Unrealistic Beauty Standards

What is beauty? What makes someone beautiful? When growing up in a halfway decent environment it is taught that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one may consider beautiful someone else may not but that does not change the fact that something and/or someone is still beautiful. Does what we watch on television hold women to an unrealistic standard of beauty? A Nielson report showed that the average American watches 34 hours of television per week (Hinckley, 2012) and according to Joan M. Bedore advertisements target specific age related and demographic groups focusing on self-perception and a low self-concept by offering services and products to make them look and feel better about themselves (1992). It makes sense that a complete

It has always been prevalent throughout society. In the past women who were shapelier like Marilyn Monroe were considered attractive. Advertisements showed women taking pills to gain weight as opposed to today where women are subjected to ads suggesting skinny is in and diet pills are the way to achieve such a goal. In a study where 139 women watched television commercials related to appearance or non-appearance related, pre-post measures of depression, anger and anxiety were examined. Women became more depressed and angry after watching the appearance video, less depressed after watching a non-appearance advertisement, and more dissatisfied after watching commercials related to thinness and attractiveness (Heinberg & Thompson 1995). Not much has changed 20 years later. The times change but the effects of such perceptions does not. The theory of cultivation suggests that consistent representation on television forms a certain perception of reality and people who are continuously exposed to this information will perceive and adopt the content as a valid reality (Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Ward, 2004). With the ongoing advertisements and commercials for botox, liposuction, makeup and diet pills no wonder the world has such a false perception of what beauty is supposed to look like. If people are fed “perfection” long enough it will soon be realize how far from perfection one actually is. As beauty standards change so does

Reports estimate that black women make up less than 6% of primetime television personalities (Schooler, Ward, Merriwether, & Ward, 2004). Black women with dark skin, full hips and lips, and kinky hair were not seen on TV until recently and are still not portrayed in the same capacity as white women. They were shown with long straight hair and lighter skin; Attributes that some black women possess but definitely not the majority. Young black girls grow up believing that they are not beautiful because there is no one on TV representing them. No one looks like them, not even their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, because they too have been made to believe that there is something wrong with their brown skin, natural full lips and kinky hair. Women have been conditioned to go to any length in order to keep up an attractive appearance. From black women perming their hair and bleaching their skin to white women and women in general getting liposuction and plastic surgery, all to look like the beautiful women seen on TV. Recent depictions of black women push the boundaries of beauty, creating new symbols of femininity and power. Just recently black women have been shown on TV embracing their natural beauty. Their hair is kinky, their lips are full. They are shown in all shapes and sizes but unfortunately what comes