Barbie Vs Bratz : Global Models Of Beauty For Women Of Color

Cultural differences in my definition refer to differences among people because of their racial or ethnic background, gender, language, nationality, sexual orientation, dress and traditions. These differences can bring strength to the group if valued and integrated into the group dynamics, at the same time it can also weaken a group as differences in interpretation of events can lead to miscommunication, awkwardness and hostilities if not addressed. Prejudices about people of different backgrounds can also lead people to jump to conclusions and misinterpret actions and behaviors. In the article, “Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference,” by Ann Ducille helps us to understand how the making

The Beauty Myth’s central argument is the growing standards of physical beauty of women as they grow stronger. This standard has affected women in many ways, such as in the workplace, culture, and religion. The standard has taken over the work of social harassment. The beauty myth expands the belief an unbiased measurement of beauty exists and that women want to express it and men would want that women. The author, Naomi Wolf, states that the beauty myth is not about women themselves, it is about the power of men and their society. The myth supplies power to multibillion dollar cosmetics industries and it keeps women from rising too high in the workplace. Within this book, Wolf shows how the beauty myth functions and affects women in the workplace, media, sex, religion, culture, violence against women by men, and by women themselves in the configuration of cosmetic surgery and eating disorders.

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

The beauty standard is a culturally constructed notion of physical attractiveness that has become increasingly imperative for women and men. However, this standard has become extremely perilous to men and women’s self-image. Camille Paglia, a highly educated individual who earned her PhD at Yale University and became a highly acclaimed author, explicates this conception in her essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery”. Paglia suggests that the beauty standard idealizes women to look like “sex symbols with an unattainable grandeur” (776). She continues to claim that it forces her audience of higher class women to pay large sums of money in order to alter their features ultimately conforming to a very “parochial” definition of beauty (776). Although Paglia is a highly credible source, she illogically appeals to the reader’s fears in order to persuade them. Paglia fails to give any credible outside sources which affirms her preposterous beliefs. Contrary to her inconsistencies, Daniel Akst, a social journalist and graduate from New York University provides his audience with reputable sources in order to persuade his audience. Daniel Akst believes that there needs to be a “democratization of physical beauty” in which instead of attempting to alter the beauty standard, we must first change how we view ourselves. Akst provides credible sources to establish his credibility where he observes cases studies and cultural experiments from scientists and organizations including:

Children’s child play has become a form of an unrealistic world. Although, it is considered for children to begin creating a creative imagination, the mind fascinates children into toys. Some child’s play toys are not ideal for young children, like the one and only “Barbie”. Barbie has become a worldwide toy product for children all over the world, from the North Pole to the South Pole. These dolls have emerged from one ethnicity to another. In Ann DuCille, “Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Differences” the author talks about the race and gender differences; found in Barbie. She argues; “Is Barbie bad?” her response, was “Barbie is just a piece of plastic” (459). In contrast, this piece of plastic is not just a piece of plastic to young girls; it is much more than that. A piece of plastic that little girls all over the world wish they could be. Even though, it is only a piece of plastic to adults that Barbie significantly means nothing to them. Growing up, I owned a couple of Barbie dolls. The tall, long blond hair, blue-eyed doll was my best friend and my “role model”. I wanted to become exactly like Barbie. As a child, I thought only beautiful people who looked liked Barbie signified beauty. To my little to no knowledge, I soon came to find out no one really looks like Barbie, except people who want to become like Barbie. In my adolescent years, no one taught me Barbie was “unreal”; no one taught me it was just a figure in my imagination.

Chang’s writing is focused upon from the view of a sociocultural standpoint, with discovering the internal ideas beneath beauty from the external appearance. It included an experiment with nearly 500 Asian American female participants who took part in a questionnaire package regarding both one’s personal beliefs as well as on social relations with Caucasian-American women. The results of this showed that, there are little to none ethnic group differences in the internalization of the dominant White beauty standards among Asian American women. Despite the lack in differences, the findings made contributions by showing the importance of racial identity and beauty standards in Asian American women’s body image development and psychological well-being.

With the rise of colonial expansion and imperialism, Europeans were inspired by their encounters with both culturally and physically different people to categorize them; thus leading to the creation of race. While the construction of race started off as harmless, it has been used to in the defense of cultural erasure and the oppression of Non-White racial groups. Today, the aftereffects of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism are still felt with increasing racial tension, the perpetuation of racial stereotypes, and the existence of Eurocentric beauty standards: a concept where people with commonly white features (thin lips, narrow nose, light hair, etc.) are exalted and those who do not adhere to these beauty standards are marginalized. Although

Beauty is skin deep but that’s only in theory especially when living in such a vanity obsessed society. The back history on the vision of beauty has so much turmoil and anguish attached to the word, it seems contradicting. This essay will delve into the depths of the foundation and perpetuating controversies around the standards of beauty drawing most of the attention to skin color, specifically in the North American and South American regions (primarily Brazil). Furthermore, this article will give insight on colorism and the impact it has had on ‘post-racial’ theories that have developed today, as well the deeming of ‘racial democracy’ for both continents.

A Genealogy of Modern Racism by Cornel West. According to America, the standard beauty is the Europeans, the idea of the white supremacy that all white people have the power. Racism is still an issue in America, people are been discriminated by their skin color. White people are considered to be the most beautiful persons in the world, but this is just what make us think because this is the way that society is structure that white people are the ruling class.

It’s difficult to envision a world where idealized female imagery is not plastered everywhere, but our present circumstance is a relatively new occurrence. Before the mass media existed, our ideas of beauty were restricted to our own communities. Until the introduction of photography in 1839, people were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies. Most people did not even own mirrors. Today, however, we are more obsessed with our appearance than ever before. But the concern about appearance is quite normal and understandable given society’s standards. According to Jane Kilborne, “Every period of history has had its own standards of what is and is not beautiful, and every contemporary society has its own distinctive concept of the

“You would look so much prettier with your hair straight!” is a comment my sister of mixed descent has been receiving from her classmates since childhood. Straight hair is a Eurocentric beauty standard that has been pushed onto my lighter skinned sister for most of her life. I am of a darker complexion however and therefore am complimented often on my naturally curly hair. This leads to the question; do black beauty standards differ from white ones? The answer to this query is explored in Maxine Craig’s work Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? She claims that in many regards, though not all, the answer is yes. While Craig does a good job of defining the historical moments that lead to black beauty standards today, she lacks an explanation as to why darker skin tones are stigmatized the way they are and neither does she factor in how many people consider personality when determining beauty.

It 's not a mystery that society 's ideals of beauty have a drastic and frightening effect on women. Popular culture frequently tells society, what is supposed to recognize and accept as beauty, and even though beauty is a concept that differs on all cultures and modifies over time, society continues to set great importance on what beautiful means and the significance of achieving it; consequently, most women aspire to achieve beauty, occasionally without measuring the consequences on their emotional or physical being. Unrealistic beauty standards are causing tremendous damage to society, a growing crisis where popular culture conveys the message that external beauty is the most significant characteristic women can have. The approval of prototypes where women are presented as a beautiful object or the winner of a beauty contest by evaluating mostly their physical attractiveness creates a faulty society, causing numerous negative effects; however, some of the most apparent consequences young and adult women encounter by beauty standards, can manifest as body dissatisfaction, eating disorders that put women’s life in danger, professional disadvantage, and economic difficulty.

Many, East Asian women increasingly travel widely outside of East Asian countries to western ones and vice versa. Additionally, many East Asian women travel to the United States of America to attend College and Graduate programs. Globalization and western media are increasing their foot hold in East Asian countries. The universal aesthetic of beauty is becoming increasingly popular. This paper compares and contrasts the differences and similarities in East Asian cultural feminine beauty aesthetics versus Asian American beauty norms and aesthetics. I will discuss colonization in Asia and how this affects social norms and habits and its effects.

The article proposes that there is a positive relationship between beauty and labour market earnings and the impact of beauty is higher for men than women. However, the article fails to answer an important question: is the impact of beauty due to pure discrimination or

This is prominent in the African American community; it is often taught at a young age that if you are of darker complexion or have a curlier hair texture you are not as pretty as the lighter complexioned girl that you might know. It is assumed that the media is to blame for this way of thinking. Youth and teens are self conscious enough without these negative “airbrushed” and unrealistic images put forth in the media.