Beauty standards are unrealistic and promote low self-esteem and do more harm than good. But it wasn’t always like this. The beauty standards which are considered undesirable now were very popular before.
Firstly, people of colour are ignored. Many people think that having white skin is ideal and anything else is horrible. We have seen it all across the world, people with a fairer complexion get more privileges and are accepted by society. The media promotes this by making movies with fair-skinned actors as heroes and dark-skinned actors as villains or ‘funny’ people. In many areas of the world, until recently, it was very rare to see dark-skinned people in feature films as the lead which didn’t have stereotypes. In fact, In India skin whitening creams are extremely popular. Indian parents often contribute to this by making colorist remarks to their children if they aren’t fair enough.
You also have to be of a certain body type, if society does not like the way you look, you will be mocked. To many, if you aren’t the correct size with the perfect body proportions, you are seen as unattractive. Being thin is desirable.
Beauty standards affect both genders. Men have to have six-packs and look handsome. Many actors often have to starve to get the ideal body type for their roles. If anyone doesn’t conform to the ideal beauty standards, they are seen as unattractive.
Many get plastic surgery to fit beauty standards because according to society, they’re not attractive. They often modify themselves just to look desirable and beautiful to everyone. Celebrities edit themselves on social media. Many want to be them not realizing that is not how they look. And when celebrities look at their unedited pictures in the media, they feel that it isn’t them.
What we have to realize is this: beauty is subjective. Everyone is expected to look a certain way but it doesn’t mean that you should. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is unique and that is what makes them beautiful.