The beauty industry in India is valued at over 430 million, with skin lighteners making up over 60% of the skincare product market. While India prefers being fair, the West prefers to be tanned. But why isn’t embracing your natural skin trending? When a woman who has gained weight is shamed for ‘not taking care of herself, a woman who has lost significant pounds is bullied for being ‘too thin’ on the other side.
What is the role of social media and popular media in promoting toxic beauty standards?
Toxic beauty standards are unrealistic and harmful expectations about physical appearance that can negatively impact mental and physical health. In these times when people run behind following trends on social media, the toxic standards of the platform and the media can lead to body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. Photoshopping and social media filters create unrealistic expectations about physical appearance and contribute to feelings of inadequacy. The pursuit of ‘perfect’ or ‘eurocentric features’ like fuller lips, a slim nose, large breasts, and a butt often leads to irreversible cosmetic procedures and body dysmorphia.
A thirteen-year-old girl said in an interview that she hated seeing herself in the mirror and avoided it as much as possible, and that whenever she did look, she saw what she could have looked like instead of how she actually is. A study showed that in Korea, a substantial number of women in their late teens and twenties have had cosmetic surgery, with estimates suggesting that 1 in 3 in that age group have undergone some form of cosmetic procedure. Even teenagers are opting for such risky procedures.
In a Harper’s BAZAAR interview about the stories of teenage plastic surgery, a 15-year-old who had work done talked about how the procedures were more for the people rather than herself, and that she doesn’t want people to negatively comment about her body. The teenagers in that interview collectively said that if the celebrities and influencers can opt for plastic surgery, then why can’t they? While there is nothing wrong with having work done, and it’s one’s personal choice, the wrong thing here is the fact that these teenagers are getting wrongly influenced to hate the way they look and feel a need to change at such a young age. The influencers must be accountable for their actions and be transparent about the procedures they have done on themselves. Social media comes up with new insecurities and beauty standards every week. These insecurities, which never even felt like an insecurity, fuel the stereotypical beauty standard.
The crazy ‘ugly duckling transformations’ in movies like The Princess Diaries cater to the toxic beauty standards and contribute to the self-image issues of a whole generation who grew up watching these movies. In this era of social media, the word ‘self-love’ has become ambiguous. Teenagers must understand that taking off their glasses or changing the way they look isn’t the meaning of self-love. Self-love means embracing and loving yourself just the way you are.
While K-pop’s popularity globally is undeniable, the industry is frequently criticized and rightly so, for perpetuating narrow and potentially harmful beauty standards, significantly impacting both idols and their fans. These standards foster an environment where physical appearance is heavily weighed, and this can negatively affect self-esteem and body image. The preference for a slim zero size figure, fair skin, and certain features like a V-shaped jawline, big eyes, puts significant pressure on the idol to conform to these standards. Certain K-pop idols have confessed how their strict diets have negatively affected their performances, where some even fainting during concerts. Many idols have extreme eating disorders, trying to conform to these standards, and their fans, who consider them as role models, often indulge in harmful habits, trying to look like them. The booming skin industry in Korea has created a buzz for glass skin that aims for a perfectly smooth, luminous, and poreless complexion. But the glass skin, as depicted in media, often relies on filters, lighting, and even cosmetic procedures, creating a misleading and unattainable ideal. This sets unrealistic expectations for many individuals, especially teenagers, causing low self-esteem, and the pursuit for a glass skin can be expensive as well, with the need for numerous products and the continuous cycle of buying new products promoted by the industry.
How to redefine beauty?
Redefining beauty involves shifting focus from narrow societal standards to embracing our individual flaws, uniqueness and our inner qualities. It’s about appreciating diversity in appearance and recognising that beauty manifests in many forms. There is a need for inclusivity and diversity in media where the narratives should challenge the stereotypes instead of enforcing them, promote representation and amplify marginalized voices.
The teenagers must be mindful of their social media consumption and seek out body-positive content. If struggling with body image issues or mental health concerns, seek support from a therapist or a counsellor. The creators must create content that encourages self-acceptance and celebrates diverse body types and appearances.
There is a video from the YouTube channel Filter Copy titled ‘If white skin were treated like dark skin’. It portrayed a fair girl being told a hundred different remedies to look dark, bombarded with the television commercials for darkening creams whenever she decides to switch on the television. There was a particular scene in the video, where she was talking to a prospective groom, and he tells her that she looked darker in photos, and then later on tells her that she has good features, and what matters is what’s on the inside. This is a statement that many of the dark- skinned girls must have heard, and it strikes like a double-edged sword. It is as if being said that being dark is ugly, and then told not to worry, as their other features and inner qualities compensated for it.
The teenagers must deviate from giving importance to the public perception of themselves and focus on accepting their flaws and weaknesses, and learn to embrace them. At the end of the day, we must understand that everyone is too focused on their own lives and too busy to notice our imperfections. That realisation will help you to focus on your self-growth rather than surrendering to the negativity.