Beauty: Sexism, Misogyny Or Just Business
The human obsession with beauty can only be blamed on the tendency of society to judge people based on their looks and appearance. The field will forever be uneven especially for women who bear the brunt the most. Beauty has been defined in so many shapes, sizes and colors that most women will feel inadequate by the simple reaction or comments made towards them by people, especially men. The standards keep changing and morphing and this has been a major boost for beauty companies. In fact, recent studies have shown that beauty and attractiveness are factors that can be considered when looking for jobs, since conventionally attractive people are perceived to be more likable and trustworthy.
Some workspaces will promote or hire people solely based on looks arguing that skills can be learnt or transferred later. Most managers in professional settings agree that they will always choose the best candidate for the job, but when it comes down to making the decision between multiple candidates who are equally qualified in every possible perspective with attractiveness being the only variable, the attractive person almost always gets the job.
This is not always the case especially in a field largely dominated by women (human resources). Various studies show that women, particularly in their late 20s and early 30s discriminate against beautiful women applicants simply out of jealousy and the fear of competition. Secondly, this has been made even worse by men who have a difficult time perceiving a beautiful woman as intelligent and capable. In fact, many women try their best to conceal their beauty, which is unfortunate because they are hiding who they are simply to get societal acceptance.
Being beautiful can be frustrating. It’s easy to say that attractive women get preferential treatment but try walking in their shoes for a day and try dealing with the sexism, inappropriate remarks, unwanted advances, and envy on a daily basis. It ends up being exhausting and draining both mentally and physically. The saddest part about such discrimination is that perceived unattractive men are not ignored nearly as much as unattractive women. Men get an easy pass in the name of protecting their masculinity
Additionally, the spotlight on beauty has largely revolved around women who are scrutinized based on weight, height and color. The media has played a big role in this atrocity the reason we have seen an increased emergence of hate towards dark skinned women as well as those perceived to be fat (a largely subjective and sensitive topic). Beauty companies have capitalized by developing bleaching products as if that is not enough, thinning pills have flooded our markets targeting an audience that is easily swayed by market trends, fashion statements and Hollywood.
There have been increased gym subscriptions by the same women, and no, not for health purposes as it should be, but to project a certain image on beauty and remain competitive to their counterparts. One might ask, “What is the role of men in all this?” well, they just sit on the couch or gather at a corner to objectify women through sneers and subtle sexist jokes. This is damaging to a woman’s self-esteem but apparently, they love the attention and validation. Reality TV shows don’t help either with themes surrounding beauty that have such a massive following which is scary and cultish at the same time.
Another question that pops up in several occasions is, “What are we doing to counter the negative narrative?” well, one company tried to offer a solution but despite their earnings hitting the roof with an ingenious campaign we are still left wondering if the message really hit where it was supposed to. Dove’s real beauty campaign intended to build a brand beyond women with the intention of changing the perspective towards beauty. It was a battle against sexism and misogyny in a field dominated by men, yet the victims have always been women.
‘Why would I let a man set an unrealistic standard on how I should look, whereas he does the least minimum effort when it comes to how he looks?” This is just one of the many questions women ask but it still beats the purpose when the same gender is promoting silicone implants, whitening creams and soaps in the name of beauty. If such a battle is to be won, then I’d suggest some unity rather than self-contradiction.
Take the example of the Dove’s real beauty campaign. Huge efforts were made to diversify the faces in the ad. A mixture of Caucasian, black, chocolate and European faces was their first win. It wasn’t perfect but the effort was visible. Their second win was on body size. This subject is volatile since its subjective in that what seems fat might be skinny in somebody else’s eyes. The women portrayed in the ad were of average body size so my guess was that they chose a realistic body size that would be accepted universally. A solid 7 over 10 if you ask me. The last aspect of the poster was physical attractiveness in the form of facial beauty. We would all agree that the participants, despite not being models represented what the masses would pass as beautiful, debunking the theory that models have to be skinny or even malnourished. Having selected carefully on the most sensitive aspects of beauty, it was up to the public to decide which combination of the three variables (weight, color and looks) best suited their definition of beauty.
This was sexism right in front of the masses but in a very subtle and honest way that no one would guilt trip on the choices they made. Ingenious it was, right? This is because great advertising often touches on an insight that we recognize but often don’t freely admit to or see every day. While other companies were using runway models to promote their beauty and skincare products, Dove took a chance and used average women to promote the products. A win for them, a win for women and a win for the industry.
I’ve heard somebody ask “Why is it that when men don’t wear makeup, women still find them attractive, but when women don’t wear makeup, they are seen as plain?” One might brush this off as a gender thing but come to think about it, these subtle assumptions are passed down or learnt at a very young age. Girls are taught to do things to impress, guess who, men but boys are viewed to be more masculine if a little neglect is thrown their way. This translates to a dysfunctional adulthood that causes all the problems we see today on the parameters of beauty between the two genders.
In the marketing and advertising industry, a popular mantra thrown around to justify adverts is that people don’t really buy a product, they buy the message behind it. Dove’s message was as clear as day that beauty, especially in women was so broad that a shallow spectrum wasn’t just enough. Its brand equity consequently grew as it became a household name. This would not have occurred had they played it safe and conservative. Over the years, Dove has managed to develop advertisements that try and send the message that women should be challenging perceptions of themselves as well as liberate themselves from their insecurities, from a young age even.
The last bit of the puzzle was and still is what the actual aim of beauty advertisements is. My conclusion would be their purpose is to make beauty attainable to the average woman without really making them uncomfortable about their insecurities. They make people associate with their product with realistic expectations of what to expect on a beauty level, which remains a win for them and a win for women.
