Since the beginning of time, men and women have been instructed by the media to look a certain way and taught what is "ideal" for the current time. For years and years, many have struggled with their own image, body type and what exactly "real beauty" is. Thousands of magazine ads are printed every day and more often than not, the models in those ads do not even look like themselves. It's called photoshop, and it is a dangerous weapon. It is a tool that we all know very well and although we are aware that the women and men in the photographs have been heavily altered, we will hold ourselves to that unattainable standard of beauty and "perfection."
The media have the ability to tell us of what's in style, what the new fad diets are and what we should be doing to our bodies in order to be accepted by society. This in itself is a major problem. While we do get enjoyment looking at celebrities and seeing what they are wearing and how they put make up on their faces, the media makes it clear that we need to follow exactly what they are doing, too, regardless of the price. We want to look like them when we should be wanting to look more like our own selves — all different in shape and size.
This obsession with appearance we all have is strongly due to exposure to TV shows, photoshopped fashion ads and the idea of constantly improving ourselves to look a certain way in order to fit in. A study by the Social Issues Research Centre has shown that female dissatisfaction with appearance begins at a very early age. Humans gain the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror by the age of two, and "young girls develop a dislike for what they see only a few years later."
Women will spend about $15,000 on make up each year to enhance their appearance and according to Attn, will spend about two weeks per year putting it all on. That's a lot of time and a lot of money to spend on cosmetics. However, many women are beginning to embrace their imperfections and are starting to wear make up to empower themselves — not their spouses, not their friends, and not society. This act in itself is a step in the right direction. However, there are still some ideas out there that make up was made to enhance a woman's attractiveness and to make her seem more appealing to men. But what's important when it comes to make up is the purpose of wearing it and it makes one more confident then no one should stop them from feeling great about themselves.
Attractiveness has proven to be an important characteristic in today's society. Being favorable in appearance allows one to receive more opportunities and essentially "go further" in life. This is a huge red flag in today's society, especially now that there are more movements for accepting all sorts of different looks, not just one specific type of beauty. For example, people who are seen as attractive have a better chance of getting jobs or making more money. One US study shows that men who are taller will make about $600 more dollars than a man of average to lower heights. There is a constant bias of beauty in almost all situations we experience in our day to day lives.
We also see this in many TV shows, children's movies and other aspects of the media. Over and over again do we recognize beauty as good as or of more value than any other characteristics. Take children's movies involving princesses and princes; they are always beautiful and simple where the evil characters are always perceived as ugly old witches. It is a common theme amongst many shows, movies, and books and it's subtly being ingrained in the minds of many that beauty is the only important quality one can achieve.
Many are fighting for the acceptation of diverse beauty looks and are starting to advocate for natural beauty. This is a huge step for society because in retrospect, times were completely different many decades ago. Challenging the media about what is "ideal" is something that is becoming more encouraged and teaching children that everyone is beautiful and has something special about them is a major key in their development. The media will always try to control the standards of beauty but it is up to society to combat that and accept all types of bodies and beauties.
