Beauty in Society 1

Beauty Through the Critical Lens of Society

Alexandria Gilmore

Writing 1103

Professor Rand

April 18, 2017

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Beauty is understood in numerous ways by different people all around the world. Society

molds this image for people to follow and mirror which is solely based on physical attributes.

Confidence is gained by individuals that are affected by this image and that meet the physical

requirements that outlines beauty. All over the world, over many different generations, beauty

standards change and differ, and effect people in different ways. The elite people in society, for

example, celebrities or influential people that are socially ranked higher than the general public,

are the ones that create the beauty standards. What it means to be beautiful in society is slowly

starting to only appear in the eyes of individuals as something that can only be seen on the

outside and no longer about what is on the inside.

Insecurity is a difficult struggle that many people try to deal with in their everyday lives.

Women are more likely to feel inferior to others because of their looks over men. 91% of

women would rather cancel a date then go without makeup. (YouTube, 2014). Women

constantly feel the need to hide their natural beauty to feel comfortable in their own skin. Self-

doubt starts to consume the mind at a young age, mainly because of social media. Social media is

filled with ideas about beauty that would make young girls and boys feel as if the only way they

can meet their full potential is if they look like the people they see through the screen.

Individuals are bullied because of the way they look which can lead to horrible alternatives, like

suicide. If beauty is seen as merely a physical depiction, there will be insecurity in society, and

people will continue to indulge their lives in to fitting a particular image.

Intelligence was once seen as a vital characteristic that could help one advance through

life. Based off studies, women and men believe that attractiveness gets you farther in life.

Whether it be a job or just in everyday life, people are starting to value the physical image

significantly more than in the past. In the 1960s, women rejected the idea that their physical
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appearance should play a role in their success. (Giang, 2013). Aging was once seen as a

beautiful process that came with immense experience and knowledge, and very few still think so.

Today, aging is hideous and is tried to cover up or reverse. With the ideas that beauty standards

are giving women and men, people believe that you receive more privileges by being physically

beautiful and meeting societies criteria. The main reason that people in society judges people

they encounter is because they can only critique the image they see in front of them, not what is

inside the mind. Still, without a certain culture there to press it, what would there be to strive for

in the terms of beauty? (Contributor, 2014). The tasks that one would require to fulfill to feel

beautiful on a daily basis, unfortunately takes up valuable time. In high school especially, I found

myself worrying only about how I presented myself every day to my peers more than my

intellectual ability. Vanity is a mind game that society has given us to only devote our self to our

outward image.

Women and men have resorted to extreme measures to make their natural features no

longer look the same. The normalization of plastic surgery is becoming more prevalent and

people feel they need this more than just for cosmetic reasons. In Lebanon, CNN stated that

Lebanons first National Bank even lends individuals up to $5,000 for these procedures.

(Zeilinger, 2015). What people see looking back at them in a mirror may depict what societies

idea of beauty is, and feel obligated to change themselves. The idea of facial reconstruction

means that someone is not happy with what they were born with, however, people are not happy

with the way they look for a reason. The general public that looks up to celebrities or people in

the public eye, believe that beauty standards are created by them and that they need to look as

closely alike as they possibly can. A society that creates beauty standards makes the people that
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follow them only value what is skin deep, and ultimately makes them believe that plastic surgery

is the resolution to all physical imperfections.

The females version of beauty has a tad more vanity to it than mens. This is when

symmetry comes in-to play because some women feel the need for every physical attribute to be

symmetric. Uneven features are ugly and not normal; but where did women get this idea from?

Societies portrayal of models with perfectly aligned facial features negatively affects womens

confidence in themselves. Not just in the western cultures do these beauty standards play a vital

role; in Japan, Japanese women are under incredible pressure to have an ideal body. (Zeilinger,

2015). The way your physical aspects line up, should not be a determination of beauty. Why not

see beauty as how much you brighten up a room with your personality, or how kind you are to

people you dont even know? Things like this are becoming less and less respected and admired

because of how beauty is depicted in day to day life. Being beautiful gets you compliments, can

help you move up in your job, and basically surpass people that do not look as attractive as you

do. Respect and dignity is lost when you give up every valuable characteristic you have in

exchange for merely physical beauty.

People may question why it matters if you value physical beauty more than whats

within. Well, I feel that it matters because of the struggles and pressure it puts on an individual.

Holding a standard for our society, to constantly look younger and to work hard to keep up that

appearance is not only exhausting, but takes away from the respect and territory that comes with

gaining years. (Zucker, 2014). Pressure to look a certain way can tear a person down mentally

and physically, and lead to certain things that should never be an option. Younger people that are

facing struggles have a harder time coping with the inability to meet the beauty standards that are

thrown in their direction. Suicide, depression, and just being truly unhappy, negatively affect
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someone and is something no one should have to go through. Yes, there are a lot of other things

in life that can cause depression, sadness, and eventually suicide, but is the need to look the way

that someone else says you should worth it? You can never look exactly like someone else that

you idolize so strongly, so there is no reason to put yourself down and make life even harder than

it already is. If we continue to admire someone elses physical appearance and rely on standards,

there will be unnecessary struggles that your internal mind will have to battle.

The factors that are used to determine what it means to be beautiful have obviously

changed over generations. If a woman considered to have incomparable beauty in the 16th

century was transported to 2014, she would most likely not be called beautiful. (Zucker, 2014).

We cant stop innovation and technology, which plays a big role in how people have created

beauty standards and what individuals rely on today. However, we can try and reestablish the

internal determinants of beauty that used to be appreciated. Aging is not what people in society

want to occur. Youth is priceless and nothing is seen more attractive than having smooth skin

with no wrinkles. Having wrinkles used to depict someone that had gone through many different

experiences and had a mind full of knowledge. Beauty was not just a word that defined how

perfect someones physical features were or if they had a skinny physique. Nothing was

comparable to having intelligence or how much compassion you had for others. According to

Zucker (2014), In 300 years the standard for beauty will have once again changed. We can

succumb to societys expectations or we can determine for ourselves what holding appeal

means. By opening the minds of people who have indulged their lives to living in a society

where beauty is only substantial, we can introduce the idea that beauty is not just skin deep.

Not only is physical beauty valued more in society than is has been in the past, but the

standards that are created by superior people negatively affect the lives of individuals. By
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bringing back the characteristics that used to be respected, like intelligence, kindness, and

acceptance of the appearance you were born with, the term beauty can be redefined.

Acceptance of the way you look and learning not to rely on standards that outline how you

should present yourself is vital when growing as a person. Confidence within yourself is what

gives you beauty because it shows on the inside and out. It is time to free ourselves of what we

believe is the definition of beauty that has been delineated by our society.
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References

Beauty Standards Around The World. Dir. Boldly. YouTube, (2014). Web. 12 Apr.

2017.

Contributor, Quora. "Why Does Society Value Beauty Over Brains?" Slate Magazine. N.p.,

(2014). Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Giang, Vivian. "Why Women Leaders Face A 'Beauty Paradox'." Business Insider. Business

Insider, (2013). Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Zeilinger, Julie. "The Disturbing Effect Our Beauty Standards Have on Women Across the

World." Mic. Mic Network Inc., (2015). Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Zucker, Temimah. "Society's Standards Of Beauty Will Get Old, But Being Comfortable With

Yourself Never Will." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, (2014).

Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

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Reflection

When writing this inquiry paper, the most interesting thing I noticed when researching was that

there are so many opinions that were the opposite of mine. Some sources described our society

as branching out from the physical determinant of beauty and starting to notice what is on the

inside of a human being. I struggled with the research part because I mostly wanted to write

about all of my own perceptions of the topic, but I had to learn how to incorporate other sources

and connect it with what I believed. I dont feel that my inquiry question changed over time,

because from the beginning I wanted the whole paper to be about how beauty is seen today in

society. The one thing that did change throughout was my audience and who I was directing my

paper to. What I found important as I was writing my paper, was that I didnt want to just explain

how beauty was determined today, but the effects of it and how people reacted to the beauty

standards that we have today. I have noticed my analytical and evaluation skills have increased

because of the feedback I received from my L&L paper. Since the two assignments were

different, I could take what I learned from the first paper and use it towards this paper. I would

say that I am proud of using what I have learned in this class to tie together what I believe and

the information I found when researching in this paper. I would hope that my group members

could use the advice I gave them about their papers because I evaluated their work as if it was

my own. My group members not only help me with errors in my rough draft, but they gave me

ideas on how I could change a few things up to make it flow better.