Introduction
It is not easy to define the word “beauty.” Usually, when speaking about it, people mean a physical image of a person: face features, weight and body shape, etc. A famous proverb says that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” which means that the image of beauty varies for different people. It depends on personal taste, life experience, and cultural background. Throughout history, beauty standards have been changing. Also, they are not the same among different cultures. However, at the present time, the concept of beauty is commercialized. Beauty standards are represented in popular culture, advertising, and social media. These standards create certainly, but often unrealistic, expectations among the population (Amaidas and Chiweshe 1). It could be stated that dictated idealized beauty standards could cause stress and affect the behavior of young people.
Idealized Beauty Standards
Nowadays, popular culture affected all the spheres of social life. In particular, it created expectations of appearance and standardized the concept of beauty. People create certain standards based on popular films, the fashion industry, music culture, glossy magazines, and other sources (Koch 147). Existing beauty expectations play a significant role in people’s lives. It could be stated that mostly these expectations affected women because they are more sensitive to the question of appearance (Golub 29). Based on these standards, a particular picture of a “beautiful girl” was created. All essential details of beauty are described, and the majority of young women try to meet the expectations.
Several major standards could be cited. One of the most high-powered and commonly accepted is a weight standard. Lev-Ari et al. postulated that “Western culture places a growing emphasis on an ultra-thin body ideal, and this is reflected in the media” (397). Truly, the majority of famous women who are considered fashion and beauty setters are slim. Therefore, in western society, it is expected that all women should be thin and should have a certain body shape. It does not matter that not all women match these standards. The idea that not only a slim figure but different body stature could be beautiful is not widely accepted within society.
The second widely accepted expectation is women’s breasts. The image of a beautiful breast is created and spread by Hollywood and fashion industries and advertising (Golub 41). The problem is that these standards are rare in real life. However, the solution for women has been found. Based on top models’ and actress’ images, certain parameters of breast beauty have been identified for breast surgery: its size and shape (Mallucci and Branford 436). It meant that the society of consumers is already prepared to spend a significant amount of money on unnecessary and unhealthy procedures with the purpose of matching artificial expectations. And again, the idea that natural breast is beautiful even if it does not match existing standards is not popular among young people.
Standards as to face features also exist. The idea of a young princess appeared in children’s fairy tales. Jones stated that “traditional Greek and fairytale look creates a physical stereotype that includes soft hair, flowing garments, pink and red lips or cheeks, and a wholesome physique” (2). From Greek mythology, this image got into the Western popular culture, in particular, in Disney animated movies. Based on this picture, every little girl creates a standard of beauty. This idea continues to be supported by Western popular culture.
In general, it could be claimed that beauty standards are created by popular culture: fairy tales, mass media, movies, the fashion industry, and others. Frequently, these standards are not realistic. To match them, a woman should make particular efforts. The possible reason for the current situation is that all people are potential consumers, and it is important to create a necessity to buy goods of the beauty industry (Wolf 143). However, the problem is not only about money spending. Idealized beauty standards are a widespread reason for young women’s stress and unhealthy behavior with the purpose of improving their appearance.
Consequences of Beauty Expectations
Women’s appearance is closely associated with their success in society. According to Golub, “Long before puberty, girls learn that beauty is a basic dimension of the feminine gender role” (29). It means that girls from a young age are taught by their mothers, friends, and popular culture that their identity depends on how they look. Girls’ appearance is also significantly important for the recognition and approbation inside their peers’ community. Young women who do not match these idealized standards are considered to be not beautiful enough, which leads to particular consequences.
First of all, young women in this situation should deal with stress. Wolf postulated that “The [beauty] myth is not only making women physically ill but mentally ill. … stress is one of the most serious medical risk factors, lowering the immune system and contributing to high blood pressure, heart diseases, and higher mortality rates from cancer” (229). Therefore, these artificially created standards affected women’s health and could lead to dangerous diseases.
Second, it is known that this idealized image of a beautiful woman had a direct impact on young women’s behavior. In particular, women try to change their figure to be thinner. The most popular approach for this is a diet (Lev-Ari 398). Dieting could be unhealthy because an organism does not get enough nutrients from food. Furthermore, this situation could lead to even worse consequences: women could have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia (Barnett 8). Thus, it could be said that images of thin celebrities are the widespread reason for women’s mental illness.
Another way to improve appearance, which is widely accepted among young women, is aesthetic surgery. Among others, breast surgery, liposuction, and face surgery are commonly practiced (Wolf 55). Women voluntarily agree to an invasive surgical operation which could be dangerous without any medical need. Moreover, plastic surgery is not cheap. Therefore, female consumers spend a significant amount of money on this procedure. In addition, women are ready to spend money on cosmetics and care products which they see in the advertising. The only reason for this decision is their desire to meet the existing beauty expectations.
Conclusion
It could be concluded that nowadays, artificially idealized standards were created by children’s fairy tales, movies, and the fashion industry. Western popular culture idealized princess-looked thin woman with regular features and soft hair. This image creates certain expectations among people. If a woman does not meet these expectations, she feels social pressure. It might result in stress, neurotic disorders, and unhealthy behavior. Another consequence of these idealized expectations existence is the willingness of women to spend money on plastic surgery, cosmetics, and care products. It could be considered as one of the reasons for the creation and expansion of this standard.
Works Cited
Amaidas, Shayna, and Nigel Chiweshe. “Youth Consumer Behaviour: A Case of Beauty Product Consumption.” Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 43, no. 1, 2015, pp. 1-8.
Barnett, Ashley M. “Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia as Developmental Crises.” The Kabod, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 7-17.
Golub, Sharon. Health and the Female Adolescent. Routledge, 2014.
Jones, Sara. “The Ideal Princess, the Perfect Woman.” Web.
Koch, Eric C. “Hollywood’s Terror Industry: Idealized Beauty and The Bluest Eye.” Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry, vol. 1, no. 1, 2014, pp 147-157.
Lev-Ari, Lilac, et al. “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Women Learn Body Dissatisfaction.”Eating Behaviors, vol. 15, no. 3, 2014, pp. 397-402. Web.
Mallucci, Patrick, and Olivier A. Branford. “Population Analysis of the Perfect Breast: A Morphometric Analysis.” Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, vol. 134, no. 3, 2014, pp. 436-447. Web.
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women. Penguin Random House, 2013.