Beauty
The theory goes like this: female consumers are presented with an ideal and impossible standard of beauty by advertisers. By accepting such standards, they feel perpetually inadequate and insecure, which keeps them buying and buying in the hopes of achieving the unachievable, of becoming one of the women in the advertisements. These women do not exist in reality because not only are they the product of plastic surgery, personal trainers, makeup artists and hair stylists, they are also often the canvas for many Photoshop artists. In essence, they’re mannequins.
Well basically, the media today shapes our perception of beauty. Like it or not, we are all, in one way or another, influenced and held captive by these standards ascribed to us by the media. In the event that we do live up to such unrealistic standards, we will be ridiculed or ostracized by others for not being “beautiful” enough. Yet often, we don’t realize that these perceptions are really products of insidious advertising – that is, this is what the media wants us to believe. And as a result, many people out there are willing to go any length just to make sure they meet the standards set by the media.
I personally find this quite worrying, based on the fact that our perception of beauty has been quite unassumingly shaped and created by these advertisements. Back in 1613, Sir Thomas Overbury coined the popular phrase “Beauty is only skin deep”, and I am a complete advocate to this saying. For I believe that the only way to look beautiful is to feel beautiful
Below, is a link i chanced upon recently
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/09/07/o.self.esteem.repair.kit/index.html
In a nutshell, self-worth is not defined by the attention people pay you, but instead is directly related to how you view yourself. For instance, when the author was growing up, she often used her physical appearances to fish for compliments and retrieve wanted attention. As a result, she learnt to define her self-worth against how much attention and social acceptance she could attract. While psychologists say that it is normal to want to be liked and approved of, the author allowed it to develop into a problem when she could not see any other way of defining her self-worth. Through a series of experiments with her therapist, she began to understand that she was already plagued with the mentality of unworthiness since she was young. Hence, in order for her to overcome it, she had to face up to her past, and accept the fact that she was indeed worthy of anything just by being herself.
“What’s wrong with exterior beauty?”, you may ask.
Nothing!
However, things start to go wrong when we see beauty only as skin deep. Would the supermodel I marry look the same after 30 years? If she does, it would probably involve tons of botox, facelifts, liposuctions, or whatever the plastic surgeon deems fit. Even if she does look the same, I definitely would not be interested in a young-looking woman limping around with chronic back pains.
My point here is that we should not fall prey and completely subscribe to the media’s definition of beauty, as we will never be able to catch up with it. But instead, we should learn to work on and appreciate our inner beauty, for it never fades.
hey! i believe that inner beauty is important too! i feel that exterior beauty is as important as well. A balance of two would be perfect!
vanny
September 13, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hello! I am the first whoohoo!
Well.. As a lady myself, I have to admit that yes… I am often influenced by the media or advertisements on the standard of beauty. Make up advertisements featuring the models with perfect faces, shampoo advertisements with models with perfect smooth long flowly hair.
Yes beauty is skin deep that’s true… But how many out there actually think it this way is another thing. Based on personal experiences, looks are, most of the time, the first thing that people look out for / notice even if they say “oh… looks don’t matter at all!” It is no wonder we are all pressurized to always wanting to look good.
However, as long as we learn to love ourselves and be blessed with what we are born with, then we are all beautiful individuals in our own ways!
EDWINA
September 13, 2009 at 2:01 pm
i think the tragic thing is that the media is fed by the public. while some of us sit on the sidelines, point fingers and comment disparagingly at the media, the rest are the ones who snap up magazines and newspapers and tabloids. to have an immense paradigm shift would probably require a mass brainwash.
Chao
September 13, 2009 at 2:13 pm
interesting article but it seems pretty gender biased. there’s a growing number of males who are equally obsessed with their looks and wouldn’t mind undergoing plastic surgery to look better too. i guess this reflects how much we’ve underestimated the power of these media platforms (ie: tv, radios, magazines). we’ve gotta learn how to appreciate what’s on the inside as well as maintaining our physical appearance. i’m sure you wouldn’t want someone who is absolutely beautiful on the inside but dirty and unhygienic on the outside right?
yunshan
September 13, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Yes indeed, I wont want to have a beautiful girlfriend, who is dirty and unhygienic on the outside. But my point here is that, our perceptions of beauty are overblown by the media, so much so, that one’s good character can be totally overshadowed by their “socially-defined” bad looks. However, i have to admit that such persona induction is so deeply rooted in us, that it is difficult to remove.
whatisadriansblog
November 9, 2009 at 10:39 am
It is undeniable that most of our perspectives regarding beauty have somewhat been tweaked by the effects of media. We are often guilty of judging others by what we see on the outside, putting on stereotypical lens. Thus, it is indeed important for us to discern for ourselves what the media has created and not blindly follow the crowd mentality.
xinyi
September 13, 2009 at 3:20 pm
totally agree with the media shaping our perception of beauty. improvements in technology have certainly made beauty more attainable. coupled with the media’s portrayal of beauty as something sacred, it in one way or another accentuates the pursuit of beauty.
of course, beauty is only skin deep. but how many people really abide by the saying, “never judge a book by its cover”? take the case of susan boyle (yes her because she’s in my post. lols.) if she were someone younger and prettier would they have shot disapproving glances at her?
perhaps the society also plays a major role in encouraging the pursuit of beauty.
minzhi
September 13, 2009 at 4:12 pm
No one is perfect.. thus this makes everyone of us special be it you are pretty or ugly. Therefore, there should not be any standard to measure beauty which the media protray.
thelifeofachamp
September 13, 2009 at 4:20 pm
thoughts and actions almost never come hand in hand with each other.
appearance will still determine largely first impressions and second and perhaps even third.
Yen Ling
September 13, 2009 at 4:23 pm
oh yes, i picked up on this Dove commercial way back as well. It’s scary to realise the amount of digital imaging + makeup they use before the final product, but it’s somewhat comforting to the rest of us ordinary looking people to know that billboard models are rather similar to us.
I agree with trying to keep up with the fashion joneses’, we can never. and do you know what’s the most ironic thing? it doesnt’ change, it just cycles through the process, so what’s old will be new and what’s new will eventually be old
isaac chan zhi yang
http://pitstophere.wordpress.com
touchmybeaver
September 13, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Definitely. Our perceptions have been affected by media’s portrayal’s of beauty. There is nothing wrong in wanting to appreciate a person’s physical appearance, as long as we don’t forget that there is more to being a person than his/her looks.
I really like the video you included along with it. It shows us how we should not believe whatever the media says or shows us, because they have the power to manipulate whatever we see. However, we cannot solely blame the media also. Though I agree that the media shows us what we want to see, who it is it then that gives the media ideas on what our ideals are?
Samantha
September 13, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Beauty is skin deep. True.
Sexy is your attitude. True.
There are many who do not get to feel this way and they are the ones who cannot find men/women who can appreciate their beauty (or not) and eventually marry perhaps.
But in less then 2 months (recovery time) and surgery fee, you get everything you wanted since young childhood. That really sounds like a appealing package.
Namka
September 14, 2009 at 4:41 am
i agree that beauty is skin deep, something which i know the world has been taught to only look at the content within rather than the cover on the outside.
It’s true that a person is most beautiful when their character appeals to others (1) being that it’s a beauty that can never fade (2) being that it’s a beauty that is appreciated by everyone. I cannot agree more that that i’d rather spend time with someone with a good character and not that good looks as compared to spending time with someone with good looks but ugly inside.
However with all the lessons of “moral rights and wrong” i still believe that with the statement saying that beauty is skin deep, it also implies that to a small extent, beauty still do lie on the external. With that said, i do not mean that we should go overboard being concerned about our looks. Things like cosmetic surgery i believe are for people who need it rather than want it (e.g.people involved in accidents compared to people who think they don’t look good enough). Afterall, it’s true that exterior beauty doesn’t last forever! =)
-Jo-
Joel
September 14, 2009 at 2:02 pm
After watching the video, i think the effect of make-up and of course the “not-to-be-missed” Photoshop editing is stunning! So these are all the lies and cover-up all of us are exposed to, thinking that the models really do look that good in real life. But hey! They are all fake! Ok, probably not each and everyone, but inarguably, most of them are being made up.
Beauty that is only skin deep will never last long. What really matters is the inner beauty. Cliched, but true. Choose between the two: A kind old lady or a beautiful young witch? I will go with the first.
Kang Yu Han
September 15, 2009 at 8:03 am
I believe that the idea of beauty always belongs to the opposite sex. It conforms to the general consensus within a generation of the opposite gender of what things beautiful should look like. The guys will have a generally common idea of a beautiful girl while the girls vice versa. This notion will never be permanent and is subject to changes along “fashion eras”. Timeless beauty, in my opinion, does not exist.
Noname
September 20, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Yes it’s indeed true that we are constantly bombarded with these unattainable notions of beauty, as well as slimness every day. The beauty industry is a multi-million (or possibly more) industry, and it thrives on all these insecurities and notions of beauty we have as individuals. However, it is important to note that it is a self fulfilling prophecy, cause we as the consumers are the ones who feed this industry.
HuiLin
November 8, 2009 at 8:43 am