Meta Description: This article looks at how media promotes a certain beauty standard and its pressure on individuals across different groups to conform to these standards.
What are beauty standards?
Beauty standards have been prevalent since ancient times. Beauty standards refer to the standards that have been created for both men and women. However, beauty standards didn’t affect individuals so much in the past.
But in today's world, beauty standards impact daily interactions, the commercial world, and the media. Who and what is considered beautiful is defined by beauty standards. Beauty standards define every aspect of a person’s appearance, from body shape to height and weight.
The media is the most prominent tool that promotes specific beauty standards. According to a study, 88% of teenage girls believe the unrealistic beauty standards promoted by the media. Young girls don’t receive education on how beautiful a natural body is. Instead, they tend to think the media's specific guidelines set for beauty. This causes low self-esteem and a lot of pressure. Online sites even sell products to achieve these unrealistic beauty standards that can be harmful in the long run.
Instead of these unrealistic standards for the body, weight, height, and so on, young girls should be taught about natural bodies and how they are beautiful irrespective of their complexion, weight, height, size, etc. This will help girls avoid being influenced by social media beauty standards.
Why is it wrong for the media to promote a certain standard of beauty?
It is wrong for the media to promote specific beauty standards as it negatively affects individuals as they start hating their bodies.
Instead of promoting the beauty of the natural bodies, social media takes us into a world that doesn’t exist.
There are multiple platforms where the promotion of unrealistic beauty standards takes place. First is the social media platform. Moreover, there are more platforms such as TV. Ads, newspapers, etc.
In most cases, such celebrities, models, and influencers use a combination of plastic surgeries, supplements, and retouching to look perfect as defined by these beauty standards. This creates an unrealistic body image, which hurts the audience’s minds.
Therefore, people should understand the value of their natural bodies and stop hating themselves.
In recent years, many social media platforms and pages have started to teach the value of natural bodies and educate the audience about the harm caused by beauty standards. However, these realistic platforms often go unnoticed or reach a much smaller audience than other social media platforms. Until people posting content on social media understand how harmful it is to promote specific beauty standards, the audience's minds at large will continue to be influenced by them.
How do you overcome unrealistic beauty standards?
To overcome these beauty standards, one should start loving themselves. By self-love, multiple problems can be avoided. Every individual needs to learn that their bodies are beautiful and do not require the advice of any social media platform to become beautiful. We should also change negative beliefs about our bodies. This is the only way to overcome unrealistic beauty standards.
Conclusion
Beauty standards refer to some particular body standards set by society, media, and a community for both males and females. Beauty standards tend to bring multiple adverse effects along with them. These negative effects come into play when individuals feel insecure about their bodies. As shown by the media, the pressure of getting the perfect body fills a person’s mind with issues like anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and even eating disorders. The media should promote the beauty of natural bodies rather than setting beauty standards accepted by society. ‘Everybody is Beautiful’ should be taught and encouraged to prevent individuals from feeling insecure about their bodies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1 What are some negative impacts of beauty standards?
Some adverse effects of beauty standards are:
- Eating disorders
- Mental health issues
- Low self-confidence
- Dieting
Q.2 Why are beauty standards considered harmful?
Beauty standards are considered harmful because they can cause issues like depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. They may lead to self-harm and, in some cases, even suicide.
Q.3 How do beauty standards promote unrealistic expectations?
The images displayed on social media are not authentic and can lead to unrealistic expectations regarding body, weight, or height.
Q.4 Does social media create an unrealistic beauty standard?
Absolutely, social media creates an unrealistic beauty standard by promoting unrealistic bodies. Instead, social media should promote the concept of natural bodies.
