Cult-ure & Beauty

Cultural identity is defined as the enactment of conduct by individuals or group members that demonstrate group affiliation and  understanding of what it takes to be a group member and the ability to perform social practices of remembering in a way that is deemed appropriate or acceptable to some degree by group members.

Cultural identity theory reflects the ontological assumption that individuals enact multiple cultural identities constituted in and through discourse with others.This is to say that we are all influenced by each other, after all America is a melting pot. If this is to be true, then why are we so divided? Why are black woman judged so harshly?

Beauty Culture is a site that captures beauty in the eye of the cut-edge stylists, photographers and filmmaker’s lens. This site gives notice to the cult in beauty culture. Upon their creative quest, they capture both conventional and unconventional looks. The artists discuss their mission to capture, reshape or challenge the prevailing vision of feminine ideals. The site encourages conversations to explore the billion dollar industry.  

The picture above represents a portrayal of black women in media. Yes, of course not everyone thinks this but  the picture speaks for itself.  To the right is a  scale of attractiveness and the rate was mighty low for the black race.

I love the website Madame Noire, it a positive place where ethnic women can get advise on make-up, hair, beauty products/trends and a whole lot more entertainment.

This is interesting because when I’m around certain ethic groups I automatically feel connected to a sisterhood. When it pertains to culture in particular  this site definitely makes me  want to embrace the African American culture. I am not attracted to race, I am attracted to positive uplifting people. 

(Make-up)

Pressure To Become Beautiful - Ugly Betty

America's value of media marketing - the "sex sells" idea has become an excuse to blame and stigmatize those who are less privileged to have a certain 'look.'  In this culture that assumes anyone can achieve the American dream, I question: Why is everyone on the cover of the fashion magazine look alike? How come hot topics are always about weight and physical beauty? These questions motivated me to analyze American perceptions of beauty through a popular sitcom called Ugly Betty.

Ugly Betty

Ugly Betty was aired on ABC for four seasons. It centers Betty Suarez who is a 22-year-old Mexican American woman from Queens, New York. She is portrayed as an unattractive but optimistic secretary at a fashion magazine company. If she ran a campaign, the slogan would be 'do not judge the book by its cover." This sitcom gained a widely public recognition when the show won a Golden Globe award for best comedy and Betty (America Ferrera) won an Emmy in its first season. As a personal fan, I was stimulated and agitated at the same time by watching Betty's discrimination purely based on her physical appearance.  I was stimulated by the fact that the main reason she got hired was because her unattractive appearance would not cause a distraction for her fellow male employees. I was agitated when Betty would be often discouraged in pursuing her career goals because others' judgments of her beauty.  

This sitcom stands out from other typical shows because it embodies how beauty is made up by someone's measure. It openly shows about cosmetic procedures, Photoshop retouching and other inorganic means to achieve to appear beautiful. I was shocked when characters were ashamed of themselves because their clothing were out of the trend.  I think the audience can all find commonality along with Betty's dilemma between keeping her original identity and going with the flow of the culture.
Unlike the typical ending which the main character gets a transformative makeover, Betty is consistently  fighting internally and externally to reveal more of true herself. In these adversities, Betty is more or so courageous and gains a positive and solid identity.  This is perhaps why many would find her inspirational.  

According to a sociologist W. Phillips Davison, who said that the Third-People Effect assumes that people perceive mass communicated messages to have a greater influence on others than on themselves. For example, even if people watch sexual and violent contents, they are less likely to be affected than others who watch it. If I apply this hypothesis to watching Ugly Betty, this is what I concluded.   The Ugly Betty viewers might presume that others are more likely to accept their natural beauty however, they will still keep their old mindset and follow the 'hottest trend' as before.

 Media is a powerful messenger and yet, we still see a very narrow pool of individuals that embody similar  physical characteristics. It is critical that we are aware of messages that it send out to us. Ugly Betty was an example of a media tool that introduced a new and creative perspective of beauty. However, it still seemed as though talent and personal integrity are undervalued.

Make Up

Closer to perfection

When I went online to check my email, there were trending topics and this barbie girl caught my attention. There is Russian super model by the name of  Valeria Lukyanova, who has transformed her self to look just like a barbie. When I looked at the picture, I thought it was a  picture of toy barbie. The twenty-one year old model looks unreal. She had to have spent a lot of time and money to create that look, although she claims that's the way God made her. It could be true, it's not impossible to be a replica.

But why would someone want to look like a barbie? Perhaps because barbie does have a promising career. A career path in barbie land ranges from but is not limited can being a  teacher, librarian, mom, wife, flight attendant, doctor, nurse, veterinarian so on an so forth. She also has loving friends and family. And of course above all else she perfect body: breast, butt, lisps, eyes and smile.  Why wouldn't you want to imitate barbie, she has the perfect  life in an unreal world.

There was a television show called Extreme Make Over that aired  ABC in 2002 . The premise was to reconstruct someone face into looking beautiful.  A woman literally went from looking like a swan to a beautiful looking princess. Here is a clip below showing her transformation.

People are obsessed with perfection. I bet after all the invested time, Valeria Lukyanova, and the lady above  still doesn't think that they are perfect. According to the American Psychological Association, people who have gotten plastic surgery are happy, but have effects later on in life.

(Make -up)

Weekly Feature!

True Beauty Spotlight: Ann Curry

Ann Curry is a respected television journalist that reports global news. She was a correspondent for Dateline and The Today Show on the NBC network. Ann Curry is the cover girl of the week because she is an international sensation. She represents culture and beauty at its finest. She has mirrored a successful career path that anyone can aspire to follow. She is beautiful and smart, what more can you ask for.


Known For: NBC the Today Show reporting international and national news. 
 
Career Highlight: She received an Emmy for reporting the big earthquake in California, pipeline explosion in San Bernardino and NBC Nightly News about Dafur.
 
Fun Fact: She bungee jumped off a bridge.

Charities: Save  the children and AmeriCares.

Natural Hair

In media today there has been big trend in the African American community to go natural. Could it be the fact that there is a black family in the white house? Is there a movement of black power? It seems as though ever since there has been a positive representation of a healthy black family in the white house, African Americans are inspired or  feel more confident to be proud in their own skin. This sensation or condition is enabling the natural hair movement. I want to make it clear that going natural verses getting a perm or relaxed hair is not a right or wrong decision. However wearing you're natural hair I believe is the best way to go for health and economical reasons. 

Minorities for decades have been going through unyielding extremes to have straight hair.  We suppress and put ourselves through discomfort just to look susceptible not just to corporate America, but white people in general. For example, there's this Brazilian blow out which is harmful chemicals that are put into little girl’s hair, so that their hair can be straighten. White people aren't perming their hair. White girls wear weaves  or hair extensions and add a couple shades of color to their hair. They're not putting theses harsh chemicals in their hair, they simply wash and go.  

I want to make reference to Madam C.J. Walker for inventing the pressing comb, the idea behind that was for black people to have easier manageable hair. She became a millionaire for creating several types of hair care products specifically for the hair care maintenance. My question is why are African Americans so focus in the straightening of the hair instead of the growth process. Why do we spend so much time and money on our hair? In 1998, $150 million was spent on men's hair care products and $400 million was spent on women’s permanents and hair straighteners. In the African American community, black hair care alone is a $9 billion industry. That's a lot of money just for hair. 

Media has influenced us to believe that black people’s hair in nappy and out of control. That is so crazy to me because it’s actually influenced black people to believe the same thing.  It has gotten to the point that we are condition to believe that there’s something wrong with the way our hair naturally grows out of our head. So that is why I’m encouraging the natural hair movement. What’s ridiculous is that I am calling it a movement. What’s so momentous about natural hair? Overall message for this beauty breaker blog is love yourself and to have self-acceptance. By not chemically relaxing one’s hair, it brings you a step closer to achieving that goal.


This was a clip on MSNBC with Dr. Melissa Harris- Perry having the talk bringing in the awareness of the issue of natural hair verses relaxed hair on her show which airs Saturday's and Sunday's from 10 to 12 pm Eastern time.

This is video that illustrates part 1 and 2 of the topic

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Are You the One Who Also Obssessed with Good Looking Body

Since our blog deals with general beauty, not only physical appearances are considered but also body shapes  as well. People are obsessed with owning a good looking body.

Many would agree that obesity is one of the most urgent social issue in United States. In my opinion, it is more problematic how the media portrays the standards of beauty and weight.  The Yahoo's Opinion section, an article 'The Unrealistic Portrayal of Women in the Media' explains further. There are two main issues of media potrayal body image that I want to discuss today. 

First of all, media like the weekly magazine such as Life & Style highly promotes losing weight by showing tall, skinny, glamorous females and tall, muscular, handsome males. Now people become accustomed to these kinds of images and even diet pill company advertising their pills as a way of losing weight in the fastest way although models recommend exercise when going on a diet. Do you really think Miranda Kerr has been back to her skinny body just six months after giving birth by taking diet pill? See what she really says on MailOnline. 

Also, emphasizing slim body on media influences greatly on population of anorexia or bulimia. According to HealthyPlace, they put individual's life at risk because they  both destroy individual's health and mental. For healthier yourself, take enough nutrition and get exercise. You should not be tempted by media outlets. As Miranda Kerr said, losing weight without exercise never happens. However, don't forget about this too! You don't have to lose a lot of weight and be as skinny as models in the media. If you are satisfied with yourself and are healthy, don't overly stress yourself about losing weight.

Second, female are subjected to sexuality in media especially in music videos, movies, magazines, or commercials. Check The Construction of Female Sexuality in the Media to see how females are portrayed in the media these days. However, men also have an increasing amount of pressure to be muscular and handsome.  Abecrombie&Fitch and Holister ads, the ads are pointless. Even though they are clothing brands, they are only showing how sexy the models are and make them shirtless instead of showing actual clothes. 

This video Killing Us Softly 3 is related to both first and second major points

The video by Jean Kilbourne, a feminist author, speaker, and filmmaker, talks about how media portrays female as a sexuality and how that impacts minds of people especially teens. She says change needs to happen by striving for a new culture, where the public is educated and think of themselves as citizens, not consumers. For further and newer information, check her Killing Us Softly 4..  

In conclusion, I believe that there is not one 'right' body shape or size.  It can vary depending on person's ethnicity, environment, and eating habit. We should not heavily rely our values on physical appearance. No one is less or more valuable than others because of the physical appearance.

Honest Ads

Let's take a look at this video ad affiliated with  Dove. This short clip says a whole lot about what little girls go through in just seconds. This clip illustrates that little girls are subjected to start thinking about body images such as weight, hair make-up, sexuality, promiscuity and the like. This little cute red headed girl's focus should be about going to school and having recess, she looks as if she is eight years old. Media should not be prepping her to decide whether or not to get a nose job or breast implants. The media is on the hunt to get little kids first and the parents second. Advertiser know that a happy child equals happy parent.

Advertiser has had falsified images for decades now, specifically pertained to beauty ads. blah blah blah. We consumers ought to hold them accountable and we can do so by not buying into these false ads. Elle Magazine the UK edition, which is a global magazine, has featured its first magazine ad without being air brushed. The beauty ad is called Make Up Forever, it is advertising high definition foundation make-up. I would like to highlight Elle Magazine for being the stepping stone to finally expose a non-air brushed beauty ad. 

Unreasonable Improving One's Body

Tanned Skin

Basically, Suntanning means person's natural skin color has been changed because of being exposed by sunlight. However, the cumulative effects of sun exposure may lead us at higher risk of cellular damage, early wrinkling, age spots, actinic keratoses, and even skin cancer. To see more detail information, prevention, and what effects of sunburn, check here,WebMD.

In Health Matter video, Amy Oshier is reporting about teen's tanning bed habit and Dr. Drew Kreegel is highly insisting sun damage is cumulative damage.
However, in Diana Adams's study Women Prefer Men With A Tan, you can find interesting truth about tanned skin and it is considered as healthy and sexy image of the person these days. In my personal idea, I am surprised at and feel sorry for people who don't know how to love their natural look especially when I see Caucasian tanned their skin horribly like Linsay Lohan.

Want To Be Young Forever - Botox
Pageant Mom Gives Botox to 8-Year-Old | Video - ABC News
Britney Campbell is the 8-year-old girl who has been injected Botox by her mom doesn't even know why she is doing it. Do you agree with what the Britney's mother does to her kids? So let's think about this, what makes her do this to her daughter? She says the Botox prevents Britney's wrinkle who is only 8-year-old. The more surprising thing to me was that she is not the only mom who does this to her daughters and she has even done herself. Waxing is another harsh thing Britney has. It seems Britney is manipulated by her mother who has psychological problem. Why do you think Britney's mom obsessed with Britney's beauty before she isn't even grown up yet.
Like the news brings up the discussion, I also want my reader to discuss about this further. Do you think it is wrong?

Weekly Features

Hello Fellow Internet Surfers. 
Come and Tune into our Weekly Blogs. 
We will having special beauties of the week that will be posted every TGI Fridays. 

Enjoy!

A Doll Study

Anderson Cooper, a CNN Journalist, covered a feature story based off a study authored by Dr. Kenneth B. Clark. This study was done in the 1940’s and Anderson wanted to redo the infamous doll test, but this time he used pictures instead of dolls. The doll test was about race in America and unfortunately as a result, not much has changed regarding perceptions of self and others even being some sixty years later. The new study proved that both black and white children have a bias in favor of light skin color.

"Among the dozens of Black and White children tested in this new study, a significant majority identified Whiteness with likability, success, intelligence and good behavior, while identifying Blackness with non-likability, failure, a lack of intelligence and bad behavior."

This is interesting to me to see that these little kids are already conforming. My purpose of this blog is to get to the bottom of this brain washing. One probable cause could be that of "white supremacy." It has become so deeply ingrained it has become a virtually involuntary reflex. Blacks and other people of color eventually conformed to the established order, and defined themselves through the prism of European culture; the present symbiosis between white supremacy and black inferiority was sealed in the West.  Solving the problems of supremacy and inferiority will require a renewed effort among whites and blacks alike to confront the legacy of America's ugly history. (Muhammad, William P. 2010)

Interestingly enough the study was redone in 2009, when Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States as while Michelle Obama became the First lady in history. The experiment was slightly changed up a bit. The children this time had the option of saying neither and/or both. I wanted to make notice, since this is a beauty blog, that 47% of the little black girls said that the white doll was the prettier than the black doll.

 My only explanation for this is that mass media has a great effect on its consumers. It also goes back to the parents. Parents need to instill values in there households of equality. This may be hard for some minorities because they are mass marketed by a Caucasian dominated society. When you look on advertisement whether it is on television or magazines, the masses of the people that are seen are Caucasian. There needs to be an equal balance to show there are different races and that beauty comes in all shades and sizes. We need more love and less hate.

Asian's Wanna Be

Today, digital media makes the world one global village. The more media reaches many countries, the more media becomes culturally rich. However, westernized beauty is becoming a single standard. Due to the media spreading outwards, I found that many Asians want to have similar facial structures as Americans; double eye-lids, a high nose and sharp charms.

Saeko Kimura had new life after she got prettier face by making her eyes bigger with glue. The positive outcome is that she gained confidence and self-esteem of her appearance by improving her face, while the negative is that her appearance is not the same way she originally had as an Asian, but looking more "American." She was willing to lay down on the operating table and pay enormous costs for eye-lid creases. The procedure took only 10 minutes and she got permanent double eye-lids which she had always dreamed of. Now, the plastic surgery has boomed up in Asian women and even men enormously, and it seems there is no limit to the increasing rates of people who have done plastic surgery. According to Lisa, a reporter of TIME magazine, a million procedures were performed last year in Taiwan, double the number from five years ago. MailOnline says, in Korea, at least one in five adults have done plastic surgery and upgraded their faces, and even students who go to middle or high school have had their eyelids done.

Also based on my experience of 20 years in Korea, I have watched so many girls get double eyelid surgeries as their graduation present. I don't think it is a person's fault if the person has a complex issue of his/her appearance and he/she makes money to invest in a better appearance. However, the problem is that many have done it in very young age with their parents' support. Why do they trying to do it before they are even grown up and enter real society. I have thought about it and I think that is it because we live in a society which values a standard 'beauty' the most in life. I think beauty has to be considered not only in appearance but also one's own inner beauty or personality. What is the point of only pursuing to obtain a beautiful face only to keep getting older and eventually die?

Every culture has its own beauty, but now more and more Asians want to look like Caucasians.

Now most people influenced by media are answering to what the prettier face is; westernized beauty, like a barbie doll.

       "The Chinese and Korean patients tell me they want to have faces like Americans," said Dr. Kim Byung-gun.

 

The irony is that even Americans are addicted to plastic surgery. WebMD reports that more than 10 million cosmetic procedures done in 2005. So, what is real beauty? If many Americans are addicted to plastic surgery for beauty while Asians are trying to catch up American beauty standard, then what is the ultimate goal of beauty for both of cultures?

Urban Hair

 You can tell when an African American has become successful by the color of their hair. The more successful they get, the more contemporary they look. Let’s take look at Beyoncé and Rihanna for instance. Rihanna started her career with black hair, as while  Beyoncé started her career with ethnic braids.Now that they have become international artist their hair color had changed to blonde. 
 Below is Rihannas' and Beyoncé before and after pictures.

Why do black people or minorities have to change the way they look in order to become successful?  Everybody has conformed except for Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg. Oprah is a T.V mogul that has millions of dollars. She’s not skinny, she wears her natural black hair, and however she does have green eyes. Maybe the green eyes and the occasional flat ironed hair give her a pass perhaps? Who knows?

Whoopi on the other hand, couldn't be further to conform than any other woman in history in the African American Culture. None the less she has had the most awards ever in the African American culture such an Oscar, Emmy, tony and the list goes on. Whoopi has natural dreads and she does not use sex appeal to make money unlike her components Beyoncé and Rihanna.

This raises the question; do you have to conform in order to become successful? Are these celebrities conforming because they like themselves better with blonde hair? Or is having blonde hair a requirement of moving up the ladder in the entertainment business? Oprah nor Whoopi has not changed their look, why has everyone else?

Oprah and Whoopi are journalists and talk show host while Rihanna and Beyoncé are musical pop stars. Are they changing their styles to stay relevant for mire entertainment purposes or is it a problem between black men not accepting black woman or minority woman as they are?

I’m not blaming the westernized mundane Caucasian people for this injustice. My question is why do black woman conform into appealing to white audiences? If black man stood up for black woman and dated within their own race then maybe there would be less pressure to look white. Also black woman need to have higher self-esteem and know that there black is beautiful.

Let’s take a look back into the beginning of this conformity of the straightening of the hair. This goes back to Madam C.J Walker, she invented the straightening comb. The straightening comb is designed for black people to straighten their natural tight curly hair to lavishly straight hair like a white girl. The purpose of the straighter was for black people to have easier hair maintenance to control hair from breakage. But really I think implicitly that it was invented for black people to appeal to white America to gain acceptance and/or equality.

There is a website called My Black is Beautiful,which encourages and uplift black woman to know that they are beautiful.

To the left is a picture of straighten hair natural curl hair.

Advertising Is Legalized Lying - Ads & Beauty

What is the most effective way to attract people in media? Advertisement. However, some exaggerated ads magnify actual function of product or does not reveal actual effects. Especially, beauty in media is very well visualized and easy to tempt consumers in variety ways.

"Advertising is legalized lying."
by H.G. Wells

Exaggerated Ads Showing Unrealistic Image

Every cosmetic product advertisment show wrinkle-free, no pimple or blemish and no freckle face of models which is totally unrealistic. We should be aware that the product will not achieve the same results as in the ads. For example, in Britain,The Advertising Standards Authority banned two misleading beauty advertisements; Lancome's Teint Miracle foundation and Maybelline's The Eraser. I think if the advertisement is obviously exaggerated or exceed certain limit of regulation and misleads people's perception, the government or nation have to alert its dangerousness to public. Moreover, individuals also need the ability to not believe 100% what it is looked on ads.

 

Side Effect of Diet Pills

Taking doses of diet pills for being looking skinny is a very sweet temptation. The perception of 'proper body,' if influenced wrongly by media, may lead people in serious situation, even death. If the weight can be lost by taking just one pill, it is a miracle. Face it. It won't ever happen. However, many diet pill advertisements do not have enough explanations about side effects or chemicals which may harmful to your body. Therefore, we should be aware of the ingredients in diet pills and not be absolutely dependent on pills, but use as accessibly while exercising. Media shows us only good sides and does not reveal the bad sides.

 

Cosmetic Surgery

Now that we can see all over TV, magazines or the Internet about the cosmetic surgery, we might think it is done easily. Media makes us conform to certain types of beauty such as a high nose or big breasts. We can easily find celebrities who have done cosmetic surgery so that we are less aware of how it is serious. Are we really pursuing and conforming to having the same face and body structure made by media no matter who we are?  According to KoreaBang websites, plastic surgery in Korea is socio-cultural phenomenon. Seriously, South Korea's plastic surgery is hotpotato in Korean culture these days. Check the websites and see how serious the problem in South Korea has and what the netizen talk about it. Next time, I will deal with this social problem in Korea more detaily.

 

Since advertisement industries are attracting people by showing unrealistic images, we should not believe what it is itself on the ads. In short, we need to filter the image on the ads.

Wasting A Blessed Time - Media Influencing Teenage Plastic Surgery

Due to today’s visual technology, the need for looking good or perfect, and keeping up with the most recent beauty trends is now part of our daily lives. Especially, celebrities’ belongings, such as brand name items and clothes, and their near perfect bodies in the media aspire us to follow and want to be like them. However, too much of it is as bad as too little. Wearing nice clothes and trendy make up like them would be fine, but our body shapes or facial structures cannot be the same as them. Today, what I want to discuss about is plastic surgery, especially among teenagers.

According to a new study conducted by Central YMCA, 25% of kids, ages 11 to 16, have considered getting plastic surgery due to what they see on television. It was found that over 50% of the girls and over 33% of the boys compared their bodies to what they saw on television.

Plastic Surgery for Teens



Image: The American Society of Plastic Surgeons

Some plastic surgeons insist that plastic surgery really improve the self-confidence or self-esteem of people. However, for teens, plastic surgery may damage their whole growing periods because they are vulnerable and insecure in that time. If the outcomes are not good as they expected, it is too late to blame on TV.

Boys are not an exception. According to Clinic Expert website, the number of procedures for men carried out has increase to 4,298 in 2011 from 526 in 2003. Males are also aware of their appearance, comparing themselves to unrealistic body images of media. Having muscles and six packs on their bodies are now their standard of beauty, so they are willing to take a pill to get them. According to Beautiful Magazine Online, it is serious problem because the children are not being encouraged to take care of themselves and their health in a healthy way. Working out and diet should be the most helpful and inspiring way to having a healthy body, but it seems to take a while to get it, so they are looking for an easier more instant result. 

I want to point out that what we see on television are all fakes. TV stars (celebrities) tempt our children by saying “I can eat whatever I want to eat and still thin,”or “I didn’t do anything and I am still look young.” However, they may take diet pills to maintain their nice body or do plastic surgery to be looked young. For sure, the stars always have trainer to keep their nice body and coordinators to make their appearance nicer. The thing is they are all ‘well-made dolls’ to show up to the public. It is not happen in reality. This is why we shouldn’t believe them by their image in the media but people are easily engrossed in these kinds of image without hostility or consideration, especially children.

Like I mentioned, it is just ‘trends’ like a ‘flash.’ Especially to teens, pursuing unrealistic images unconditionally is basically meaningless. It is also wasting time getting stressed from keeping their body shape like TV images. At this time in their lives, they should eat whatever they want to eat and grow until they are responsible enough to take care of their own bodies.

Barbies of all Colors

The closer you are to the Caucasian race the more you mirror what is defined as being beautiful. Because I am so far off from being white, I am not considered a classic beauty. I am not attractive to mundane America, because my skin is too dark and my body is too curvaceous. There maybe a few Caucasians that consider me to be beautiful, however in a broad-spectrum; I don’t meet the westernized standards.

 
I love this quote written by C.S Lewis: The beauty of life is that youdon't have to be modernly beautiful to live it. You don't have to be modernly beautiful to live it. This rings truth to me because I consider myself to be beautiful; however I am not considered modernly beautiful based off the representation of Barbie. Barbie is a classic beauty that young girl aspire to emulate.
 
In the article, Ann Ducille on Ethnic Barbies, written by Lisa Wade PhD, examines Barbie dolls. It illustrates how ethnic Barbie’s are basically white Barbie’s with a little color and a change of clothes.  It does not explore that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes. It clearly shows how images of white barbies that are on the market sets the standard. Those implications shows off the mire essence of what being beautiful in America looks like.  In the article it also displays Mattel which manufactures Barbie, capitalizing on creating “ethnic” Barbie, yet it is molded off the prototypical Caucasian. Society needs to end the means of appealing to peculiar measures of beauty and begin with embracing self. 

As you can see below, all of the Barbies are white based with ethnic clothing. 

What Makes you Beautiful

When buying a magazine or looking at commercial ads, we are not thinking, wow,  they got a really good air brush. We think I wish I could look like that. Not even realizing the model just had a really good photo session and the finishing results was air brushed. The main point is for people to stop buying into the misconceptions of beauty because ninety-nine point nine percent of what is shown on television is fake!

 We need to have self-acceptance and be joyful of our God given assets. The sad part is that we’re taking absolute measures to emulate what we see. Kids in high school want to have plastic surgery and are suffering from bulimia, low self-esteem and self-hated. “Approximately seven million girls and women struggle with eating disorders and 1 million boys and men.” We are always trying to perfect ourselves as if there is something wrong.

According to this blog, Media Boost Conformity, it goes back in to Greek times. Back in the day  Greek God’s were measures of perfection. The people in those times aspired to be just like them. Yet the people never attainted what they had because they were all unattainable and can be rarely imitated.  The God’s did not even look like them. They made the artist design the statue of what their accrued image of perfection looked like.

It’s pretty ridiculous that, “80% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance.”  Well I hope we feel that way because we are so focused on educating ourselves to do better in math and science. To solve our problem of this psychological disease, we must build self-confidence. People will save tons of dollars if they can simply be happy with self. This process can start with the parents for minors and a reality check for adults.

The media is so overwhelming that the masses end up believing everything it displays.  Everyone does not need to clone themselves into looking like Pamela Anderson, or whoever their favorite celebrity is. If we only we understood that social media beauty advertisements seen on televisions and on the web  as well as in magazines are computer generated; then  maybe society would  feel  and be a whole lot better.

There is nothing wrong with admiring a celebrity, wearing make-up and getting dressed up, the problem occurs when you become obsessed. When you’re getting Botox and having implants implanted, and your face reconstructed at 25,  I think there is something is extremely wrong. Check out the Dove hyperlink.  This was interesting seeing the Dove beauty campaign. It entailed the beginning and the end of what it takes to create an ad.