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Carlee Hunt
ENG 1020
Professor Grogan
25 March 2012
Social Definition of Beauty
What is beauty? According to Wikipedia.com beauty is the quality present in a thing or
person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory
manifestations and is used to be described as the quality present within a person (Wikipedia).
The meaning of beauty within today’s society is completely different than what the actual
definition of beauty used to be which is what the dictionary. Although this is the definition
presented, the meaning of beauty to us is the appearance of something, especially individuals.
Due to the fact that society has corrupted the idea of beauty, especially with younger age groups,
the thought of having to be extremely skinny or having a beautiful smile is becoming over
powering in the minds of our generation. I want to argue that not only have people changed the
way they define beauty in our society, but today young people/audience will benefit from
understanding beauty as something constructed or created through cultural and social practice,
not by something subjective or by what they assume, from various systems such as the media
and celebrities and even our peers. Today beauty can be defined as a commercial industry and is
designed to affect almost every aspect of our cultural and emotional life.
Beauty can be defined as a social construct which is a perception of an individual, group,
or idea that is 'constructed' through cultural or social practice (Wikipedia.com), and where we
first encounter this is with our peers. It is no secret that those around us influence our thoughts
and our actions and peer groups along with peer pressure adds to the social construction of what
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the definition of beauty has become. The results that come from peer groups and peer pressure
can be extremely life changing and/or life threatening. Peer groups start at such an early age and
give us the ability to talk and act differently than we would around either our parents or other
adults. Peer groups and peer pressure are driving forces to be called beautiful among friends.
Peer groups help the social constructed image of beauty. The new concern with beauty has led
young teens and peer groups into thinking of a new definition of beauty. Beauty to the young
generation is more focused on size and looks rather than personality. In the article, “Why Do
Adolescent Girls Watch Their Weight” one of the main reasons why young girls are so conscious
of their weight is strictly because of their peer groups and what those around them will perceive
them as. As a young teen body image is a key factor in deciding your social class, meaning
whether you are classified as popular or unpopular. Most teens who are looked upon as popular
are typically skinny, which is a core reason to why young adolescent girls watch their weight.
The pressure to be perfect and beautiful has so many young teens caught up in a world that does
not exist. Most people feel as if society will not accept them if they are not what the socially
constructed definition is of beautiful. Being overweight or not having a perfect smile is looked
upon as something society does not want, but in fact that is what half of society is.
In order to fit the mold of the new socially constructed definition of beauty, people have
taken drastic measures such as plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is known as the ability to
transform your body into a more “beautiful” way. Cosmetic plastic surgery is extremely common
now especially with celebrities, which tends to makes the rest of society ok with wanting to
change themselves to look more beautiful like those accepted by society and their peers around
them. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics have shown that the five
most common cosmetics plastic surgery procedures done are breast augmentation, nose
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reshaping, liposuction, eyelid surgery and facelifts. Not only is plastic surgery used as an easy fix
to our body, but it is also considered completely normal to have done to boost the selfconfidence of those who do not feel beautiful in their own body.
Celebrities have a major impact on the social construction of beauty today. Although
celebrities have influenced young teens and the rest of society that beauty should be looked at as
a perfect smile, gorgeous hair, a clear facial complexion along with the small fit body. Most
people might think that only non-celebrities deal with the complications of trying to be beautiful,
yet there are many celebrities that face the same imperfections that the rest of world does. Most
celebrities have the pressures from their peer groups or even their fans and non-fans to fit the
definition of beauty. The use of celebrities has a large impact on what the younger generations
think, does and feel. A perfect example is Cee Lo Green in the 7up commercial; the use of star
power increases the likeliness that viewers will buy the product more because of who is in the
commercial. Well the thoughts and opinions given by celebrities have the same effects when it
comes to presenting the definition and vision of beauty. Along with the use of celebrities like
Demi Lovato, products such as Dove have been striving to make an impact on the younger
generations to restore the actual dictionary definition of beauty. In order to achieve a promising
increase of self-confidence and inner beauty, Dove created The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
which focuses on self-empowerment and inner beauty. While most women are insecure about
their appearance because they cannot meet the extremely impossible standards that society has
held above their heads, most find relief in a tactic of self-harm such as anorexia, bulimia and
sometimes cutting themselves. The Dove campaign focuses on the inner beauty of those women
who are hung up on the “beauty” they wish to obtain. In 2004, The Dove Campaign for Real
Beauty was released along with many commercials that asked viewers opinions of those who
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were in the commercial. In 2005 Dove released another campaign commercial advertising six
real living women with real curves. The purpose of the campaign was to create a sense that not
only thin is beautiful and not only did it start a chain reaction of women talking about their inner
beauty along with their outer beauty but it also created an open discussion to those who had
problems accepting their body image as beautiful. As the success continued with women and
their self-esteem Dove created the Dove Self-Esteem Fund. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund was
created to help women and young girls with accepting, educating and changing their minds to
what real beauty is. In 2011 a recent study Dove conducted called The Real Truth About
Beauty shows the statistics of over 1,200 girls from the ages 10-17 and how they viewed
themselves in terms of being beautiful or not. The study proved how society’s new definition of
beauty has affected how young girls see themselves. Statistics from the study showed that only
4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful. Majority of girls stated that
anxiety and pressures about looks begin at an early age. More statistics have shown that 72%
said they felt tremendous pressure to be beautiful. The study also found that only 11% of girls
around the world feel comfortable using the word beautiful to describe their looks, showing that
there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls' confidence as they grow
older.
Looking at those around us it is our nature to judge on what someone wears, or how
someone looks whether we chose to admit it or not. Being a part of this new society where
beautiful over powers ones personality has created a chain reaction for those younger than us to
constantly criticize not only each other but also themselves, and harshly criticize themselves at
that. Even as a young child playing with toys such as Barbie, I wanted to make myself like her
because Barbie was portrayed as beautiful. When in reality if Barbie was a living person, she
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would be extremely non proportional and would be considered way to tall yet skinny with large
breasts for her to be accepted as normal in society. As we begin to get older we start to either
realize that some people’s bodies are not genetically made for having a super skinny body or you
get tied up into trying to become what you have been shown ever since you were younger to the
point where you take part in self-harming yourself. I think that being a young teenage girl you
see more of the effects of what society hangs above our heads to be beautiful. Being considered
skinny is probably one of the worst tie ups in being considered beautiful. I can honestly say that I
have looked in the mirror and have thoughts about the many things I would like to change about
myself, and so can others yet they will not chose to admit it to others. Coming from personal
experiences from those around me I know the effects that come from trying to be what others
think is acceptable. Not only is it a matter of time until you can no longer keep up with the
demands but it is only a matter of time until you break down.
As we continue to grow we begin to get wiser and realize that inner beauty should be what
truly matters. We can all say we do not judge one another by our appearances, clothes and
weight but it is truly a lie. The quote “Never judge a book by its cover” is one that has been said
for centuries and yet no one can truly say they follow that completely. With the influences from
our peers alongside with the celebrities and the media the pressure to be beautiful is
overwhelming and creates impossible standards to meet. The quote given by Demi Lovato,
“Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect” is one that should be used by today’s generation.
I believe the definition of beauty should be what is in on the inside of someone instead of what
an individual looks like on the outside. With the new social construction of what beauty should
be the younger generation needs help understanding just exactly what that definition of beauty
should be. With the constant campaigns used to try and change society’s definition of beauty,
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hopefully in years to come we can look back and realize that the definition of beauty has
changed back to its original definition and make an everlasting promise to never let society take
over what beauty was always meant to be.
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Work Cited
"The Dove® Campaign for Real Beauty." The Dove® Campaign for Real Beauty. Web. 25
Mar. 2012. <http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/campaign-for-real-beauty.aspx>.
"Supplemental Content." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library
of Medicine. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9160274>. "Beauty
(beauty)." Definition for Beauty. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
<http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/beauty?q=beauty>.
"Beauty." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2012. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty>.
"Beauty, Biology, and Society." 302 Found. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/2042>.
"The Effects of Beauty." Welcome to TCHS. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.tchs.fcps.net/newspaper/features/effects-of-beauty>.