Beauty Ideal

         When the words beauty ideal is mentioned, an individual's first thought might be to think of someone who is tall, slender, flawless, and nonetheless gorgeous. But what is the definition of "gorgeous" or "beautiful" and who has the authority to say that there is only one way to define these terms? Fortunately we have the advantage of shaping these images but choose to follow what media already represents to be the beauty ideal. Case in point women are usually trying to achieve a slender image to look like their celebrity idol that is photo shopped on the front cover of people magazine. It is mentioned in the text that with the definition of beauty ideal "the aim is to promote insecurity, self-hatred, and distorted perceptions of size appetite, and attractiveness... ." This I believe is entirely true because having the image that I have of myself and comparing it to what the media says it should be, leaves me judging myself as a person, and usually brings me through these phases that take a toll on me both physically and emotionally. Not only does this happen to me but it plays a major role on most women in today's society, specifically on the upcoming generation of young girls whom are trying to stay up to date on the latest fashion, and making sure that they aren't over 120lbs. The effects however are not only limited to the younger generation but impact those who are young, older, and everything in between.

            What many of us fail to realize is that these images are highly distorted. What I mean by this is that the media chooses to represent people such as Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, and many other celebrities, and typically "edit" these images, which usually leads to a false interpretation of these celebrities. What I mean by editing these images is that when it comes to photo shoots they do a number of things to get the pictures to look as well as they can by photo shopping it or doing other things with the photos on a computer. With the advancement in today's technology it is amazing the things one can do to enhance images. It is the same when one is watching television or a video online, the celebrities that come out on it are sometimes airbrushed and have pounds of make up on their face/body. Reality is not everyone does this on a day-to-day basis and not everyone should want to do this daily. People should not only stick to one definition when it comes to beauty ideal because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and has a different way of viewing things. So what one might find beautiful another person might find to be just ok. Therefore women and men should not cave into this "toxic cultural environment" that Jean Kilbourne describes as the reason behind undermining girls' self confidence and sense of agency. (208)

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.