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Angelina LoFranco
Professor Stefanovic
ENC 1102
21 April 2021
Assignment 5: Research Paper
The Beauty Traps of Women Beauty Stereotypes in Society
Throughout the history of every culture, women have faced constant reminders and
expectations of how or what they should look like. From early childhood, women have been
implemented to meet specific beauty standards, whether involving trends of body features, fads
of body types, or merely clothing styles to be classified as attractive. During the past couple of
centuries, in particular, women have been comparing themselves to unrealistic benchmarks, such
as celebrities and models, since an ordinary individual does not fit in with the criteria of this
standard. According to a recent study, most women experience weight dissatisfaction and would
change at least one aspect of their physical appearance (Tantleff-Dunn et al., 392). Furthermore,
in the book Made Up by Martha Laham, the author talks about her personal experiences
watching women starve themselves to conform to the fad occurring during this time (2).
Nevertheless, where does this quest of reaching an unattainable level of perfection in beauty
originate from?
According to the American College Health Association's Spring 2014 National College
Health Assessment, almost thirty percent of college women assessed their appearance as
"traumatic or very difficult to handle." An individual could develop eating disorders and other
psychological problems such as body dysmorphia or depression if not in a healthy mindset or
appropriately educated. In today's society, the constant comparison to an unattainable level of
perfection, arising from the beauty industry, media, and advertising businesses, has changed the
beauty standards in this world and stereotyped women to appear as flawless. To accomplish this,
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the mass media transmits values, norms, and fashion ideas through images, portraying people as
more desirable. Besides the consumer aspect, the advancement in technology-enabled photoshop
and other software distorts individuals' bodies into looking so-called flawless. For example, the
image below illustrates how models, celebrities, or anyone can use photoshopping software to
edit the image of themselves to remove any imperfections, and in doing so, they create a false
reality for the rest of the world. As a result, the photos shown create unrealistic standards for
female consumers, lowers their self-esteem, and produce a desire to purchase such products.
Moreover, because of the influence of social media, pictures posted not only intimidate others
but lowers self-esteem to infuse a desire to be like the model picture (Grogan 100). Thus, beauty
standards trigger harmful consequences to women in a society like insecurities and mental health
problems; instead of tolerating those standards, people should recognize that stereotyping women
in such an unattainable manner is unacceptable.
https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/before-after-photoshop-celebrities-2857d02ba7790fa__700.jpg
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While many individuals use the media daily, many do not realize that beauty standards
are primarily proliferated through the media and have a drastic influence on women and their
body images, which generates numerous unrealistic expectations. During the past two decades,
many young people consider being thin as a considerable part of their lives. For instance,
"thinpiration" became a trend across the internet and social media where women would post
photos, typically selfies, of emaciated girls. Rather than being hostile or alarming, these images
served as motivation or, like the word says, inspiration for women to lose an unhealthy amount
of weight and promote the mentality that beauty is pain. Images like the one shown on the
following page flooded the internet and all social media, exemplifying the lengths women would
go to in hopes of achieving the ideal body in the media.
http://cdn-webimages.wimages.net/04f91860c4434f848975c72647ac7c4ec022cc-wm.jpg?v=3
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The image above is only one example of a trend resulting from social media. Although the
goal of "thinspiration" images features thin women, the message involving it is the same, for
women must appear a certain way. By providing a platform for women to discover images of
ideal bodies, diet and exercise advice, and an outlet for women to compare themselves with peers
and celebrities, the internet and social media create new issues for women and intensify current
ones. Besides physical problems developing from the media, social media has triggered
countless cognitive tendencies for women and girls (Tatangelo & Ricciardelli, 776). These
networks offer a place where women can constantly critique and analyze their bodies to
instigates body dissatisfaction; therefore, these women will never be happy with themselves and
lead to depressive thoughts. Tangelo and Ricciardelli's study examined the media's related social
comparisons and how it impacts body images. Because of mass media consumption, imagebased comparison results from social media; hence, for girls, social comparison is based on
appearance (Tatangelo and Ricciardelli 777). Their analyses revealed that girls compared their
appearance much more than boys, who mainly compared their sports ability. Furthermore, it
discovered that girls displayed signs of negative emotions when compared to others. Though
many do not notice the impact the media has on people, their research illustrates how differently
everyone responds to the comparisons stemming from the media and proves that social media
triggers countless psychological problems for women and girls.
In addition to social media, advertisements affect women negatively, for their purpose is
to influence their target markets. For instance, advertisements within the beauty industry were
created to persuade women to emulate those advertisements' images. Women face the reminder
of what is considered beautiful every day, and the thousands of beauty advertisements only
remind them of what they are not. Whether it is through photo-shopping or unrealistically beauty
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models, society has created impossible beauty standards, all establishing inadequacy among
women. In a 2008 report, Beauty at Any Cost, the result of beauty obsession revealed that
women had decreased levels of self-esteem and put a dent in their pockets. On estimate, the
YWMCA reported that $7 billion is expended on cosmetics every year (Beauty at Any Cost,
2008, p. 7). Besides buying cosmetics to attain beauty, the number of cosmetic surgeries has
increased also. Beauty at Any Cost exposed that the number of cosmetic surgeries performed
over the past ten years has increased by 500 percent. It goes on to say, "Nearly 11.7 million
cosmetic surgical and non-surgical produces performed in the United States" (Beauty at Any
Cost, 2008, p. 3). As a result of this beauty obsession worldwide, the beauty industry has
transformed into a billion-dollar industry, possessing the power to influence a woman's
perception of beauty.
Many studies have been performed to display the damaging effects these advertisements
have induced on women today, almost all reflecting on it negatively affects self-image.
According to Krithika's study on "The Impact of Cosmetic Advertisements in Television,"
advertising is a commercial communication created to persuade or manipulate its audience to
purchase the desired merchandise in the advertisement (228). This not for the well-being of its
audience but all to generate money. Other experts on this topic had similar opinions. Another
study in the Journal of Consumer Research exposed that female consumers' self-esteem would
suffer when advertisements featuring beauty products (Trampe, Stapel and Siero, 1030). Two
authors, Vickie Rutledge Shields and Dawn Heinecken, explicitly disclosed how advertising
impacts women's perception of their bodies in their book, Measuring Up: How Advertising
Affects Self-Image. They claim that these advertisements and social media have a high
correlation with eating disorders among young women (Shields 71). Another fundamental
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assertion they discussed was that the images of women in advertising promote a patriarchal
society, transforming women into objects according to the males (Shields 71-74).
In a further research study about adolescent body satisfaction, it alleges:
"Although the media and social culture may encourage a certain body preference for females
that virtually all adolescent girls are exposed to on some level, it is the more immediate
culture of family and friends that either support the thin ideal body preference or encourage
body dissatisfaction" (Kelly 395).
In the end, if women's bodies are treated with unrealistic expectations, as presented in
advertisements, the number of eating disorders and other psychological problems will continue
to increase. The models displayed in these advertisements are obscenely thin. With the technical
advancement of photo-shopping and other beauty filters, an ordinary woman's self-esteem is
deemed to suffer when her body image does not match the one in an advertisement. Thus,
advertising within the beauty industry does not contribute to the benefits of using the products
but instead promotes a distorted feminine ideal, leading to the increasing rates of cosmetic
surgeries, anorexia, and women's objectivation.
Social media and advertising are not the only means of spreading adverse outcomes on
women, for television produces similar effects. In a prime-time comedy television study, thirtythree percent of the female characters were below average weight, and only seven percent were
above the average weight (Fouts & Burggraf, p. 3). While acting on the show, the thinner the
female character was, the more compliments they received from male characters. This discovery
insinuates that a female must be skinny to be considered attractive, gain approval or fit in with
beauty standards (Fouts & Burggraf, p. 3). Such depictions of thin versus overweight bodies
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craft unrealistic representations of the ideal female body in society. If females compare
themselves to the unrealistic figure on television, they have a higher chance of experiencing
body dissatisfaction. Other consequences, as formerly stated, such as eating disorders or
depression, will also be likely to transpire. While self-comparison is inevitable to others,
especially those on television, one must remember that these standards of an "ideal" body are
highly unrealistic for the average woman to achieve.
As has time involved, the media embraces people of all different races, sizes, and shapes;
therefore, it positively affects those aspects. In more recent years, diversity and inclusivity have
become a top priority within the beauty industry because of awareness brought out by the media.
A perfect example of the expansion of diversity in the cosmetic world was first brought out by
Rihanna when she released the Fenty Beauty line. The Fenty Beauty line launched a campaign in
2017 called "Beauty for All" in order to fill the void of exclusive shades ranges. After the launch
of the "Fent Effect," the awareness of inclusivity to all skin tones was conveyed across the
media; hundreds of individuals posted pictures of themselves wearing this new diverse line of
makeup (Saputo). This movement instigated other makeup lines to expand their initial shade
collection for a more completed line (Saputo). Furthermore, the media becoming more inclusive
also expanded sizes and styles for diverse body shapes in stores. From observing social media
platforms, one can notice that the fashion industry has also produced more plus-size clothing
lines with the addition of more plus-sized models in the media. The recent attention conveyed by
the Fenty Beauty line and other influencers has produced body positivity and diversity, which
could have only stemmed from social media.
Although the standard of beauty in the media has improved dramatically, the number of
negative effects still outweigh the number of positive effects. The influence of social media
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pictures posted not only intimidates others but lowers self-esteem to infuse a desire to be like the
model picture (Grogan 100). If women compare themselves to social media images, body
dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, and eating disorders are most likely to occur. Research has
shown that by lowering self-esteem and poor body image in teenage girls, those girls are not
happy with their appearance from such expectations and comparisons. As a result, they suffer
from body dysmorphia and other psychological problems (Martin and Gentry 1). With this
constant exposure to unhealthy messages or images on social media, advertising, or television,
women are also more likely to go from one extreme to the other, which means one can restrict
eating and develop anorexia or binge to make themselves feel better.
https://mirandagardley.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/teenage-girls-body-image statistics.jpg?w=640
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As previously mentioned, psychological issues also accompany body dissatisfaction.
According to a study performed at Bradley Hospital, Butler Hospital, and Brown Medical
School, researchers discovered that adolescents who possessed a negative body image were more
probable to be depressed, anxious, and suicidal than those without dissatisfaction about their
appearance. The image posted above states that eighty percent of women feel insecure after
seeing other women's images on television, movies, and other advertisements. Despite expanding
the cultural beauty stereotypes, the media still has much work needed to be accomplished
involving beauty stereotyping; it will always negatively influence women.
The first thing people must realize is that perfection is physically impossible. Beauty
advertisements within the media and television generate an emptiness in a woman’s life that can
only be filled through purchasing those beauty products elevate themselves towards that ideal
standard. Since that idea will always be unattainable, the demand for beauty products will never
end. Furthermore, beauty standards and ideals are continuously changing. Below displays an
image of how female beauty standards have changed throughout the years and will continue to
change until the end of time. If one constantly has the desire to appear perfect and conform in
with such ideals, their mental and physical health will be detrimentally affected. Therefore,
people should care about the pressure from society's idea of beauty standards as it affects more
and more people every day. The discoveries from this research brought more awareness on an
issue many do not know was so prominent among women, ultimately changing beauty
stereotyping. Readers can benefit from this research because it sheds light on the fact that none
of these standards will change until the media changes. If this topic is not brought to attention,
the outcomes will only worsen; thus, this information impacts the effects of beauty stereotyping
in a positive approach.
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https://pha.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/evolution_of_beauty_standards.jpg
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Fouts, G and K Burggraf. "Television situation comedies: Female body images and verbal
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Gabulaite, Viktorija. Photo of Candice Huffine. “57 Celebrities Before And After Photoshop
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