Growing up, I use to watch Disney movies non-stop. Particularly, the Disney princess movies. So you could imagine, when "The Beauty and The Beast" movie was to hit the theaters, I was elated with joy. Of course, I was the first one in line with my father, along with the five-year-olds girls. And yes, I brought my father and I’m not ashamed (Spoiler, it was amazing).
But it also got me thinking about the topic of beauty. The main idea of the movie is essentially that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or more so that beauty isn't everything; it's not what's important. However, as moral and noble that perspective is, it's not reality. The beauty industry has flirted, slept with, and booty called every aspect of an individual's life. Beauty, in my opinion, is essentially the oldest and pursued concept in human history though the standards of beauty changes with time. In other words, beauty is hardwired into an individual's brain as it has been passed down through generations. Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality, individuals have surely been pressured into looking a certain way.
That being said, How do we, as a society, achieve beauty?
There are multiples ways— Instead of paying your phone bill, go down to Sephora and buy a foundation that will cover your face for $50. Or make good on that New Year’s resolution of losing weight and get a gym membership. Truth is, there are infinite amount of ways but not limited to achieving beauty. Be it by makeup, plastic surgery, fitness, clothing, skin care, hair, jewelry etc. Not to mention, beauty standards differentiate with regards to gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, even politics. The U.S. beauty and cosmetic industry is expected to exceed 62 billion dollars in 2016. While the plastic surgery industry (surgical and non-surgical) brings in a total of 13.5 billion dollars in revenue in the United States alone in the year of 2016. Not to mention, the global apparel market is valued at 3, not billion, but trillion dollars and it accounts for 2% of the words GDP.
What does say about humanity?
There are currently 1.56 million people who are homeless currently in the United States. But we as Americans, rather spend money on makeup and clothes. And in the process, we characterize those who are homeless for being lazy and selfish. These are just a few ways how we express beauty. We read and watch beauty in our books and movies. We have careers dedicated to beauty; models and actors. We hang posters to idolize these “beautiful” men and women in our bedrooms. The commercials and ads are filled with models. Social media promotes beauty 24/7, non-stop. Instagram, being the hub of what is considered beautiful as it's only filled with photos.
Speaking of social media, let's talk about Tinder. Tinder, a modern style dating app. However, I choose to look at it as one of the most vain apps ever created. An individual is solely basing whether they like the person or not based of their looks. If the individual in the photo doesn’t look like someone they have seen in a magazine, on tv, or “pretty” according to society standards, then they get rejected. An individual worth is solely decided by a simple motion of swiping right or left. Furthermore, According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Tinder is valued at 1.35 billion dollars. And the most depressing and heartbroken thing about tinder was that it was only created 5 years ago.
So why is beauty so important to us?
Well, I believe Oscar Wilde answers this question best when he said, "Everything is about sex. But sex, is about power". Everything is about sex. Through beauty, we attract individuals. Attraction leads to sex. And sex leads to children. And through children, an individuals lineage survives. I believe beauty is some sort of human survival technique. Overall, beauty is an every aspect of our lives. In my opinion, It's probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest surviving empires in the world. And it will continue to survive and flourish, as its extremely hardwired into our brains.
Statistics Information:
https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-...
