Beauty as a definition is something or someone pleasing to perceive. This definition transcends through eras of fashion, trends which give birth to other ones and the older ones die and are called ‘outdated’. Media is the boat for beauty perceptions to row across the world. A certain picture, being the perfect perception of a ‘human being’, leaves all of us in awe, making us look down on our own bodies, thinking, ‘wow, wish I was like that’. Time and time again these standards have given their contribution by giving the uniqueness to an era but leaving the normal people never satisfied with themselves. These standards mostly apply to women or the female population of the world because of the heteronormative standard of beauty, focusing on how tall or short, thick or thin, fair or black, young or old a woman is. The list of an ‘ideal woman’ and her ‘desirable traits’ go on and on infinitely. This mindset of a perfect being in our culture, that is being tall and fair and slim and what not, has been ingrained in our society so deeply that even five year olds pose in front of the mirror thinking maybe they aren’t enough if they are not like that one girl on tv. This ideal and the uniformity of it in the media has not only destroyed the perception of ourselves but also has us running and chasing for that ideal model of beauty. Why is the sentence ‘this is how you’re supposed to be’ there, when the media screams and wants for uniqueness and ‘unique’ self identity.
In the past 10 years, due to the growth of social media platforms, this phenomenon of a beauty standard has grown exponentially, as trends come and go, convincing us to be at the same speed as them, and to save ourselves from being called obsolete. Regardless of gender and sexual orientation, such standards or perceptions of beauty by the society, has left nothing but increasing fatphobia, skinny phobia, racism and xenophobia. If you are fat then ‘who’s food are you grabbing?’ and if you are skinny ‘get some meat on your bones’. If you are dark in colour then ‘use this cream, you’ll be prettier’.
And if you are pale in colour ‘are you a vampire?’ There are innumerous comments passed by our peers and even by our loved ones, as if this body needs ‘fixing’. We try to fit in, to please one’s perception, we constantly try hard to be liked and validated by society, until society turns its back on us and calls us a ‘people pleaser’ or says ‘you are trying too hard’. It leaves the person thinking ‘How much will it take to be good enough?’
Due to this lack of self love and insecurity, the beauty business has been booming in recent years, from creams to extensions, from surgeries to implants, there is everything for you to make you perfect, to make you the ideal. What we see on the internet, might not be as it seems to be, technology has made it easier for influencers to show the best of themselves. Media plays a huge role in creating an insight of ourselves, if it starts to get inclusive in its nature, then only we can hope for society to be more inclusive too. The community that we live in requires us to love ourselves, because most people around us try to bring us down, and self love can be seen as selfishness but self love comes with being unfazed by such comments and liking ourselves in the flesh we are in.
If we talk about the beauty in art, its subjective to everyone’s perception, then why does beauty for humans, is so common and uniform,
Aren’t we all a work of art? each one peculiar in its own self.
Hello, I am Sampada Upasani, a student of DPS Varanasi. I didn’t always have the knack for reading or writing, but my dad gradually incorporated that habit into me. I’ve grown to love the writings of Khalid Hosseini and Haruki Murakami, loving the way they are subtle and smooth yet witty and satirical at the same time. A number of other things that interest me are dancing and painting. I aspire to write more in my life, I want to give myself the chance to learn various things and give my best to the world.
