Rachel Massengill

Dr. Rand
UWRT 1102
2 April 2015
Beauty and The Impact of Media
Beauty is defined in various ways all across the world produced through different cultural
values, traditions, and environments. The majority of people today pay most attention to the
aesthetic value of things, most commonly in other human beings. Although the perception of
beauty comes from cultural norms and preferences, the media plays a huge role on influencing
these images. It is natural to want to be considered beautiful, but beauty has turned into a
repulsive aspect of life that dictates how people feel and act upon it. The obsession with physical
appearance is becoming more abundant throughout the world. Each perception of beauty can
come from a theory, myth, or preference. How is beauty perceived and influenced throughout
different cultures and what is the effect on society?
Many people will say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is better understood by
saying that beauty is in the cultural ideals and geographic location. If someone is asked what
makes a person beautiful, the answers will vary and even contrast each other. There is no clear or
universal explanation of what a perfect man or woman looks like, but men and women in all
cultures strive to be perfect. Cultures differ, however, in what is considered beautiful and within
cultures people differ; moreover, the degree of agreement between individuals differs between
content domains (Jacobsen). Cultures are influenced by what is beautiful to them from what
they have learned and been taught is beautiful. Youthfulness, femininity, and a clear complexion
are examples of things that are considered universally beautiful for women. Women always

aspire to appear younger and conform to their societys version of femininity. Some aspects of
beauty are so irrelevant to most, but important to other cultures. In the article Cultural
Perceptions of Beauty the author explains how the western theory of beauty is focused on The
Golden Ratio, which means that facial features that fall with symmetry and proportion are more
considered attractive than those who do not. The reason the Greek philosophers find this feature
appealing is because it suggests that the individual has no genetic defects. Another theory is one
from Roman ideals, which states that men are most attractive when they have a high and wide set
forehead, which is a sign of intelligence (Cultural Perceptions). Some may argue that these few
perceptions of beauty are associated with theories and myths of having certain genes or intellect.
Elongated, slim necks on women are surprisingly attractive in most cultures. The slim, long neck
on a woman differentiates her from a man, which in turn causes her to appear more feminine and
therefore more attractive. Aside from these theories, there are different definitions of beauty that
are publicized and reinforced in an unhealthy way through the help of the media.
The media has an undeniably huge effect on peoples perceptions of beauty. Through
Hollywood, advertisements, television, and social media, beautiful men and women are
constantly in sight. Even while scrolling through simple social media sites, whats being
displayed many times is women posting pictures of themselves and their bodies. Seeing things
like this become so popular and cherished make people think that they need to look like that
image to attain that much attention. The idea of popularity is interpreted negatively when people
become insecure over amount of likes they get on a personal picture (James). Beauty is turning
into something it shouldnt be. Everyone should feel confident with their own appearances
instead of comparing themselves to others, especially from pictures they see in the media. The
pictures in the media that show beautiful women are not something to be compared to since

they have been physically altered through technology. How can women, young or not, aspire to
look like modern-day role models when the role models themselves don't even look like their
photos? (Tornambe). While people compare themselves to others they see online, on television,
or in magazines, they are setting an unattainable goal to look like them.
Supermodels are always photo shopped to enhance their looks. Even the majority of
photos on social media are photo shopped with the help of applications on smart phones. As
Tornambe says in his article, selfesteemcanplummetwhenwomencomparethemselvesto
theseunrealisticiconicimages.Theyarechasinganillusionandplacethemselvesinanowin
situation.The media creates ideals that influence what is beautiful and what everyone should
resemble. Women begin to compare themselves to these ideals and become insecure if they do
not fit them. The reflection women see in the mirror is based on the societal standards of beauty
set by the media (James). When individuals do not fit these standards, this is when they will
attempt to conform by taking drastic measures such as plastic surgery or even eating disorders.
Western looks and standards of beauty are taking over cultures across the world and creating
negative problems with women and communities.
As the western standards of beauty seem to be the most dominant, it often leads to
abnormal practices such as plastic surgery or skin bleaching. Skin bleaching is an extreme act
done by people in China, Japan, and other countries in Asia. People will lighten their skin to be
seen as higher up individuals. Westerns and whiteness are thus associated with luxury and
status (Frazier). Frazier points out that models with lighter skin are advertised in magazines and
that having whiter skin is correlated with the elites not having to work outside. In various
cultures that experience severe sunlight, having a light skin tone meant that people were wealthy
enough to have someone else work in the harsh sun while they remained inside (Weber).

Individuals with extremely dark skin are seen as less attractive and undesirable. This
phenomenon has caused a humongous increase in the industry of skin bleaching and skin
lightening creams. Although it is popular, skin bleaching is very harmful to the skin and even had
to be banned in some countries. Just like people who do indoor tanning despite the high risk of
skin problems, these practices still continue. People will ignore the possible long term, harmful
effects to temporarily be attractive.
People tend to believe that success comes with beauty, so they must change their bodily
appearance to be successful in life. Because of this obsession with being attractive, the popularity
of plastic surgery rates has tremendously gone up over the past years. It seems as if plastic
surgery is a normal thing and is rarely frowned upon by others. InIran,plasticsurgeryisan
acceptableformofimprovingone'souterbeautyandiscurrentlythecountrywiththehighest
rateofrhinoplasty'sdone(Magnesi).Whenapersongetsthissurgerydone,theyareseenasa
highstatuspersonbecauseofthehighpriceofthesurgery.
Thereis a plastic surgery to enhance anything on someones body, even an eyelid surgery
to create a crease in the eyelid, or surgery to create a gap in females legs so their thighs do not
touch. Instead of just exercising and eating right, wealthy people can easily get the body theyve
always desired through surgery. Practically any body part can be enhanced now, and this
encourages people to feel they need to get surgery so their appearance can be enhanced. The
people of numerous cultures are constantly finding ways to enhance their looks, and mainly only
to impress other people and be seen as beautiful. Wanting to look good is natural. However,
when people adopt foreign standards of beauty and then attempt to recreate them in their own
communities, it may have negative consequences (Frazier). Beauty standards are becoming
unrealistic and tend to promote unhealthy and unnatural beauty practices. Along with the

universal perception of beauty to appear younger, women in Japan take this to an extreme.
WomeninJapanofteninjectthemselveswithcollagenforayoungerappearance,andmany
restaurantsservefoodthathascollagencookedintoit(Magnesi).Takingandinjecting
supplementstomakeayoungerappearanceisabsurd,butitiscompletelynormalintheirculture.
Japanesewomenarealsostronglyencouragedtohavestraighthairandstayawayfromhaving
curlyhair.Manyculturesareencouragedandreinforcedtofitacertainlookinsteadofembracing
thebeautytheyarebornwithnaturally.
Aside from the influence and negative effect of the media, there are interesting practices
that cultures perform to be seen as beautiful. An elongated neck in women is seen as attractive to
many cultures, so those women will attempt to stretch their necks. The Kayan people of Northern
Thailand perform a neck stretching practice in which they wear a brace around their neck, which
compresses their collarbone and ribcage slowly over time (Cultural Perceptions). This process
sounds like a long and painful routine, only to be considered more attractive to the opposite sex.
Another way beauty differently in other cultures is how countries in the Middle East judge
beauty solely on the eyes and sometimes the rest of their facial features. The women are taught to
be extremely modest and cover their hair and every part of their body except their face. There are
endless ways to be viewed as beautiful.
The standards of beauty throughout cultures have continually changed throughout history,
and are still changing now. Some theories change also considering that in the video How The
Ideal Female Body Type Has Changed, it is mentioned that in ancient Greece women were
thought to be disfigured version of men. Preferred female body types have evolved from fullfigured to extremely thin to athletic. There are also many other body types and figures that
become desired then change over the years. An argument could be that the preferred female

body type changes because of the influence of media. Large women in Mauritania were beautiful
and preferred by the men because it meant that the women was healthy and could survive when
the food became scarce. As Western media continues to infiltrate Mauritanian society, cultural
preferences for large women are dying out in exchange for a slimmer Western ideal (Weber).
Women are changing their body types and society is changing how they see women all through
the impact of the media.
As beauty and the idea of perfection are universally divergent, all over the world people
are striving to be beautiful and perfect. The origins of beauty come from numerous things
depending on where the people are geographically. Beauty ideals can emerge from religious
factors, myths or theories, or cultural preferences. A serious problem is created when media
publicizes and influences the current standards of beauty. The media from one country can
quickly travel to the next and pass on the ideals and images of what is considered beautiful.
People begin to believe they must change themselves and conform to the perceptions of beauty
so they will be desired and wanted. Men will see these images of beauty and want to find a
women who fits the image. The media puts a negative and harmful effect on society. The effects
on society are evident in research on why some preferred female body types have evolved and
the amount of transformation done to ones body. Transforming oneself through surgery,
starvation, or harmful creams and remedies to obtain an unnatural body is not beautiful. Beauty
is present in everyone in some way and real beauty is natural. Hopefully people of cultures will
learn to embrace their natural beauty and not feel the need to conform to what other people tell
them is beautiful.

Works Cited
"CulturalPerceptionsofBeauty."CulturalIdealsofBeauty.Web.18Mar.2015.
Frazier,Christopher."DynamicBeauty:CulturalInfluencesandChangingPerceptions
BecomingPrettierorErasingOne'sOwnCulture?"Web.18Mar.2015.
"Howthe'Ideal'FemaleBodyTypeHasChanged."ELLE.Web.18Mar.2015.
Jacobsen, Thomas. Beauty and the Brain: Culture, History and Individual Differences in
Aesthetic Appreciation. Journal of Anatomy 216.2 (2010): 184191. PMC. Web. 31
Mar. 2015.
James,Nicole."Society'sInfluenceonthePerceptionofBeauty."Web.18Mar.2015.
Magnesi,Jennifer."BeautyCustomsinDifferentCountries."EHow.DemandMedia,1July
2011.Web.1Apr.2015.
Tornambe,Robert."BeRealistic!HowTechnologyAffectsYourPerceptionofBeauty."
Oprah.com.Web.31Mar.2015.
Weber,Claire."GeographyofBeautyCulturalIdeals,byRegion."Web.1Apr.2015.

Reflection
1. ThemostinterestingthingIlearnedinthisinquiryprojectisthatpeopleinmany
countrieswillactuallyusecreamstobleachtheirskin.Ineverknewthathavingfairskin
wasassociatedwiththeelitesandthatitwasusedsofrequentlyinthesecountries.
2. Duringthisprocess,Istruggledwithkeepingmyfocusonwhatthequestionactuallywas
andhadtroubleclearlyansweringthequestion.Iovercamethisbyincorporatingmyths
andfactsaboutbeautyandthemediaandwhytheyareconnected.
3. Myinquiryquestiondidchangeovertime.Inthebeginningmyquestionwasabouthow
beautywasperceiveddifferentlyandifitischanging,butnowitisabouthowisit
perceivedandinfluenceddifferentlythroughdifferentcountriesandculturesandifmedia
iseffectingsocietyfrompublicizingthisbeautystandard.Ithinkitchangedbecauseat
firstmyquestionwastoovagueandIneededtonarrowitdown.
4. ItisimportanttolookatthehistoricalviewofmybeautyperceptionsandinfluencessoI
cancomparethepasttohowitisnow.AlsoitisimportantsoIcanunderstandandlearn
aboutthetheoriesandmythsthatmakeculturesthinksomethingisbeautiful.
5. Myanalyticalandevaluationskillshaveslightlychangedbecauseofthisinquiryproject
becauseIamabletoprocesstheinformationeasiersinceIhadalotofinformationonthe
topic.InthefutureIwillnowknowtogatheralotofdifferentkindsofinformationabout
mytopicsoIwillbetterunderstoodit.
6. Iammostproudofmyinquiryprojectforbeingabletoflowthecategoriesofmytopic
together.IthinkthatImadeagoodconnectionfromtransitioningtheoriginstothemedia
totheeffectsandfinallytheanalysis.
7. IdontthinkthisisanythingelseaboutthissubjectthatIneedtolearnsinceIgatheredso
muchinformationaboutitduringthisentireprocess.