The ugly truth about beauty standards

By Lulu Dlamini

Google defines beauty as the quality in a person, place, or object that provides intense sensory pleasure or deep mental satisfaction. It seems society has given beauty a different meaning, a meaning that doesn’t consider anyone beautiful. The media's impact has completely twisted our view of what we deem desirable. Shave, bleach, hyperpigmentation, strawberry skin, full beard, calories, and bloating. The industry pockets our insecurities, and it does not seem to be stopping, because every second, a new one gets made up. These are the things we go through just to be considered beautiful! 

Image of Ariana Grande before and after comparison via TikTok (@xoxo_gossip_queen)

Celebrities have a large influence on what we consider desirable, so it is important to point out that when you are a celebrity, your status is not only made up of your skills but also of an audience that interacts with your skills; the way you act, sound, and even your look is constantly being absorbed and interpreted in a million different ways. But what happens when the way that you look, regardless of how that may look, is always criticised? There will be an audience that holds a strong opinion about you. It seems that the industry continues to distort the definition of beauty, and it has conditioned people to contribute to that distortion. Most consumers online have noticed a pattern in the body weight of very influential celebrities. This observation isn’t to speak negatively about them; if anything, no one is entitled to have opinions about a body that isn’t theirs, but lately, a lot of people feel that they need to say something, and they have been exercising the right of freedom of expression about how they feel and think about certain patterns and trends they have been noticing online.

There is widespread concern about the body weight of very prominent celebrities in Hollywood. You cannot avoid those eyes and ears if you built your whole brand around their involvement. Being a woman in the industry is already difficult enough; you have lines on your face constantly being analysed, and you always feel the need to look younger because that is what they want, and that is what they are looking for. The main premise at hand here is the significant weight of many celebrities and how harmful that can be to absorb. People’s main worry is the influence celebrities have not only on older people but also on younger people and children who look up to them. This, in turn, causes an epidemic of insecurity. Every day, people have something new to be insecure about. Their rib cages being too wide, their anatomy being too bloated, even if it is normal, and different skin types having nicknames associated with something bad. Many people say there are different ways to be considered beautiful, but many industries have their own versions of what they consider beautiful, which can be completely different from how you look.

Image of Gen-Z celebrities via Buzzfeed.

It also starts to build a social construct on what is desirable. You will hear a lot of people talk about physical traits they find distasteful, and yet that was not something that was dissected long ago.  Hip dips were so freely mentioned that women had to be aware of them to such an extent that they began to be insecure about them. People will not stop commenting on how a body looks, but it must always be acknowledged that people will have concerns, especially when it comes to celebrities whose image is constantly on display for them to consume. Approaching a matter with kindness and consideration is always a humane step to take because it is not your body, no matter how strongly you may feel. Beauty standards need to evolve into something better because the thought, expectation, and their impracticality are just ugly.

Edited by Munei Zoe Mbedzi