You Are Beautiful If....

A discussion of the three articles linked below:

Link: The Saddest Story Ever Told

Link: Objectification of Women = Go Team!

Link: Sephora Defines "Light," "Medium," and "Dark" Skin

In discussing the beauty ideals of today’s society, there are many sociological concepts, as well as consequences that are prevalent. In many current cultures, the standard of beauty leads to a blatant prejudice and discrimination against those who do not fit that standard. On top of this, in places such as America, it has become so extreme that achieving the standards set is basically unobtainable naturally (without the use of cosmetics, surgery, etc.). Three articles from the “Sociological Images” website perfectly depict the effects of these “values.” Two of the articles portray direct discrimination to a particular group of women, whereas the third is more of an indirect discrimination, as well as a commentary of the effects of beauty ideals on women.

The first article discusses a banner that is being displayed at Louisiana State University in anticipation of an upcoming football game versus University of Alabama. The banner shows a picture of three female college students: Two (supposedly) from LSU and one (supposedly) from Alabama. On the top it reads, “Welcome, Bama Fans.” The significant (and disturbing) thing about the banner is the implicit message. The two LSU fans on the poster are in LSU bikinis and are the typical “ideal beauties,” whereas the Alabama fan, in Alabama swimwear, is heavy stature with pale skin; the underlying message of the poster apparently being that LSU has beautiful woman in their fan base, whereas Alabama’s are overweight, thus making them “ugly.” Not only is this cruel and discriminatory, but, as the article mentions, it is a “sexist, fat-phobic” objectification of women.

The second article discusses discrimination, not against overweight women, but against women with dark colored skin. The focus of the article is an advertisement in a Sephora email for women’s cosmetics. The advertisement allows women to choose their skin tone in order to find a perfect shade of make-up. The three shades to choose from are light, medium, and dark. Sounds inclusive, that is, until one looks at the models chosen to demonstrate the three shades of complexion. They are all quite a light skin tone. The “dark” model is probably the lightest skin tone one could consider as dark. The advertisement completely leaves out the many, many women whose various complexions are darker than those shown. Yet, they show two white women whose complexions are hardly distinguishable (when considering the vast scale of skin shades) as the “light” and “medium” models. Not only are then women all of a lighter skin tone, but as the article points out, they “all three have pretty similar, stereotypically Caucasian, facial features.”

The final article is somewhat different, yet related to the above two. It again discusses an advertisement, only this one was run in a newspaper in Singapore. The large, bold letter across the top of the advertisement read, “A True Sad Story.” It shows a woman sitting, sad and hunched over, as if devastation has hit. What is the sad story on which this woman is reflecting? She is upset due to the fact that she has small breasts. The advertisement goes on to tell about this woman’s “sad” story, and how their product has come to save the day. According to the article, the product is a breast enlargement cream. On a broader scale, this is indicative of the discrimination women with small breasts experience. More specifically, the article addresses the collateral of this discrimination. After reading the girl’s story, it is clear that the stereotypes, prejudices, and interactions prevalent in our everyday lives take a great part in building (or tearing down) our self-worth.

Discrimination is extremely evident in all of these articles. In addition to this are the concepts of prejudice, racism, and social norms. In looking at the idea of “beautiful” that these articles portray, there is a distinct population of women (the majority of them) who are not included. Women are continuously discriminated against based on their appearance, whether it is in the workforce, in a social environment, or even, as in this case, when just looking at an advertisement. In fact, as the final article alludes to, it is often times impossible to be “beautiful” or happy without seeking it from an outside source; anything from cosmetic surgery to skin lightening creams. Not to mention being accepted and loved. This in turn, leads to avoidance by women. They will become “fake,” sometimes to a great extent, to avoid being discriminated against because they are “ugly." As the third article discusses, the woman in the ad lost her boyfriend because of her small breasts. I thought it was an extremely valid point when the author stated, “The problem isn’t that you have a shallow boyfriend who would leave you just because the size of your breasts; the problem is that you couldn’t keep him interested.” We even face discrimination in our personal relationships.

There is unconcealed prejudice against overweight women and dark women in the first and second articles respectively. Unfortunately, the prejudice in our society against both dark and overweight women, among others, is what leads to this discrimination in all forms. Discrimination based on looks can be categorized into a certain type, called social discrimination. As discussed by Vincent Parrillo in Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations, 'social discrimination' is, “the creation of a ‘social distance’ between groups (pg. 108).” In this case, there is distance between those that are deemed beautiful and men, and those that are “ugly.” People that are beautiful are superior to all others. Men, apparently, are the principle judges of who fits in this category. This is the basis of the idea of social norms. “….a relationship exists between prejudice and a person’s tendency to conform to societal expectations (Parrillo, pg. 88).” Parrillo goes on to explain that conforming to these norms is the result of “accepting the prevailing prejudices.”

In addition to this, the principle of exclusion also applies. “Real women” are excluded from the media and advertising. Dark women are excluded from the Sephora ad in article two. Women of varying ethnicities are also excluded from the Sephora ad, where the three women depicted resemble those of Caucasian descent. Obviously, racism is another factor intertwined in these concepts. Advertising plays a huge role in the prejudice and exclusion of women. “Consumers may think that they are unaffected, but advertisers successfully create a false consciousness and teach young women that they are appetizing only when ‘plucked, polished and painted’ (Parrillo, pg. 97).” These advertisements tell us, you are only beautiful if you look like this, or, as in the case with the third one, it is truly a sad story to have small breasts.


Obviously, these patterns of prejudice and discrimination against women, unobtainable beauty ideals, racism, and social norms can be seen everywhere in today’s society. Just this afternoon, as I was “accepting the discrimination” in preparation of an upcoming military ball, I was in the make-up aisle of a store. The first thing I noticed upon entering the aisle was the lack of dark shades of make-up. Is it that the darker colored women are so naturally beautiful that it is not needed? If that is the case, where are all these beautiful women in the ads, movies, on television…? Or, is it that dark women are beyond the help of make-up in achieving beauty? These questions may seem ridiculous when posed, but one must wonder what the rationality is behind this discrimination. For both men and women, this idea of beauty, and the prejudice associated with it, has seeped into the very core of who we are. Many women will not even leave the house without “disguising” themselves, and most men look at “done-up” women as if it has become a learned reflex. It is imbedded in every aspect of society- this idea of beauty.

References:

Parrillo, Vincent N. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print.