal has been written about how beauty standards his-torically have placed pressure on women to engage in beauty practices in order to approximate a narrow, racialized, and unachievable beauty stan-dard. This essay adds to that body of literature by engaging in a phenom-

  10. Beauty Standards In Today's Society Argumentative Essay

    Check out this awesome Model Argumentative Essay On Beauty Standards In Today's Society for writing techniques and actionable ideas. Regardless of the topic, subject or complexity, we can help you write any paper! ... Beauty Standards In Today's Society: Free Sample Argumentative Essay To Follow., viewed March 24 2024, ...

  11. Beauty standards: society versus reality

    He explained that throughout history the standards of beauty have shifted based on the climate of the world and the status of people. During the renaissance for example, men, women and children were depicted as my father would put it, "not size two's.". The women are full in shape and are the picture, ha, of health.

  12. Standard Of Beauty Essay

    The Definition of Beauty Essay. The definition of beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty has negative and positive influences on mostly people. Beauty is described by the inside and outside of us.

  13. Why Beauty Matters: Significance of Aesthetic Appreciation

    In conclusion, the exploration of why beauty matters reveals its multifaceted significance in human existence. From its role in shaping cultural identity to its impact on emotional well-being and creativity, beauty holds a unique position in our lives. The universal appreciation for beauty unites humanity, transcending linguistic, cultural, and societal boundaries.

  14. Beauty, Body Image, and the Media

    Looking for an argumentative essay on body image and the media? This free essay example discusses the impact of media on body image and self-esteem. ... In addition, social media's constantly changing beauty standards may be further analyzed to produce a more informative, updated, and accurate paper for the readers. Updated: Aug 22, 2022 ...

  15. Beauty Standards Reflect Eurocentric Paradigms-So What? Skin Color

    This "root" is exposed through Eurocentric beauty standards. In an article in Ebony magazine (April, 2000), Joy Bennett Kinnon called the relationship between blacks, skin color, and beauty "a hidden and dangerous issue. . .the family secret that won't go away. ..the inner language of skin color, shade, and variation" (Kinnon, Ebony 2000).

  16. Beauty Standards and Body Image Essay Examples

    Browse essays about Beauty Standards and Body Image and find inspiration. Learn by example and become a better writer with Kibin's suite of essay help services. Essay Examples

  17. Persuasive Essay On Beauty Standards

    Satisfactory Essays. 1547 Words. 7 Pages. Open Document. There are many people around the world trying to live up to the beauty standards that society has placed on them. Theses beauty standards are advertised in various ways and these beauty standards that are set are unrealistic. Celebrities and the media play a big part on the beauty ...

  18. Social Media And Beauty Standards Essay Essay

    The standards of beauty that we see in the media are unrealistic and unattainable for most people. The average fashion model weighs 23% less than the average woman, and has a Body Mass Index (BMI) that is considered underweight. In addition, photoshop is used to edit images of models so that they appear even thinner and have perfect skin.

  19. Essay on Social Media and Beauty Standards

    Wolf's argument of beauty is that out on social media it affects a person mentally, and physically it submerges them to have a certain image in mind and become that certain images to fit in. That leads to poor self-esteem, and promotes high risks of health problems. ... Essay on Social Media and Beauty Standards. [online]. Available at ...

  20. Media's Effect on Beauty Standards

    Ultimately, the media's role in establishing unfair beauty and body standards for women cannot be understated, and its effects are widespread and can include eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification. In a study of advertisements and female cultural icons in the mass media, Park (2005) noted that those women depicted ...

  21. Argumentative Essay on Beauty Standards

    Download Pdf of Argumentative Essay on Beauty Standard. If you want to Download pdf of Argumentative Essay on Beauty Standard then click on the given link it is free of cost. Argumentative essay on Beauty standard Pdf Pdf of argumentative essay on Beauty Standard (536 downloads ) Also Read,