American Beauty Standards And Mauritanian Beauty Standards

As of recently, the media has been flooded with positive interpretations of beauty standards all over the world. According to various sources, beauty ideals, in women especially, are socially constructed in order to judge a person’s value based on physical attractiveness; therefore, it is highly encouraged that people pay attention to their looks and take care of themselves, in order for others to create a positive first impression of one’s character. It is no secret that beauty standards vary from one culture to the next and it is difficult to establish a universal principle of what is considered beautiful. Many countries’ ideals contrast one another and, as a result, allow for stereotypes to emerge. This is the case between American

Beauty standards, then, determine what is adequate and what is not, which facial features are perfect and which will never meet the requirements. They decide what is sexy, which body woman should seek to have, and supported by the media, they are installed as a mechanism of social control that

Since the beginning of civilization there have been beauty standards, but as time has gone on, they have continually evolved and changed into what they currently are now. What was once beautiful two hundred years ago may only be average or desired by some, whereas in the past that may have been the most popular look or body type. However for decade’s women put beauty to the side and focused on the evolution of their rights and equality, but now since they have attained many of the same rights as their male counterparts the importance of gender equality seems to be changing. Currently many women are resorting back to issues of beauty and looks because of the societal norms that have come to be popular and important to the masses.

The beauty standards set for African American women has shifted drastically in the past decades due to the change in popularized stereotypical images portrayed through the explicit lyrics of hip hop and rap music. How African American women are portrayed in the music industry has had a profound impact on how black women view themselves as well as other races, it promotes unrealistic body sizes/images, and colorism in the black community because of how the new age rap and hip hop stigmatizes and sexualize the Black woman’s body as a whole. Not only are males rap artist contributing to the exploitation of African woman but also the women of rap as well are adding to the derogatory and disrespectful image that is perceived by society.

The author gives cases of woman from different cultural backgrounds that are forced to accept the westernized beauty standard. She explains that a woman named Zahra Dhanani was pressured by her mother to be thin, because her mother thought that by being thin means beautiful, and it results Zahra to developed bulimia. According to one of the interviewee, Niva Piran, a clinical psychologist, explained that “The ideal of standard beauty is uniformed by the mass media, and attractiveness is often perceived as thin body figure, and light skinned”( McCelland,2013, paragraph 3,p.445). Thus, this component has contributed to people from different culture to develop body image anxiety which can lead to eating-disorder such as, anorexia and bulimia. The author also discuss the history aspect of body image; before the 19th century woman who are larger are consider as healthy and this idea was shifted after the industrialization, and woman are now pressured to accept that being thin is considered beautiful. The author also criticized that the media are constantly demanding light skinned and thin figured woman to be presented. The essay concluded that if the media and the society do not change the idea of accepting themselves, woman will continued to be pressured and scrutinized by the society and therefore feel pressured to look like a certain way.

The essay “Chicken-Hips” talked about the different cultural standards of beauty. The writer wrote about a very personal experience when she was in Africa and compared it with the city where she lives in. Africans are very happy and proud about being fat, but in Canada people often work hard to be skinny like the models in advertisements. I personally think that no matter what beauty standards the society set for you, you should always do the thing that makes you feel happy, because being happy is healthier than being depressed.

All American females live in a society that puts undue pressure on women to accommodate an unreasonable ideal, and the Euro-American standard of beauty has dominated popular culture causing devastating economic, physical, and psychological effects, particularly on African American women, who should embrace their natural beauty. African American women make destructive changes to their body that will break down their bank accounts, and the woman's physical body appearance to the naked eye. Rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and botulinum toxin are just some of the costly surgeries that have major changes and that can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Physically, African American women begin

What makes someone beautiful? This striking question has always had a complex answer rather than simple. Society makes their interpretation of beauty with many standards that qualify for the “most beautiful people” in the world. America's picture of the perfect lady is extremely thin however full figured. America’s picture of the perfect gentleman is also thin, yet very fit. It’s always one thing or the other, never one choice. The public has their own particular rendition of what beauty looks like, yet american beauty happens to have a stance amongst the most startling standards. These standards of beauty that women see each day impact their confidence and self-esteem negatively only to push them to discover ways to fit into these unrealistic beauty criterias. Beauty standards in America are ever-changing, but society has yet to absolutely accept the average, everyday woman.

Beauty standards are portrayed everywhere: on magazines, social media, ads, commercials, and even flaunted among peers. While the ideals are supposed to promote health awareness, fitness motivation, and self love, it unfortunately results in many unfavorable consequences. Women are constantly “penalized for not being beautiful and at the same time are stigmatized, even pathologized, for not feeling beautiful, for having low self-esteem, for engaging in behaviors like dieting and excessive exercising, or for having eating disorders” (Johnston and Taylor 954). Beauty standards are unrealistic and unhealthy to pursue, and misinforms the public on what true beauty is. While not all beauty image ideals promote negative feelings and dissatisfaction, many believe that the negative effects far outweighs any positive effects.

It does not come as a surprise that women, in large, are dissatisfied with their bodies. This widespread body dissatisfaction amongst women was coined “normative discontent” (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984). Although body dissatisfaction seemingly plagues women as a whole, there are several factors that can either serve as a protective factor or a risk factor for the development of body dissatisfaction. Much of the research regarding this normative discontent excludes culturally relevant factors for African American (Black) women. Looking specifically at African American women, the factors that affect body image and body dissatisfaction greatly differ from those that affect non-minority White women. Skin tone or complexion,

Beauty standards have been a major issue for many years now and women have been willing to change their bodies over and over to please themselves and others. Beauty standards are often defined in terms of hairstyles, skin color, and body size. The measures involved in having to live up to these standards are often risky in nature. For decades, what is seen as beautiful is centered around a women’s weight and size. Today, that standard is often defined as being thin. Women often resort to drastic means to attain that ideal image. However, achieving these standards can be expensive, can lower self-esteem and can be a threat to a woman’s health and life.

Women have let the idea of looking beautiful take over their self-confidence and life. Healthy Place, an online magazine teaching women about living a healthy life, says that, “today's fashion models weigh twenty-three percent less than the average female, and a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a seven percent chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a one percent chance of being as thin as a supermodel.” So why do women push themselves to be excessively thin when these models are anomalies? They do it because the media tells them that this look is the only look that can attract men. Even if a woman is “beautiful” according to the media’s standards, she will always find something about her body that she hates, whether it is her hair or her belly button, no women is completely satisfied. Our society is very accepting of different religions and lifestyles, so why can we not accept different types of beauty as well?

The media have constructed attractiveness for a long time many sociocultural standards of beauty and. Especially women’s body images have been a primary concern because the value of women has been measured how they look like. How women have similar body traits with the modern female body images has been a significant and essential issue, historically. The sociocultural standards of beauty which have been created by the greed of the media have dire impacts on young females. The current beauty level of the female body image in the media is thinness. In fact, the preferred female body images have been changed through the media. Throughout history, sometimes skinny women’s body images were loved, and sometimes over weighted women’s body images were preferred. Whenever the media have dictated the ideal female

Beauty standards have been socially constructed in diverse and various shapes in every society or culture in the world, and cause people to think they are not beautiful if they do not fit the common standard of beauty that has been set by the society. Most people are pressured into the standard by the social milieu. The people who are different from the socially pursued standard of beauty do not think the standard itself is absurd, but they rather tend to be insecure about their appearance. Once people see the beauty through individual’s perspective, not through the socially constructed standard, they would realize how much they have unconsciously forced each other to be fit in the beauty standard. This is something that I have also experienced. I was not a person who fit in the standard of beauty, and that made me shy and timid. However, once I saw myself through a different perspective of beauty, I could see it as a social problem that unconsciously forces one particular standard of beauty.

What is beauty? Beauty is defined as “the quality of being physically attractive or the qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2014, para. 1). Heine (2012) has found that beauty and attractiveness can vary across cultures. Although, there are specific features of a person that seem to be considered as beautiful and attractive across all culture spectrums. These features are: complexion, bilateral symmetry, average sized facial features, and biracial faces. However, weight in regards to attractiveness and beauty varies drastically across cultures. Through this discovery, there may be a correlation between the