What is Beauty

Emma Napier, Maggie Zorc, Momina

Qureshi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I

Social Pressures
to be
Beautiful
In Western Culture people,
women especially, face
pressures and social stigmas
to look the way society deems
beautiful.
o Individuals are shown different ideals of
beauty through the media, peers, and
cultural norms.

The Perfect Female Face: Men vs. Females
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2521921/Picture-shows-
ideal-female-face-according-men-women.html
Beauty According to Media
TELEVISION
o A popular example of how television media treats women is shown through Americas
Next Top Model. In Weight: A Problem on Screen the author describes how shows like
these cause social issues and depression because they do not show women who are
healthy or average.
A study showed that the average American woman is 54 and weighs 140 lbs while the average
model 511 and weighs 117 lbs.
o A study in Fiji in 1998 looked at how after the introduction of television contributed to
dramatic increases in eating disorders. After 3 years 75% of teenage girls described
themselves as too fat. Those who watched tv 3 or more nights a week were 30% more
likely to go on a diet.

Advertisements
o Advertisements are everywhere from
magazines to TV commercials.
Advertisements create the idea that
through buying a product you can look like
the model or actress advertising said
product.
o Models/Actresses are polished and photo
shopped to an unrealistic and
unachievable point of appearance.
Cindy Crawford, after seeing the results of a
photo shoot of herself, said I do not
represent the norm because I know that
seeing isnt believing, its deceiving.
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17j5Qz
F3kqE
o http://www.upworthy.com/4-ladies-get-
the-cover-model-makeover-of-their-
dreams-and-then-hate-the-results-11113


Effects of Media on Girls
and Women
"As women we see over 200 negative body image
advertisements on television per day. This is a direct
extension of a historical marketing scheme that was
created to encourage women to purchase
perfection. While this earns the weight loss industry
billions of dollars every year, it comes at an extremely
high cost to the rest of us. (Jes Baker, Body Love
Conference)
According to the National Eating Disorders
Association, 42% of first-third grade girls want to lose
weight, and 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat
Two-thirds of girls in the 5
th
-10
th
grade report that
magazine images influence their vision of an ideal
body, and about half of the girls said the images
made them want to lose weight
Currently, 80% of women in the US are dissatisfied with
their appearance. More than 10 million are suffering
from eating disorders
Changing Notions of
Body Image
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/28/the-
perfect-woman-1912-elsie-scheel_n_2374929.html

Anna Utopia Giordano hit headlines recently (2012) by putting Venus on a serious diet
She works as a model and actress in the UK

Beauty Paradox
http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-paradox-
societys-view-of-women-looks-2013-9
Beautiful people have a lot going for them: They are
more confident, make more money, and get promoted
faster than their less attractive colleagues.
But for career-driven women, beauty is a no-win
situation: The public wants you to be attractive, but, at
the same time, not so beautiful that it's distracting.
This is the "beauty paradox" that women leaders face.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-
paradox-societys-view-of-women-looks-2013-
9#ixzz2uUJ8WiQ3