It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by beauty standards in a world where social media and advertising often push people to look the same.
It can be hard to overcome that feeling of not looking like the other women on TV and in commercials, but it’s not impossible.
Beauty Standards 101
Why do beauty standards exist?
That’s a tricky question, but we know that beauty standards are social norms defining what is considered attractive or desirable.
If you think about it, it seems ridiculous to humans. Plus, media, culture, and advertising often influence beauty standards.
Is it possible that all of these strict rules are being pushed by big beauty companies and a society used to labelling everything?
Unfortunately, we can’t be sure, but many people, especially women, have unrealistic expectations about their appearance. Some of the women’s concerns are body shape, facial features, skin tone, and ageing.
Impact of Beauty Standards
The worst part is that these standards can profoundly negatively influence people’s lives. They can lead to:
- Low self-esteem: Constantly comparing yourself to idealized and probably photoshopped images can significantly affect your self-esteem.
- Body dysmorphia: Obsessing over so-called “flaws” can lead to body dysmorphic disorder for no reason. You can be perfectly healthy and still feel unattractive.
- Unhealthy behaviours: Dieting, over-exercising, or undergoing cosmetic procedures can seem tempting when you suffer from these unrealistic standards. This is an international issue; eating disorders universally bigger from 3.4% to 7.8% between 2000 and 2018. Recognizing these standards’ influence on you is the first step to initiating positive change.
Strategies for Resistance
You are unique, and that is beautiful.
- One of the biggest problems with such strict, globally perpetuated standards is that individual, authentic beauty gets lost along the way.
- Instead of trying to fit into this rigid mould, focus on what makes you unique.
- You probably have certain aspects of yourself that you love.
- Focus on them to begin to change your relationship with your self-worth.
Challenge Unrealistic Standards
- You won’t be able to adopt a more positive outlook if you don’t challenge current beauty standards.
- First, you need to learn a little bit about it. Consider reading about past beauty standards and how they’ve changed and affected other people’s lives.
- This can give you a more holistic and general perspective on what you’re going through and put the importance you currently place on beauty standards into perspective.
Build a Loving Environment for Yourself
- This may be the most challenging part, but the people and messages around you will indeed interfere with how you perceive yourself.
- Make sure your friends and family are supportive and treat you with kindness. We’re not saying you should distance yourself from them if they tend to comment on other people’s appearance, but you should start paying attention to them.
- If someone is actively hostile towards you, consider conversing with them or ending their relationship.
- Finally, avoid following and consuming content online that displays and encourages unrealistic beauty standards.
- It would be best if you did the opposite; start following people who make you feel good and who you identify with. Many brands and influencers share positive messages through social media apps, and you can filter all the content you’re exposed to.
Easy Tips for Self-Love
Develop a Healthy Mindset
Your attitude plays a key role in the way you perceive yourself. Try these things instead of being hard on yourself:
- Practice self-compassion: Treat by hand as you would treat someone you love. It makes sense.
- Don’t underestimate your virtues: Regularly remind yourself of your qualities and worth. Not only the physical aspects but also your personality and character. After all, we humans cannot separate our bodies from our souls.
- Challenge negative thoughts: Whenever negative thoughts about yourself appear and start to intimidate you, stop! This is a mental exercise; it takes practice to master it.
Engage in Self-Care
- Show yourself some love; it will affect your self-esteem, even if it seems silly. Take care of your diet and your body but in a positive way.
- Do it when you feel like it and for the right reasons. Every time you eat healthy or exercise, it should be because you feel like it and not as a punishment.
- Self-care is not just about appearance but about nourishing your whole self.
Educate Yourself on Beauty Marketing
- Understanding how media and marketing shape perceptions of beauty can help you know how ridiculous it is to suffer because of them.
- When you see ads or influencers that make you feel unsafe, ask yourself what is behind them and how to protect yourself. Train yourself to detect negative messages and start not caring about them.
- As much as we want to be completely safe from these negative messages, sometimes we can’t escape them. It is essential to think critically about these issues.
Protect Your Digital Well-Being Too
- In the modern era, protecting your data and privacy online is as important as protecting your mental health. The two are linked somehow; interacting with online content ensures it is well protected.
- Adopt safe practices as much as possible and look for all the tools you can use to prevent an unfortunate event.
- Some simple tools, like a VPN, can make a big difference. To learn more about a virtual private network, visit a VPN company’s website.
Conclusion
Growing up in a society concerned with beauty standards can shape one’s thoughts and create negative feelings about oneself.
Don’t be sad if you are one of these people; it is difficult to avoid being influenced. Social media and the beauty market constantly bombard us with cruel and unrealistic images of what we should look like.
You are not alone in this process; many people are looking for a change and are questioning beauty standards.
Hopefully, over time, society will understand that there is no logical reason for standards to dictate how people should look.