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{{dashboard.wikiedu.org sandbox} The feminine beauty ideal is "the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain".^[1]

Although feminine beauty standards play a negative role on women’s lives worldwide, the implications of these standards are not limited to appearance. These unattainable standards of beauty,which include, but are not limited to, straight hair, light or white skin, and thin facial features, have a direct correlation with success. In fact, stereotypical attractiveness is often linked to good health, better hygiene, and even intelligence. Due to the confidence of being on the higher end of the beauty spectrum, women who are considered attractive by society's perspectives have more confidence, and are more likely to be socially dominant. Studies show that these women are, on average, happier, have better jobs, and earn higher wages.^[2]

Feminine beauty ideals can be rooted in

From an evolutionary perspective, some perceptions of feminine beauty ideals correlate with fertility and health.

Across cultures

General

There have been many ideas over time and across different cultures of what the feminine beauty ideal is for a woman's

There have been multiple beauty ideals for women in France. A more common ideal is for women to have the "three white things". These "things" or traits refer to skin, teeth, and hands. There are also the "three black things", including the color of the person's eyebrows and eyelashes. This leaves three other areas to embark on, including the cheeks, lips, and nails.^[8]

According to Wandering Pioneer, beauty standards in France seem to concern someone's style rather than the body shape.^[9] In addition, the French approach to beauty is about enhancing natural features rather than achieving a specific look.^[10] According to some dermatologists, looking young is not a beauty criterion. Instead, women want to look toned and their skin to look firm.^[11]

Black women

Eurocentric features are most desired and socially accepted. Eurocentric beauty paradigms not only often exclude black women (their cultural attire, natural hair types, different skin colors, or various body types), but they also impact black women's identity. Black women whose appearance is socially accepted are exceptions. One study indicated that women with lighter skin tones, long softer hair, and have eurocentric facial features not only gain privileges within their communities but are reported to have higher confidence in themselves, higher self-esteem and individual growth than non-eurocentric featured black women.

Women of color, specifically Black women have a unique stance on beauty ideals, due to the effects of colorism, and for Black women with natural hair, texturism. The beauty ideal of lighter skin and straighter hair have negative consequences for black women. This is portrayed by the mass marketing of skin lightening and bleaching creams and hair relaxers, also known as perms. Both colorism and texturism have direct relationships with slavery leading to these hierarchies within the Black community.[18]

Black Children

It is imperative for children of color to be represented in the media. Children need to see themselves through books and images in order to build a positive self-image. Without representation, they may begin to have negative thoughts about themselves. Forcing some children to under appreciate their own beauty, creating the desire to look like what they see on TV or in a book. For example, there was a study done in the 1940s by Kenneth and Mamie Clark. They used dolls to study how children’s attitude towards race^[19]. The dolls were alike but the skin and hair color was not. One was blonde and white while the other was brown with black hair. For the experiment, there would be two dolls in front of the child. They would ask them questions like, which one would you play with?, which one is bad? Which doll is bad?, and etc^[20]. All the children preferred the white doll. The black doll was seen as mean, bad, and ugly. From the experiment, they realized children notice they are “ colored in...American society is a mark of inferior status^[21].” This does not help build positive black images. They start to have an internalized hate towards themselves. The Implicit Association Test was made to evaluate implicit bias. It has shown that black children's self-perception improved since the 1940s. However, half “demonstrate an anti-black bias.” TV constantly shows preference towards white images. To fix that bias, positive black representation is the next step. It should start in children’s books and then TV. Positive black images can protect against internalized racism^[22].

Colorism

Colorism is defined as a process of stratification that privileges lighter skin individuals over darker skin. Colorism is prominent with all non-white, people of color i.e. latinos, Blacks, Indians etc.. Similar to racism, colorism plays a large role in society, there are correlations between colorism and income, education, housing and marriage.^[23]Although colorism and racism seem very similar, they differ because colorism focuses on the outer appearance, the color of people we actually see.  Racism is supposedly based on biology, however there are no biological markers of race, and our presumption of races are simply a social construct in our society.^[24] Colorism also has direct links to ideal European beauty standards, standards that favor whiteness over any other skin tone. Since lighter skin is closer to whiteness it is favored over darker skin. Lighter skin people produce extensive privileges in society i.e. earning more money, having more representation in the media, and completing more years of schooling. Darker skin women of color are usually not regarded as beautiful by society. This is portrayed by the lack of representation darker skin women receive in the media. The few darker skinned Black women that are in the media are typically characterized as loud and argumentative, reinforcing negative black, woman stereotypes. This skin tone hierarchy creates self hatred in many darker skinned individuals, consequently skin bleaching product sales are increasing. Skin bleaching and lightening products are extremely harmful to the skin, and release numerous chemicals into the body. ^[25]

Texturism

Similar to colorism, texturism is a hierarchy of hair within Black communities that has substantial effects in society. Texturism is the preferential treatment of looser hair textures over afro/ kinky textures. To conform to the ideal beauty standards, some Black women, chemically straighten their hair. These chemical straighteners, referred to as relaxers or perms  have many harmful chemicals that, similar to bleaching creams, release toxins into the skin, specifically the head and brain(cite). Relaxers are given to children as young as ages three or four, and typically continue throughout their lives. Studies show that relaxers have links to early puberty, mercury exposure, uterine fibroids, and premenopausal breast cancer. ^[26] Relaxers are given to children as young as ages three or four, and typically continue throughout their lives. Studies show that relaxers have links to early puberty, mercury exposure, uterine fibroids, and premenopausal breast cancer.^[27] Due to the harms of chemical relaxers and the acceptance of Black beauty, many Black women have refrained from using these chemicals and have begun wearing their natural hair. Natural, meaning hair that is unprocessed. However there are also hierarchies within the natural hair community. Texturism favores hair textures that are closer to whiteness, so having straight hair is favored over natural hair, and within natural hair looser curl patterns are preferred over kinkier textures. Hair that has a looser curlier pattern is often referred to as “good hair” within the Black community.^[28] Black women that do not have stereotypically “good hair” are viewed as less professional in society. Texturism is often portrayed by the media, many commercials and advertisements display natural Black women with looser curl patterns over kinkier ones. The lack of representation for kinkier hair styles often leads to self-esteem issues for Black women with kinky hair.^[29]

Hair typing is another problem for black women. It was created by Andre Walker. He was Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist^[30]. The system goes from straight to curly hair. The chart shows what the curl pattern should look like. However, hair types vary and will not look the same. This creates a false representation. Black women can damage their curl pattern by using wrong products. The focus needs to be on taking care of the curls. The three significant things to focus on are porosity, density, and width^[31]. This is not advertised though.

In mass media

Mass media is one of the most powerful tools for young girls and women to learn and also understand feminine beauty ideals. As mass media develops, the way people see feminine beauty ideals changes, as does how females view themselves. "The average teen girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and only about 10 minutes of parental interaction a day," says Renee Hobbs, EdD, associate professor of communications at Temple University.^[32] In most advertisements, female models are typically homogeneous in appearance. "Girls today are swamped by [ultra-thin] ideals not only in the form of dolls but also in comics, cartoons, TV, and advertising along with all the associated merchandising."^[33]: 290 In addition to this, the feminine beauty ideal in the mass media is manipulated by technology. Images of women can be virtually manipulated creating an ideal that is not only rare but also nonexistent.^[34] The Encyclopedia of Gender in the Media states that "the postproduction techniques of airbrushing and computer-generated modifications 'perfect' the beauty myth by removing any remaining blemishes or imperfections visible to the eye."^[35] Advertisements for products "such as diets, cosmetics, and exercise gear [help] the media construct a dream world of hopes and high standards that incorporates the glorification of slenderness and weight loss."^[36]

With a focus on an ideal physical appearance, the feminine beauty ideal distracts from female competency by prioritizing and valuing superficial characteristics related to beauty and appearance. When physical beauty is idealized and featured in the media, it reduces women to sexualized objects.^[37] This creates the message across mass media that one's body is inadequate apart from sex appeal and connects concepts of beauty and sex.^[37]

Perfection is achieved by celebrities through photoshopped images that hide every blemish or flaw while also editing body parts to create the ideal hourglass body type. The Dove Beauty and Confidence Report interviewed 10,500 females across thirteen countries and found that women's confidence in their body image is steadily declining – regardless of age or geographic location. Despite these findings, there is a strong desire to fight existing beauty ideals. In fact, 71% of women and 67% of girls want the media to do a better job of portraying different types of women. Studies done by Dove reveal low self esteem impacts women and girls' ability to release their true potential. 85% of women and 79% of girls admit they opt out of important life activities when they do not feel confident in the way they look. More than half of women (69%) and girls (65%) allude to pressure from the media and advertisements to become the world's version of beautiful, which is a driving force of appearance anxiety.^[38] Studies done by Dove have also revealed the following statistics: "4% of women consider themselves beautiful, 11% of girls globally are comfortable with describing themselves as beautiful, 72% of girls feel pressure to be beautiful, 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful, but do not see their own beauty, and that 54% of women agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic."^[39]

An online space such as Instagram that is based on interactions through pictures creates a focus on one’s physical appearance.^[40] According to evidence gathered from a study focusing on general Instagram use in young women, researchers suggest Instagram usage was positively correlated with women’s self-objectification.^[40] This same study also considered the effect of Instagram on the internalization of the Western beauty ideal for women, and the evidence gathered in the study agrees with the idea that Instagram use encourages women to internalize the societal beauty ideal of Western culture. Because users have the opportunity to shape and edit their photographs before sharing them, they can force them to adhere to the beauty ideal.^[40] Viewing these carefully selected pictures shows the extent to which women internalize the Western beauty ideal.^[40] In addition to researching the effects of general Instagram use, the study also researched the effects of "fitspiration" Instagram pages on young women's body image. “Fitspiration” pages aim to motivate the viewer through images of healthy eating and exercising.^[40] Although these pages aim to be a positive way to promote a healthy lifestyle, they are also appearance-based and contain images of toned and skinny women.^[41] According to the study, there is a positive correlation to young women’s viewing "fitspiration" pages and a negative body image.^[40]

A case study conducted about Instagram use and the Western feminine beauty ideal focused on the specific account @effyourbeautystandards, a body-positive Instagram page created by feminist plus-size model Tess Holliday.^[42] Through her page, Holliday instructed women to share pictures of themselves on Instagram with the hashtag #effyourbeautystandards.^[42] Images posted with this hashtag would be selected by the account administrators and posted to the @effyourbeauutystandards page.^[42] The evidence gathered in this case study suggested that while these selected pictures attempt to take an intersectional approach to the content women view on social media, they may still have an effect on how women view their bodies.^[42]

Cosmetic Surgery

Before it was popular, plastic surgery was kept secret^[43]. Only the rich people could afford to get it done. Now it has become mainstream and less expensive. People are not afraid to get work done anymore. However, it becomes hard to differentiate between real and fake. A model on instagram either got work done or is using many filters/camera angles. Girdles, waist trainers, and spandex have also been used to alter the body. They can help but wearing them is uncomfortable.It is heavily advertised on social media, film, and TV. Women and girls feel the need to excessively work out to look like them.

Breast augmentations have been around since the 1890s. The first surgery took place in Germany. The doctor “inserted fat from the patient’s hip into her breast^[44].” Doctors would inject women with “paraffin wax, beeswax, vegetable oil, ivory, and glass^[45].” The side effects from these injections were severe. For example, blindness could occur. To save the woman, a breast removal took place. In the US, the doctor used “celluloid, silk floss, and silk^[46].” Silicone breast implants were introduced in 1962. Cosmetic surgery is dangerous. The chemicals and injections can alter/deform your body.

The black woman’s body has become a global fascination. People are getting plastic surgery, tans, and lip injections to look like black women. Social media is a big contributor to it as well. With all the editing that is done, it is hard to tell what is real and fake. Teenage girls do not realize it and begin comparing themselves. For black women, they were taught at a young age to have pride. To have pride in your body was important. Even if there was a lack of boobs or butt, your personality was the next thing to have pride in.

In fairy tales

The feminine beauty ideal is portrayed in many children's fairy tales.^[47] It has been common in the Brothers Grimm fairy tales for physical attractiveness in female characters to be rewarded.^[48] In those fairy tales, "beauty is often associated with being white, economically privileged, and virtuous."^[48]

The Brothers Grimm fairy tales usually involve a beautiful heroine. In the story Snow White, the protagonist Snow White is described as having "skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony wood" and as being "beautiful as the light of day."^[49] By contrast, the antagonist of Brothers Grimm fairy tales is frequently described as old and physically unattractive, relating beauty with youth and goodness, and ugliness with aging and evil.^[48] Ultimately, this correlation puts an emphasis on the virtue of being beautiful, as defined by Grimm fairy tales.

Starting almost 100 years after the Grimm Brothers wrote their fairy tales, the Walt Disney Animation Studios adapted these tales into animated feature films. About 40 percent of Disney films made from 1937–2000 had "only dominant cultural themes portrayed."^{[clarification needed][50]} Because the majority of characters are white^{[clarification needed]}, "the expectation [is] that all people are or should be like this."^[50] Other common traits of female Disney characters are thin bodies with impossible bodily proportions, long, flowing hair, and large round eyes.^[51] The constant emphasis on female beauty and what constitutes as being beautiful contributes to the overall feminine beauty ideal.

An exact time of when “children begin to see themselves in relation to color” cannot be marked. Fairy tales today are from European origin. They describe eurocentric features when describing hair and skin tone.^[52] They are all white, thin, and “perfect”. Fairy tales play a role in self-image for children. Through princess and other characters, comparisons are made. Mental images of what is beautiful and what is not being to form. When black children were represented, it fell under the stereotypes. Not only does it promote positive self-image, it informs them about their culture.^[53]

Psychological effects

Feminine beauty ideals have shown correlations to many psychological disorders, including lowered self-esteem and eating disorders. Western cultural standards of beauty and attractiveness promote unhealthy and unattainable body ideals that motivate women to seek perfection.^[54] Since 1972, there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of women in the United States who experience dissatisfaction with their bodies.^[55] Research indicates that women's exposure to television, even for a very short time, can experience decreased mood and self-esteem.^[56] It has been consistently found that perceived appearance is the single strongest predictor of global self-esteem among young adults.^[55] Awareness of the ideal female shape is linked to increasingly negative self-esteem.^[55] Through peer interaction and an environment of continual comparison to those portrayed in the media, women are often made to feel inadequate, and thus their self-esteem can decrease from their negative self-image. A negative body image can result in adverse psychosocial consequences, including depression, poor self-esteem, and diminished quality of life.^[57]

There is significant pressure for girls to conform to feminine beauty ideals, and, since thinness is prized as feminine, many women feel dissatisfied with their body shape. Body dissatisfaction has been found to be a precursor to serious psychological problems such as depression, social anxiety, and eating disorders.

Ellen Staurowsky characterized serious psychological and physical health risks associated with girls' negative body images. Negative body image is often associated with disordered eating, depression, and even substance abuse. There is widespread evidence of damaging dissatisfaction among women and young girls with their appearance.[63]

Due to Black women deviating the furthest from European beauty standards, on average Black women’s psychological health suffers the most.  The European beauty standards have a negative effect on Black women that start in early childhood ages, and result in Black women’s poor mental health in adulthood. Making Black women, especially darker skinned Black women with kinkier hair textures more likely to experience and internalize shame, self-hate, and depression.^[64]

Evolutionary perspectives

Ideas of feminine beauty may have originated from features that correlate with fertility and health.^[65] These features include a figure where there is more fat distribution in the hip and thigh area, and vary between different cultures. In both Western and Eastern cultures, having a smaller waist and bigger hips is considered attractive.^[66]

Sarah Baartman was born in 1789 in Eastern Cape, South Africa. She was raised on a farm. The rest of her family members may have been servants. During that time colonial expansion was happening rapidly. The town she lived in was sent into the labour system. Sarah was sold to a slave trader named Pieter Willem Cezar. He took her to Cape Town to be a servant to his brother. It is alleged that Sarah signed a contract to work as a domestic servant and be used for entertainment purposes. She was working for William Dunlop (friend of Pieter Cezar) and Hendrik Cezar (the brother). Sarah was supposed to receive some money from the exhibition and then be able to return to South Africa. However, that was not done.^[67]

It didn’t make sense for her to sign the contract. In Sarah’s culture, writing was not done and records weren’t kept. Therefore, Sarah had no idea what she was agreeing to. Sarah had a big butt. Back then it was seen as super exotic. White women did not have a figure like that. However, because of it she was put on display in London. Yes, a display. They treated Sarah like a prop. People from the streets would call her butt “the greatest deformity in the world”.^[68] People began paying to her. Baarmant was never fully clothed either.  

Eventually she was sold to a man named Reux. He would show animals for display. He then placed Sarah in a cage She was demanded to sit or stand like circus animals Sometimes she was shown nearly naked. They allowed her to cover her private area with a cloth because she insisted it was sacred. A naturalist named George Cuvier was interested in Sarah. He asked if he could study her as a “science specimen^[69].” She was then “studied by French anatomists, zoologists and physiologists.^[70]” Sarah was used to justify the stereotype of Africans being oversexed and an inferior race. When she died, Cuiver got her remains and dissected her body. A plaster of her body was made. Then they “pickled her brain and genitals and placed them into jars which were placed on display at the Museum of Man until 1974.”^[71]

Gallery

• 
  Venus at a Mirror, Peter Paul Rubens, 1615. In the 17th century fatter bodies were idealized.^[72]
• 
  Victorian women were highly body conscious. They wore corsets to reduce their waistline, and bustles that magnified their buttocks.^[72]
• 
  During the 1920s, women aimed to hide their curves, bobbedtheir hair and wore bold makeup.^[72] The feminine ideal was no longer "frail and sickly" like in the Victorian era, so women danced and did sports.^[73]
• 
  Actress Marilyn Monroe was perceived as the epitome of beauty in the 1950s.^[73]Her image has been used to popularize the hourglass figure.
• 
  Farrah Fawcett and Cher in 1976. From the 1960s up to the 1980s, women aimed to look skinny. Tanned skin also became popular.^[72]
• 
  The 1980s beauty ideal was still thin, but toned without being too muscular; thus aerobicsbecame popular. The decade also epitomized over-the-top fashion.^[72]
• 
  Sarah Baartman^[74]

==

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