Deborah L. Rhodes The Beauty Bias

Men do have different ways to respond to different situations than women, and it is

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:

It has always been mankind’s nature to be equal or better than one another; as a society, as a group, or as an individual. We have evolved greatly over thousands of years, however we remain as a society with some bad habits. This is shown in the novel Uglies, model’s participating in annual Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, and the hit T.V show Botched. In today’s modern society, individuals or the majority of people will alter the way they appear or act in order to fit in with present day “Beauty”.

The development has created much controversy because how it decides to present its perception. Humanity is at fault for how the beauty industry decides how to advertise the perfect image. Yet, in the twenty-first century, there has been a turn of events. Those have educated imaginations are realizing how one standard of beauty is not enough for the millions of versions of beauty there are. Despite, wanting to have no standards of beauty, the educated know that this is no physically possible. Frye perfectly summarizes, “ The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce, out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in. Obviously, that can’t be a separated society, so we have to understand how to relate the two.” (86) The educated imagination interprets how they want their society without losing the connection to what we live in. The beauty industry represents the society we live in: superficial, materialistic, and self-indulgent. The educated imagination represents the ideal society: accepting of all and self-confidence. Although it cannot be the ideal society, there are still possibilities of a society where beauty is not a forced by people sitting at a board table. The mixture of these two societies can develop into a society where beauty is not only external but internal. Having the educated teach the weak imaginations how to comprehend the repercussions of the beauty industry, but still, understand it is difficult to change a hundred-year-old tradition. Standards of beauty will always be part of society, it is just how will society determine what is an illusion and

Throughout the essay “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” Dave Barry tries to explain how cosmetics are not important to the average male, but is an important topic for women. Men usually do not place as much importance in one’s appearance as women do. As Barry points out, if a group of men were instructed by Brad Pitt to apply cosmetics, they would quickly realize that the task was pointless, even demeaning to an extent. Most women on the other hand, place higher importance on their looks, even to the point of setting unobtainable goals of beauty. An example that Barry makes, is that women become obsessed with these looks because men want women to look that way, even though majority of men don’t care about cosmetics for the most part. These different

Many begin the day by arranging their hair, finding clothes to wear, or any other daily habit that may alter one’s image. We can thank social pressure for this everyday burden. In the late nineteen-hundred’s, people, especially women, had to obsess over their looks and constantly improve upon them. Thankfully, in today’s communities, those features are not judged upon as much as four decades ago.

Now a day appearances are everything. People are always striving to look good wherever they go. Many people take a look at them in the mirror and want to change the way they look. This is all caused by the judgement of our society today. This does not only occur in the 21st century it has been happening since the beginning of humankind. This affects men and women equally, because often time’s men judge women and women judge men, but people can get judged by their own gender as well. Every year millions of people do plastic surgery to make themselves more beautiful and appealing. This is done by men and

People who have similar thoughts of what they define as beautiful are usually in the same group due to similar opinions. One’s aspiration to conform to societies standards of beauty reflect the influential affects others have on another. Finally, one’s behaviour and actions tend to change when confronted with a new opinion. As individuals, being in a certain group can cause one to think differently than before. In the Elizabethan Era women coloured their skin white to join the new “norm”: “Pale skin was a sign of nobility, wealth, and (for women) delicacy, and was sought after by many”.

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.

If beauty is only skin deep, why does it define a woman in every aspect of her life? Society has created a culture in which members perceive that a woman's identity is inextricably tied to her beauty and sexuality. A woman internalizes this belief, using her superego, and creates an unrealistic expectation for herself. This leads a woman to alter her total being to become society's "ideal" woman. In an attempt to attain this achieved status, she denigrates herself and becomes a living mannequin.

The self-conscious of many people keep them aware of how one’s body image may look. What society today presents as beautiful, may have its effects on a persons self-esteem. Even though seeing oneself as attractive may give that person the self-pride he or she is seeking; seeing oneself as appealing gives that individual that boost of self-confidence. How different persons feel about their self-conscious, influences many factors one may experience in life. Being handsome or beautiful means, one may be taken seriously, one may have a more sense of validation in society and seeing oneself attractive may give them more opportunities in life.

Women learn from an early age that we are ‘priced’ by how we look. “Social [and professional] opportunities are affected by their beauty” (Mazur 282). Regardless of substance and intelligence, women are seen at face-value, literally. Because of this, we have discovered countless ways to police and alter our bodies to try and fit ourselves into the proper molds. These methods include (but are not limited to) shaving body hair, dieting, tanning or bleaching skin, dyeing or straightening hair, and a myriad of different plastic surgery procedures. Many of these means for policing the body can be expensive, making the “elite” form of beauty easier to achieve for women of a higher economic standing. The removal of body hair is particularly

In this 21st century and in the past, people living in the different parts of the world were and are facing many social issues, community challenges, and human rights. For the people, “Balance of Beauty” is the key to compete through the issues mentioned and to find peace and unity in one global community.

Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is filled with characters who all readers can relate to. The novel focuses primarily on the Belseys, who are a mixed race family living in Boston. During the novel, the Belsey family members undergo challenges and situations that shape and mold their identities. The father, Howard is in the middle of a mid life crisis struggling with lack of success in his career, feeling stuck and his infidelity to his wife, Kiki. Kiki is also struggling with aging and coming to terms with her changing body as well as the unknown fate of her marriage following Howard’s affair. The Belsey children, as well as Vee, the daughter of Howard’s rival Monty Kipps, struggle with their own coming of age stories as they emerge as young adults. One main struggle that all the female characters have in common is body image. The burden of a woman’s body remains a main premise throughout the entire novel as the characters define their worth and have their worth defined by others based on their physical appearance. The female body is viewed by characters in different ways based on gender and age. The men in the novel view women’s in terms of their sexual worth. The older women in the novel have a more realistic view of their bodies and even find value in their aging bodies. On the other hand, the younger women struggle with negative body image as well as their sexual power as they begin their journey as women.

Furthermore, Olivola and Todorov (2010) state that voters actually infer politicians’ personality traits and form impressions on politicians based on their physical appearance