By Hifza Zahid
The pressure on women to conform to beauty standards set by society is a long-standing issue that has been pervasive across cultures and time periods. These standards often promote a narrow and unrealistic definition of beauty, leading to a variety of negative consequences for women’s self-esteem, mental health, and overall well-being.
These beauty standards contributes to objectifying women, reducing them to mere physical appearances rather than recognising their talents, intelligence, and contributions to society.
Society often promotes an idealised image of beauty, usually characterised by specific body types such as zero figure or hourglass figure; which includes wide hips, a narrow waist, and broad shoulders, facial features; faces that achieve golden ratio proportions or a more triangular shaped face, larger eyes and wider-set eyes, distinctive jawline, fuller pouting lips, slim nose and skin tones(white).
These beauty standards are often unattainable for most women, creating feelings of inadequacy and a constant pursuit of an unattainable goal. Women then develop body image issues, feeling dissatisfied or uncomfortable with their physical appearance, leading to low self-esteem and even
eating disorders or other mental health problems.
Feeling pressured to conform to these beauty standards fosters an environment of comparison and competition among women. This can create unnecessary rivalries and detract from meaningful connections and mutual support. Women themselves may internalise these beauty standards,
leading to self-objectification and self-criticism based on appearance. This internalised misogyny can further reinforce patriarchal norms and hinder women’s empowerment and solidarity with one another.
Promoting a more inclusive and diverse understanding of beauty is essential in challenging these harmful beauty standards. Encouraging body positivity, self-acceptance, and embracing different forms of beauty will empower women to be comfortable in their own skin and reject the pressure to conform to narrow beauty ideals set by society. It will require a collective effort from all of us and society as a whole to foster an environment that celebrates and respects the uniqueness of every individual.
