WILL I EVER BE CONSIDERED BEAUTIFUL?
written by MAYUMI MURCH
edited by CHRISTIE LAM
artwork by CLAUDIA AU
Throughout history, women have always faced injustice. Sometimes it has been explicit: not being able to vote, not being paid fairly, being sexually harassed and assaulted at disproportionatly higher amount than men. But sometimes, the sexism we face is invisible— it is hidden in the shadows of our society, and embedded in the very foundation of our lives. It is so unseen that it creeps its way into the very perceptions of ourselves. It becomes the quiet voice in our ears that tells us we’re too tall, short, fat, or skinny. It exists in the media we consume, books, movies, shows, magazines, social media, perpetuating the idea that we need to look a certain way to be considered attractive.
The picture of ideal female attractiveness is fickle, throughout the existence of humanity it is constantly changing: in ancient Egypt, the desired feminine form was a slender body, narrow shoulders and a tiny waist; in ancient Greece it was a plump, full body and pale skin; in the Han dynasty, women with a slim waist, large eyes, and small feet were considered desirable. There has never been a set-in-stone standard for a woman’s beauty, rather, the beauty standards of each time period have been dictated by the opinions that men have of women.
For a woman, beauty often equates to her worth. We aren’t described as brave, independent, or even as a ‘ decent person’, rather as ‘ugly’, ‘hot’, or ‘average’. Even in the past, this is apparent; when we read about Cleopatra, her beauty and appeal towards men is often highlighted over her being a strategic, intelligent, and clever female ruler in a patriarchal society dominated by males—the first of her kind. In history and the retelling of it, the importance of a woman's beauty is constantly being emphasized.
Now more than ever, we are bombarded by depictions of the ‘ideal’ body type. On Instagram we see content creators such as the Kardashians parading an unrealistic, unreasonable and unattainable form of beauty. This starts a cycle wherein girls start to feel bad about their own appearances, and start investing in Kardashian brands advertised to ‘slim your waist’ and ‘plump your lips’. The female beauty standard is exploited so rich people can make money, unethically, by manipulating young girls. Even high-end fashion brands, such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, only advertise their ‘exclusive’ and ‘luxurious’ products with extremely slim models, suggesting that they only cater to specific body types and that their products are unsuitable for those who are a size double zero. Once again, setting an unrealistic benchmark for body types, and then profiting off people's desire to assimilate with that standard of beauty.
The popular feminist theory of the ‘male gaze’ suggests that all film and media portraying women comes from the straight, white, cis male perspective, which skews the presentation of women as passive objects to be gawked over by other men. Although this theory has only been popularized recently, the core message that the perceptions of women have always been dictated by a patriarchal system rings true throughout history. Women have always been scrutinized, judged, and picked apart by men from the way we behave, to the way we look, to wether what we do is considered ‘acceptable’ for a woman; we follow rules and regulations that already have been predetermined by the patriarchal society we live in. On the surface level this just makes women ‘slightly self-conscious’ or a ‘bit insecure’, however, when examined more thoroughly, the beauty standard for women serves as an enforcer of oppression, and it functions as a means to keep women ‘in their place’.
This, and many other deeply rooted sexist ideologies, helps preserve the patriarchy, and keeps it thriving. So, is there a way to fix this? Is there a world where we don’t face the side effects of living in a society where sexism runs rampant? Unfortunately, there is no one single solution, but, with the exponential growth of accessible communication through social media, there is limitless potential for positive change for women. Celebrities like Lizzo, Serena Williams, and Taylor Swift are constantly encouraging people to feel happy and healthy in their real bodies, and spreading inspiring messages of body positivity to help dismantle the deeply ingrained message that women need to appear a certain way to appease society. We need more representation of normal, healthy, bodies. We need to destigmatize plus-sized and fat bodies. We need to rid the idea that there is ever one single standard for what we need to look like, and instead realize that how we look is always going to be unique and distinct from one another and that should feel empowering, not shameful.
So, to the question, ‘Will I ever be considered beautiful?’, the answer is no. Because the question itself inherently takes the perspective of the patriarchy and views myself through the lens of misogyny. Instead, what I should be asking is ‘When will I start considering myself beautiful?’. The way to eradicate the impossible and unattainable beauty standards for women is to stop participating in them, and to create an understanding that there is no sole standard for us. We need to take ourselves out of the context of the male view, and start valuing our own self-worth. That is the way forward.