Beauty Standards in the Media

Beauty Standards in the Media

Stephanie Bates
80460565
University of Texas at El Paso
Paul Hernandez
RWS 1302: Rhetoric and Writing Studies

Beauty Standards in the Media

Beauty Standards in the Media

At a young age girls are taught that beauty is very important and that they should always
try to be healthy, stay in shape and look pretty. However, many girls do not fit the beauty
standards that is being promoted in media because beauty is very narrowly defined. Beauty is not
a term used in media to describe a diverse group of women that are different shapes and sizes,
the word beauty is used in media to describe a women who has the ideal look which is thin
and attractive. Young girls and women are constantly being held at a higher standard than men
when it comes to beauty and are more likely to feel pressured to fit the profile of what media
depicts as beauty. Media has a big influence on how people view themselves and others.
Everywhere you look you will see almost every media outlet showing images of models or
celebrities that are beautiful or have the perfect body. However, a lot of young girls do not
realize that the majority of images they see are digitally altered, which in turn alters their views
on what is normal, healthy or beautiful. The media promotes unrealistic standards of beauty,
which are unattainable for most young girls and women. This can lead to body issues and low
self-esteem.
The two genres that will be analyzed are both from campaigns that focus on this issue.
The first genre is video titled The Evolution video: How images of beauty are manipulated by
the media, from the Dove Self-Esteem Project, which was created by Dove. This video brings
awareness of how images are edited to unrealistic levels. The Second genre is a picture from the
campaign # Stop the Beauty Madness created by Robin Rice. This campaign is fighting to
make young girls and women realize the madness of beauty standards.
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Audience and Purpose

The purpose of the first genre, The Evolution video: How images of beauty are
manipulated by the media, is to inform the viewer of what goes on behind the scenes for a photo
shoot. This video shows the audience that with makeup, the right lighting and Photoshop a
picture can be transformed, in a way that the edited picture no longer reflect the original models
appearance. The intended audience for this video is young girls and women, because they are
more likely to compare themselves to pictures that they see through the media. Young girls
especially, do not realize how much photo manipulation these pictures go through to make the
model look flawless. The audience will spend 60- minutes watching the video, which mainly
relies on visuals. It flows smoothly so the audience will not have a difficult time watching it.
The purpose of the second genre Pretty", is to bring awareness of the effects of beauty
standards. This picture shows the audience that young girls are influenced to focus on their
appearance and they start to not have many ambitions in life that do not revolve around beauty.
The intended audience for this picture is young girls and women as well.
There are similarities and differences between the two genres. The similarities that they
share are the purpose and audience. The similar purpose is to bring awareness of unrealistic
beauty standards in the media and the similar audience is young girls and women. However,
there are some differences in style and language for each genre. The first genre titled The
Evolution video: How images of beauty are manipulated by the media, relies mainly on visuals
to get the message across and since it is a video it takes longer for the information to be
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Beauty Standards in the Media

presented to the audience. The second genre titled Pretty is a picture, which uses visuals but it
mainly relies on language to get the message across. Since it is a picture it is faster for the
information to be presented to the audience.

Rhetorical Issues: Ethos

In the first genre, The Evolution video: How images of beauty are manipulated by the
media, was created by the Dove Self-Esteem Project. This campaign was created by a team of
experts, who have backgrounds in education, psychology, health, and body image. The Dove
Self-Esteem project is one of the fastest growing campaigns, In the 11 years since we launched
the Dove Self-Esteem Project, weve helped 17 million young people in 112 countries. This
campaign also has partnerships with some of the biggest children organizations in America such
as, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club and Girls Inc.
The second genre, Pretty, is from the campaign #Stop the Beauty Madness. This
campaign is one of the most popular campaign supported on social media and has a large number
of people following them, including some celebrities. This campaign was created by Robin Rice
she is womens activist, an internationally published author and a mentor to world level leaders.
The campaign also promotes the Be Who You Are Inc., which teaches young girls that there is
more to them then their appearance, size and shape and being who you are is just enough.

Beauty Standards in the Media

Rhetorical Issues: Pathos

Both genres are trying to evoke an emotional response from the audience. In the first
genre, it starts out by showing us the transition of a model with no make-up to a full face of
make-up. After that the audience will see the process of a photo getting editing and then they will
see the final product that will be used on a billboard. This video should evoke emotions of shock,
because the final photo used on the billboard no longer resembles the original model. The
audience should also feel angry that the media uses photos like this, because it alters peoples
views on beauty. The second genre Pretty, is a picture of a young girl that is dressed up and she
says What do I want to do when I grow up? I want to be pretty. This picture should evoke
emotions of disappointment, because the picture suggests that the little girl only has one
ambition in life and it is to be pretty.

Rhetoric Issues: Logos

The first genre The Evolution video: How images of beauty are manipulated by the
media, does a very good job at relaying it message to the audience and backing up its claim by
showing the audience the process of a professional photoshoot. When the video starts it is
focused on the models face, there is bright lighting around her face to draw the attention from the
audience to it and it also enhances her features. After, the audience will see a team of people
doing her hair and makeup. Lastly, the audience will see the photo manipulation process the
picture goes through and then the audience is shown the picture that was edited to be on a
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billboard. Since the video is showing the audience the step by step process of the image being
edited, it is supporting its claim that images are edited to unrealistic levels. The second genre,
Pretty, also does a good job in relaying its message. The picture shows a young girl dressed in
a long black dress and she is posing for the camera. On left side of the photo it has words in a
bold and large font that says, What do I want to be when I grow up? Pretty. This genre does
make sense of the topic, the audience will easily understand the message the picture is relaying.
However, the second genre does not have any evidence that supports its claims of unrealistic
beauty standards, like the first genre does. The reason why it does not have any evidence is
because the image is focused more on evoking an emotional response from the audience, rather
than having logical evidence to back up its claim.

Structure and Delivery

The structure and delivery for each genre is different. The first genre is a 60 - second
video that immediately captures the audience attention. The video is well structure and flows
smoothly. It is also easier for the video to clearly convey its message to the audience, because
they are shown the steps that are taken to make a photo look flawless. The second genre Pretty
is also structured well. The audiences attention is focused on what the little girl is saying,
because the letters stand out. However, the second genre does have limitations since it is a
picture. The picture mainly relies on the text because without it the audience would not
understand the message it is trying to convey.

Beauty Standards in the Media

Conclusion

Overall, both genres are fighting to bring awareness of the medias influence and
promotion of unrealistic beauty standards. However the first genre, The Evolution video: How
images of beauty are manipulated by the media is better at capturing the audiences attention
and clearly conveying the message about the topic to the audience. Both genres come from
popular campaigns and they are supported by a large number of young girls and women. They
are fighting to put an end to beauty standards so that young girls and women will feel
comfortable in their own skin and not feel pressured to fit the profile of what media depicts as
beauty.

Beauty Standards in the Media

References

Nicotra, Sarah. Stop the Beauty Madness. Retrieved 2016.

http://www.stopthebeautymadness.com/homepage/

Nicotra, Sarah. Stop the Beauty Madness. Retrieved 2016

http://www.stopthebeautymadness.com/the-campaign-temp-stall/pretty

Dove. Dove Self-Esteem Project. Retrieved 2016.

http://selfesteem.dove.us/Articles/Video/Evolution_video_how_images_of_beauty_are_
manipulated_by_the_media.aspx

Dove. Dove Self-Esteem Project. Retrieved 2016. http://selfesteem.dove.us/