The idea of beauty in modern media

   

 The idea of beauty is present in every human culture but the way in which it takes shape is very different.As media is growing so people's access to various media products , as a result the various side effect of media exposure start to show . We can see the tendency of building a standard of beauty , those physical features that are guarantees a person's success in life . What is even worst that this standards are unrealistic , the majority of can't identify with people who fit those standards of beauty .Let's make a short list of unhealthy things that the media promotes regarding beauty :

a) Eurocentrism - Maybe you heard this term a couple of times in some TV show , it basically  is telling us about the way that beauty standards are based on the features of the caucasian race . Practically people are only beautiful if they have pale skin , light hair and light colored eyes. As a result we see more an more cases of black people getting their skin bleached or asians who get surgery to change the shape of their eyes. What it dose on a long term period is that making people of a noneuropean racial background feel ugly and unattractive do to their distinctive racial features.

b) Beauty over intelligence - This is what most beauty contests do , I know what you'll say : "They also have talents sections in those competitions " . But do you think a competitor wold actually win only because she sings or dances well? Don't think so! I think the worst thing that this competitions are doing is creating this need of constantly comparing to others , this is a logical effect . You didan't win because she was more pretty , because she was more slim , had lighter skin . This will create in time inferiority complexes or the urge for more and more beauty up to a unrealistic point.

c) Distortion of images in the media - this indicates the way images that get in to magazines are airbrushed to the point that the people showed in them don't seem human anymore . All this are intended to create a standard of beauty that is unrealistic , the result is more and more women and man put their hopes in cosmetic products and surgical procedures for reaching the promoted level of beauty/

d) People not considered good looking are less then the ones who are - This is thing is very well showed  in movies , beautiful people are rich , smart , have success in life and can get away with anything . On the other hands the roles of nerds , poor people and usually people who are socially unwanted are played by ugly people . There is also a tendency to associate beauty with intelligence and unattractive physical features with lack of intelligence or even mental retard .