Standards Of Beauty In Pop Culture

334 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Demystifying racist norms in popular culture

Straightening naturally curly hair is a long, painful, and difficult procedure; it is not worth it. Even so, standards of beauty in pop culture have been trying to convince women to straighten their natural hair for a long time. Someone who knows this well is Gerald Early, an award winning author who is a professor in African American studies. He wrote Living with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant to explain how black women felt when surrounded by mostly white women in pop culture. They were unable to find role models in the media which made it harder to find themselves. It was written for anyone who wanted to understand the oppression black women dealt with. To tap into the real feelings of a woman, Early went to his mother, wife,

Show More
Related

  • Rebuttal of Bell Hooks’ Article, Straightening My Hair

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article Straightening My Hair by Bell Hooks makes her argument of finding the reason of why African American women straighten their hair. She first states that Black Americans straighten their hair because it is the stage of transformation; it closes the door of innocence and opens the door to adulthood. Slowly, she starts changing her views. She comes up with the statement that African Americans do not straighten their hair for reasonable reasons, but to imitate the characteristics of white women. She informs that black people repeat this process because they have low self-acceptance of their roots and background, and that they have lost beauty in themselves. My argument against this statement is that it is erroneous to claim that the straightening of African American hair is misinterpreted as their acceptance into the white community; straightening of hair is the symbolism of impending womanhood, closing the door of innocence, and sharing a time to meditate by relaxing your soul.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Film 'Good Hair'

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the recent past year or two, a woman’s natural hair has become a big thing. Before, African American women, to be specific, were so disgusted by their hair. They would do anything in their power to change the “nappy” aspect of their hair to “beautiful”. They would use relaxers very so often and hot combs.

    Read More

  • The Media Lies To Us About Beauty

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary- Eleventh Edition, beauty is “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.” (page 108 of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary) But what is beauty really? How does one rationalize its complexity?

    Read More

  • Beauty And Reality In American Beauty

    3079 Words  | 7 Pages

    Sam Mendes’s provocative debut film American Beauty was a blockbuster after its release in 1999, wrapping up three accolades at the Golden Globe Awards, reaping nominations in miscellaneous film festivals. Beauty and reality are the two major and discrepant elements in the film. Symbolically, beauty eludes humans’ possession, and such elusion is often offset by its presenting a form of reflection on the reality. Thrills, often followed by disillusionment, of quasi obtainment of such heavenly beauty feed humans’ incessant pursuit of beauty in reality. In the film, beauty gets lurid, and reality becomes horrid. A black comedy, American Beauty achieves a Grotesque atmosphere by escalating such disparity to a peak at which the protagonist Lester Burnham irrevocably bursts to death, posing a proposition of man’s raison d’être.

    Read More

  • Individual Beauty

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sometimes, when I lie on my back in the solitude of my room and the carpet bristles my skin, the ridges in the ceiling spread like daddy-long-legs in port-o-potties. Sometimes, when I lie in bed in the hush of the night and the moon is precisely angled outside my window, the global light streaks across my pillowcase like tadpoles in silver ponds. Sometimes, when my mind wanders…

    Read More

  • Hair Discrimination Essay

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost 250 years of slavery and anti-blackness within the United States has created a divide in what type of hair is acceptable. According to Cynthia L. Robinson, “Black hair texture is graded” (Robinson 2011). Precisely, this means that a Black woman has either good hair or bad hair. Good hair has a resemblance of European hair texture, meaning straight and wavy curls. Good hair also diminishes the look of African ancestry. Bad is the complete opposite. The texture is kinky, coiled, and thick, giving the appearance of short hair (Robinson 2011). Hair that bears a resemblance to Eurocentric beauty standards is more beautiful and makes the individual with that hair type more beautiful as well (Robinson

    Read More

  • The Vanity in Defining Beauty

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    When flipping though the the glossy pages of a magazine it’s easy to notice similar attributes possessed by the models. These include long healthy hair, straight white teeth, high cheek bones, slender bodies and delicate feminine features. One would assume that that these traits are common characteristics of beauty and universally recognized, but that assumption would be wrong. Take China for example, the cultural norm for beauty is incredibly diverse to America’s. Plump round bodies and cherub like faces are traits of the most desirable Chinese belle. So what is beauty? The answer all depends on what region, culture or even decade in history you’re referring to. Beauty does exist within a societal scope and includes some common attributes, but should you attempt to define beauty as a universal whole your efforts would be in vain.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Consumerism In American Beauty

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    Furthermore, American Beauty challenges common sense views such as how money and wealth is seen as the measure of success, and that through commodities individuals will find happiness, however this is often a fallacy perpetuated by the mass media. By subverting the ideology of consumerism Mendes condemns how worth of an individual is determined by what they consume and own, rather than the qualities of them. He refers to how the mass media uses propaganda in advertising to indoctrinate individuals into adopting consumerist values such as hedonism, which restrains freethinking and choice. American Beauty demonstrates how reality can often become synonymous with simulations, and that through capitalism individuals are controlled to consume commodities

    Read More

  • Feminine Beauty As A Social Construct

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    The human body is one of the most complex and yet beautiful things on the earth. We live in a time where our perception of the way we view the body is driven my social stereotypes. In todays world we are supposed to live by the standards of this unwritten code. All of this affects the quality of life we live in. It ranges from the workplace; our personal relationships to the way strangers perceive a person. At this very day in age we are categorized due to being born male or female and things that should be talked about are considered taboo to others.

    Read More

  • Beauty standards---a new restriction to women

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    The era of mass media is flooded with all kinds of advertisements, and this ubiquitous industry(beauty advertisements especially) has gained higher public awareness these days, since it has been accused of creating unreal ideals of beauty which pose pressure on females to become slimmer and more facially attractive, forcing them to damage their health at the expense. However, criticisms against advertisements are basically focused on the negative effect on women’s health, behind which there is in fact something we ignore. In brief, what should be noticed is that on acceptance of the reasonability of beauty advertisements, women are by osmosis admitting the inferiority of their social status compared with men. In the ancient times, women were controlloed both physically and mentally by stale social moralities and traditions, whereas in this nowadays society which seemingly emphasizes freedom, advertisements may be a new form a restriction to females. This rest of essay is going to argue that advertisements and media affect women’s social status in a negative way.

    Read More

  • Different Types of Beauty to an Extent

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    America is also known as the universal "melting pot", where diversity is welcomed with open arms. This nation as a whole re programmed itself to be more accepting and more tolerable of what is out of their form of ‘the norm’; but, to what extent? According to Google definitions: beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight. So, speaking of technicalities, beauty varies in the eyes of the beholder or the individual’s opinion. In today’s society, beauty as been fabricated and has somehow molded into different categories depending on appearance, gender, race, and age. If that individual does not ‘make the cut’ or falls short, they are considered unappealing. Yes, America has accepted different types of beauty, but is only tolerant to a certain extent. The same hand that pats us on the back is the same hand that pushes us away for being different.

    Read More

  • Are Beauty Standards?

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    are beauty ideals? They are the guidelines for how people of each gender, race, sexuality and nationality are supposed to look based on the patriarchal standards set in today society and reinforced through modern institutions. Beauty ideals start with gender. In western culture young, blonde or brunette, skinny, “tan” white women are idolized, and young, extremely fit, tall, blonde or brunette, “tan” white men are idolized. So what happens if you don’t possess some or any of these characteristics? You are without the privilege of being the ideal beauty standard in the United States. You may fit these descriptions of the beauty ideal for the U.S.; however, if you are not straight or able-bodied, you lose the beauty ideal because these don 't

    Read More

  • The Halo Effect: Three Factors Of Body, Beauty And Fashion

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    My name is Stephanie; I am an 18-year-old female. I was born and raised in Hong Kong. My family consists of me, my mother and father. Despite not having any siblings, I would say I had a very happy childhood, which was constantly filled with sporting activities. Before studying at The University of Hong Kong, I studied at West Island School, an international school that is located in the Pokfulam area as well. During my time at West Island, I undertook the International Baccalaureate. Currently, I am in the BBA programme in HKU. Some of my interests include keeping up with the latest fashion trends and newly launched cosmetic products. In addition, I really enjoy watching television shows, my favorites would have to be Grey’s Anatomy and The

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Beauty In The Media

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I want to look like Miranda Kerr! Or even better, I want to walk on the runway with models wearing Vera Wang,” said 18-year-old Maggie.

    Read More

  • Society Is the Problem: The Beauty Standard

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are over seven billion people on earth and every single one looks different. No matter how much people say that being different is unique, they are wrong. Society has set a beauty standard, with the help of the media and celebrities, that makes people question their looks. This standard is just a definition of what society considers being “beautiful.” This idea is one that mostly everyone knows about and can relate to. No one on this planet is exactly the same, but people still feel the need to meet this standard. Everyone has two sides to them; there is the one that says “you are perfect just the way you are”, while the other side puts you down and you tell yourself “I have to change, I have to fit in.” There is always going to be that side that cares and the one that doesn’t.

    Read More

More about Standards Of Beauty In Pop Culture

Open Document