This essay argues that American media, advertising, and popular culture enforce unattainable beauty standards that function as a form of female oppression. By analyzing how diet, cosmetic, and fashion industries use subliminal messaging to create insecurity, the paper traces the psychological impact on women and girls—including widespread body dissatisfaction, damaged self-esteem, and internalized gender roles. The essay examines evidence that children as young as six develop body anxiety, and shows how the pursuit of physical perfection increasingly overshadows educational achievement. The paper concludes that dismantling these oppressive systems requires broad cultural acknowledgment and active intervention across communities, genders, and institutions.
In America, there is only one way to be perceived as beautiful. Women have an unspoken set of physical guidelines that must be followed in order to be considered an individual of importance. It is virtually impossible for some female members of society to follow these guidelines because the standards are purposefully set to be near unobtainable for the average woman. According to research on beauty standards, "Standards of beauty have in fact become harder and harder to attain, particularly for women. The current media ideal of thinness for women is achievable by less than 5% of the female population" (Fox). This is a form of oppression that has been present in America since the country's birth, when "We the people" included only one type of person: the white male. Female oppression is prevalent in today's popular American television and magazine advertisements as women strive to conform to the country's facade of beauty and self-worth. The purpose of female oppression is for men to be able to retain dominance over and control many aspects of American civilization for women.
Media is thought of, subconsciously, as sharing the beauty of the world, and people find it aesthetically pleasing. This idea is exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and fashion industries in a way that controls what a woman deems beautiful. Advertisers for these companies use subliminal methods that go unrecognized as oppression but are extremely effective. Pressure to achieve unrealistic physical beauty is existent in the lives of nearly all women in the United States. Tall, skinny females with facial features that have been exaggerated using makeup and photo editing software flood the pages of fashion magazines.
The problem is that the models are forced to practice unhealthy living habits in order to maintain a famished figure and are far from what could be defined as a natural woman. Women are constantly exposed to pictures of these flawless girls and cannot escape feeling judged on the basis of their appearance. Through comparison to these models, women feel chronically insecure, overweight, and inadequate as the beauty images apply to an ever-shrinking pool of women.
Advertisers want women to feel these insecurities because a problem is created that needs to be fixed. The solution comes with the multitude of products and services that are offered to alter physical appearance, like makeup, cosmetic surgery, and diet programs. The YWCA's analysis in Beauty At Any Cost presents a solid explanation of the behavior of women caused by advertisements:
The beauty and body image obsession is cyclical, contributing to widespread cultural messages and norms that are negative and harmful for women and girls, which in turn create interpersonal dynamics that are damaging for women and between women. Media portrayals of women—through advertising and characters who are thin, airbrushed, and perfect—contribute to norms that reinforce this unattainable image of beauty. According to Maggie Vlazny, a mental health professional, "Self-esteem is a core identity issue, essential to personal validation and our ability to experience joy. Once achieved, it comes from the inside out. But it is assaulted or stunted from the outside in. A woman with low self-esteem does not feel good about herself because she has absorbed negative messages about women from the culture and/or relationships." Consequently, women find themselves in a cultural environment that promotes sexualization of women and competition among themselves.
Sex has been waved before the face of women in America and touted as the key to survival. When overly sexualized women are flaunted on television and are regarded as beautiful, strong, and independent individuals, younger girls looking for a role model will adopt these ideas readily. Girls start to notice differences that do not look like the women advertised in everyday life and characterize these disparities as imperfections.
According to research by the YWCA, "more than 80% of women are reported to be dissatisfied with their appearance." The majority of this dissatisfaction is an effect of not being accepted by other female members of the community. The factors used to judge women—such as makeup, weight, and figure—are formed from fanciful ideals that have been absorbed from the surrounding media. Rejection from the community brings forth insecurities that correlate with the rejection itself. Insecurity definitely contributes to the cause of failing self-esteem, but it is not the origin.
Countless girls grow up with one common fear: the fear of rejection from the opposite sex. Television shows have been displaying girls that men are needed to be the breadwinners of the household while the women stay home to take care of the children and clean the house. The reliance on a man becomes essential in order to be supported. By picturing these as stereotypes, gender roles are being unconsciously absorbed by young girls who are exposed to this media. Gender roles are a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. Therefore, girls are being raised believing that the way to be successful in life is to worry solely about physical appearance if a man is to be in their future.
The issue is not new, but the severity to which it is affecting the lives of younger girls and the lengths to which women will go to achieve an unattainable look is an increasing problem. The corrupt nature of being beautiful is running down generations at a rapid pace. Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, reports that "81% of ten-year-old girls had already dieted at least once," and "in Japan … 41% of elementary school girls (some as young as 6) thought they were too fat." Girls that are not even an appropriate age to be worrying about physical appearances in a sexual manner are already developing anxiety towards the matter.
Peers are judging other girls for not upholding a standard that grows increasingly challenging to obtain when puberty begins and the body starts to go through significant changes. For girls, this can start as early as nine years old. The changes that puberty brings are the exact opposite of the changes a girl's body would need to become like the models idolized on television shows like "America's Next Top Model." Increased body fat, hair growth, and acne are the biggest concerns for girls going through puberty. According to research, only after negative reactions from peers, the media, or social institutions like schools do many of these children begin to take on the gender roles they have come to see as appropriate for them. In order to avoid negative reactions from peers, girls start looking in the mirror differently and judging the flaws that were not apparent before being introduced to social standards.
It is a sad fact that schoolgirls are more concerned about appearances rather than grades. A study conducted by the health and beauty company Superdrug has revealed that a quarter of the 3,000 nine to 15-year-old girls polled believed that good looks would get them further in life than good exam results, and more than half said they felt pressure to look as flawless as celebrities in magazines. A multitude of young girls are losing the value in education as the quest for perfection, individualization, and acceptance becomes increasingly critical to survive in American society.
"Requires multi-level intervention to dismantle oppressive systems"
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