Beauty Standards Continue In Today’s Society

[Story by Hope Nguyen]

Beauty standards are an unconscious, but nevertheless, real thing that people deal with on a daily basis. According to Manifoldapp.org, beauty standards determine “what is beautiful, from body shape, to facial proportions, to height and weight.”

Standards of beauty have existed all throughout human history, the only difference is they change every century or so. Manifoldapp.org claims they, “affect people’s everyday interactions, the media, and the commercial world.”

In the most common form, beauty standards are a complex social process that are perpetuated through many forms of social status.

There are little explanations for why they exist, but many theories range from evolution, racism, to social media. Cultural or social standards also affect beauty standards, as they vary based on where people are born. The Universality of Attractiveness Judgements claims that across cultures and within them, most people agree on who is objectively attractive at least. This does not take into account historical events such as colonialism, which have impacted the world’s perception of beauty since way back.

“I do feel like pretty privilege is real because if one is more pretty they get more opportunities based on their appearance,” said junior Sahej Dhillon.“Not only just opportunities but they will attract more attention and hold more status of themselves anywhere based on their looks by making networks and successful careers.”

“Pretty privilege is definitely a real thing in our society,” said senior Khalid Moosa. “It’s been engraved in our society and is constantly shoved in our face through social media and other media we consume. People that are closer to the beauty standard are often associated with fame, fortune, and being treated better. We are inclined as humans to favor people who we think are attractive.”

Matthew Ablaza, a senior said, “For most people, pretty privilege is not a real thing because what society deems pretty is not only subjective, but is a goal that can be reasonably reached.”

“Society operates on the fact in which people are more attractive and meet societal beauty standards that have a lot of advantages and opportunities compared to people who are less attractive and not noticeable,” said junior Harkirat Dhillon.

According to Firstrand.co, Pretty Privilege is, “the association of beauty with talent, intelligence, social success, and health.” Firstrand claims it may start, “as early as pre-school, where cuter kids get more attention from their teachers and are expected to do well. With that attention come better grades, more confidence, and greater comfort with public display.”

“I do think people treat others differently based on their looks because [their] first impression is first judge as well,” Sahej Dhillon said. “If someone really attractive ends up approaching people it will make the person look more friendly or even confident in ways where they have more opportunities to see the world rather than someone less attractive. People won’t really want them as they’ve been rejected in other stages of life where they’re already sad about them not meeting the beauty standards. It’s mainly about the brain and pre existing beliefs.”

In 2021, TikTok user @whygz asked people to share stories about the first time they realized people thought they were ugly, which spurred a trend where people shared stories on when they realized people thought they were unattractive. The trend spawned conversations where people discussed the reality of living in a world where people thought they were ugly, and how they were treated because of it. Many pointed out that people don’t respect those who are ugly or treat them with kindness or give them the time of day.

“People do treat others differently based on their looks. Someone would be naturally biased towards someone who they find attractive versus someone who they don’t find attractive,” Ablaza said. “This is clearly shown in the dating field but can also affect things like careers. Looks are one the most important factors in making a first impression and people will naturally judge others based on looks.”

Looks are seen as important because they are the cause of first impressions. Whenever a person meets someone, the person will judge them based on their looks first and character last. The American Psychological Association claims, “how you look and act can matter as much as your ideas.”

Harkirat Dhillon said, “It’s just morally wrong to hate on someone who might not seem attractive and like how a lot of people say it depends on what type of ugly you are. Being treated differently based on looks isn’t easy and it makes others feel insecure about how they look and how they can match up to a standard of being physically attractive.”

“I think people make a lot of assumptions about what somebody is like based on their looks. Seeing someone who’s bigger, darker, or even if they dress a certain way really makes people fall to stereotypes and they might not always be accurate,” Moosa said. “This doesn’t just apply to negative interactions. People might think that someone is more smart or qualified by the way they look or dress.”

There is also the issue of feminine products being given a pink tax, according to the Senate’s Joint Economics Committee. Pink tax is when feminine products are more expensive than men’s products even if they are exactly the same solely based on the fact the item is sold to women. Many women have started bringing up the sexism involved when it comes to beauty standards, having pretty privilege, and how they mainly target women.

“Women and men are both affected an equal amount, but the ways that beauty standards target women are a lot more blatant and in your face. There are countless magazines, models, and many other sources that all promote a perfect woman. A woman cannot go anywhere without some product or media telling her that she could look better, be slimmer, or act a certain way,” Moosa said.

On social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube, many women have started calling out unfair stereotypes and the struggles they go through, such as people judging or hating them based on their fashion choices, or even what color they like.

Ablaza disagreed. “I think that men are actually more affected by beauty standards and some men actually do have privilege over others. One example is height, which is a characteristic that is mostly based on genetics. Generally, taller men are considered more attractive than someone who is short,” Ablaza said. “This would be an example of actual pretty privilege. There are also other factors that make me think men are more affected by beauty standards than women. A major factor is one’s physique. If you’re overweight or obese, you will have a significantly more difficult time.”

A common example of the sexism men face when it comes to societal standards of beauty are height, which many point out is something they can’t control. Although both men and women have faced fatphobia based on their weight, many men online point out it is less socially acceptable to make fun of or point out a girl’s weight whereas it is not the same for men.

“Of course women are affected by beauty standards more than men because they are the face of everything. Everywhere you go it’s more of women’s looks and bodies which you will see on the runway, marketing advertisements, brands, etc. Women do face lots of pressure when it comes to the ideal beauty level and to look good for women is more essential to being feminine than to being masculine,” said Harkirat Dhillon. “They are exposed to more social situations and to match the stereotype of being feminine is hard because you won’t always feel good even if you are pretty. Even though girls are more likely to be dissatisfied with their appearance, yet they are the ones which MOST pay attention to how they look because making them feel any uglier makes them insecure. Society expects a lot of women to be the most perfect girl with an ideal body type and a specific type of face. Compared to men, they can’t just put makeup on their face to make them feel better but have to live with what they are made of.”

Every year, tons of women go through plastic surgery to fit in with beauty standards, much more than men on average. The American Society For Aesthetic Plastic Surgery stated, “women accounted for 89.7% of all surgical and 90.6% of all nonsurgical cosmetic procedures.”

This does not include medical surgery but cosmetic surgeries. Currently the trend on Tiktok that mainly targets women is the buccal fat removal, to thin the cheeks on a person’s face. Today.com shared that buccal fat removal, “increased by nearly 70% in 2021.”

Many students shared who they feel are more affected by beauty standards.

“I do strongly believe that women are more directly affected by beauty standards than men because women have makeup which can change their appearance real fast but men don’t so if a man is ugly he’s ugly or if he’s attractive then he is. Plus women’s ideal faces and bodies in the media are more essential in western society to men. Women also seem to be more insecure of themselves where they would have plastic surgery done to attract the other gender, but men’s beauty standards are mainly on their gym bodies because they spend more time there but both women and men can be effected as it leads to health issues where they try hard to reach the standard,” said Sahej Dhillon.

Another discussion on the topic of beauty standards is how they differ throughout the world. In the west, in the context of the United States, there’s a common trend with people online believing white people are more attractive.

Moosa said, “There is a big focus on western beauty standards in today’s society. More ethnic features are often seen as weird or even ugly. This is most shown in beauty products that come out that promote lighter skin or surgeries such as double eyelid surgery.”

Moosa also feels like fetishism is something that is prevalent in our society today.

“Fetishism is also a big force that affects beauty standards,” said Moosa. “Most recently, Asian features have been seen as attractive and people from other cultures try to copy ethnic features to look like them. This is very problematic because it reinforces stereotypes and promotes cultural appropriation.”

Harkirat Dhillon said, “Inadvertent racism has been perpetuated in beauty standards and will continue especially because of skin color. Before all you saw was mainly all fair skin girls, mostly blondes advertising for brands but as there’s a more diverse variety of artists, as other colors are also being brought in. There were so many racist practices in the cosmetic industry [with] which white women have always been the primary market for the mainstream. Ever since racism became a big conflict it was always the whites which were the number one loved and the others were too blind to be seen why it was wrong. Every race is beautiful and has its own features whether that’s sharp eyes like South Asian girls or light colored eyes from European girls.”

Many black, brown and Asian girls are beginning to bring attention to the issue of how lighter toned people have more opportunity and are the faces of the western world, how it simplifies more of what makes someone attractive because of long seen racism throughout the years.

“If you look at many people from a race they all tend to maybe look similar and dress similar or even have similar makeup routines, it comes more of someone’s type as they find those people more attractive from a particular race,” said Sahej Dhillon. “Even the color of the skin tone can change this because according to studies people find more pale or light skin people attractive than dark skin because of how colorism around the beauty world is treated.”

Moosa said, “History has had a very big impact on global beauty standards. The most notable example is the effects of colonization and the rise of colorism. Most colonized nations have skin that is darker or different than the mostly caucasian colonizing countries. The beauty standards of those countries were changed to reflect the thinking of the colonizers. Skin that was lighter was considered beautiful, while ethnic dark skin was the opposite. “

Studies have shown that not fitting into beauty standards can have a massive impact on people’s self esteem, sense of self worth or self image. Psychreg.org reported, “those who are less physically attractive tend to have lower self-esteem and confidence than those who are more physically attractive.”

“I’m personally affected by beauty standards in my life. the way other people find a specific target group of people [more] attractive even if it’s the same makeup routine [as me] or how they look,” said Sahej Dhillon. “Plus since the beauty standards have risen so much to how an attractive girl looks [it] makes you feel more insecure. Personally there’s many ways on how a girl can be pretty but seeing other people on social media who are more attractive makes me feel less confident and like I need to look like this to match the standards so I can feel and be more pretty to others.”

“Coming from an immigrant back- ground, especially an Indian one, I was affected by a variety of different standards,” said Moosa. “I was darker than all my friends, but my skin was considered beautiful to other Indian people. I was too fat to meet western standards, but considered alright by indian standards. Being a male also has its own standards that affect me. Some clothes which I really like are considered weird or even send out the wrong signals, even though they’re just clothes.”

The internet and mainly the media may be a considerable factor to blame for these standards of beauty that are thrust upon the common public. Many don’t know what to do to combat it. It has proven according to Forbes. com that, “social media use is linked to greater feelings of social isolation.”

“We are constantly being bombarded with perfect people living extravagant lifestyles, and this is made worse by advertisements which make people feel worse about themselves,”

Moosa said.

The rise in popularity of body neutrality or body positivity movements have started to combat these standards by showing others it is okay to accept your body as it is, and even be content with it. The New York Times defines it as, “the ability to accept and respect your body even if it isn’t the way you’d prefer it to be.”

“I think that learning to accept your body is key to having a healthy mindset. For those of us with features that come from our heritage, we should not compare them to western standards and realize that our unique features are beautiful and should not be hidden or changed,” said Moosa.

Although beauty standards still exist throughout the world, with ongoing awareness and social changes, people might begin to accept different types of beauty and that less pressure to achieve different standards will become the norm.