Beauty standards are not set in stone; however over hundreds of years, they have not changed or shifted much. People see skinny, light skinned girls with light colored eyes as the standard of beauty. This “preference” has led people to change themselves to fit in and be accepted. Outside beauty is the main attraction into getting attention and being noticed by people. People do not see personality as the first aspect, they see your looks. Most do not even care for your personality if appearances are not to their liking. There are now a lot of campaigns and advertising for diversity; however, campaigns have not made a change in the world. There should be more effective and planned movements for beauty to be all.
The modeling and cosmetics franchise are the main promoters of beauty and although they say there is improvement, that is an overstatement. Others would say that the world is now getting influenced more and more by western values. For starters, feminist author Julie Zelinger states, “rigid Western ideals are increasingly permeating cultures all over the globe, introducing damaging standards of thinness in particular where they may never before have existed” (Zelinger). The world has now more stereotypical man-made standards being spread and adhered to. Beauty standards are only one of the many degrading and misogynistic ideals placed on women worldwide. However, beauty has caused physical and emotional wounds: depression, anxiety, self-loathe, eating disorders, and even plastic surgery deaths.
We cannot blame the current media of what they portray as beauty now. For example, a Korean-American named Cindy sat down to speak with editor Jessica Prois. She disclosed in the interview, “It’s very institutionalized. Lighter skin and big eyes are coveted because that’s gone through generations of being the default — even if we don’t know the roots of why we want to look like that” (Prois). Beforehand she spoke with Ms. Prois on her childhood and how her mother kept encouraging her to get eye surgery in the future. She noticed that no one really states that being white with big eyes is the norm, that people just assume it is, because it has been like that for years.
Body image makes lots of people uncomfortable. People get shamed for not looking a certain way and it alters the thoughts of others. As follows, “The Beauty Myth” an essay by a student named Steve goes in further on the negativity surrounding the beauty community. He states, “It changes a female’s perspective on how we are seen and how we see ourselves, easily contorting beauty to contort our thought” (Steve). Females are the main group of people that are affected by beauty standards and it messes with their minds when they do not meet a certain standard that society sets on them.
The goals that women are told to meet are at times impossible; however, women still fight to find a way into completing their goals. The general atmosphere of the world is corrupt and the general public themselves are to blame.Males are put to different standards, but are also judged because of toxic masculinity and stereotypes on how an ideal man should look like. Men and women are often separated but some of their struggles are the same and in beauty it comes to the looks you have gets you ahead more than others.
In the space to be rational, to get everyone in the world to accept everyone no matter looks is a very far reach. People do not automatically talk to someone by their personality, it is based on their looks. There is absolutely prejudice that cannot be avoided. However, thinking that one specific set of factors is beautiful should be changed. Barbie dolls are not real and having bodies some of these celebrities is a dream because there is usually plastic surgery involved in the process.
Diversity is now seen as a must have instead of something that should be normal. It shouldn’t be praised to have mixed models of different races, ages, and sizes; it should be the standard. A lot of people change for the better and try to include everyone just because they should; however, there are companies and people who include everyone so they can be defined as an inclusive and game-changing company. This situation is not only in the beauty world but also in the actual world. Everyone needs to set beauty to be accepting of everyone and everything; models should not be put to meet a certain standard of size or looks.

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