The Hegemonic Standard of Beauty
The fascination of beauty captured me at a young age. Actually, one of the most memorable things anyone has ever said to me was “you just ache for beauty”, and it’s true. I physically double over when looking at sunsets, nothing seems more wondrous than blue skies, and I am an avid flower enthusiast. That sense of “aching” for beauty translated to a fascination of beauty products, and the feeling of ecstasy when one feels truly comfortable in their skin. Unfortunately, that isn’t how a large majority of us experience makeup.
The Hegemonic Standard of Beauty has dug its nails into society and left scars on each one of us. Whether we can recognize its effects is up to us. It refers to the standard of beauty widely accepted by society, so for America that would be the tall, skinny but curvy, White woman. It has nothing to do with personal preference, or what you as an individual may think is the most “beautiful”. And it most certainly has nothing to do with the truth, because the simple but deceptively difficult truth is that ALL of us, including that “ideal” woman, posses innate beauty. The Hegemonic Standard of Beauty simply refers to the type of features that society has deemed the standard of beauty. Do you see a problem already? Do you see how much we lose as a society if a “standard” is in existence, and we all either fall below or above the standard? Do you see how divisive and dangerous glorifying one type of person is? Do you see how limited we become when only a single race of woman, and a very specific type of women of that race, is deemed beautiful?
We start forgetting the beauty that is found in uniqueness. We start forgetting that there is immense beauty to be found in simply being human. We have forgotten that what makes us beautiful is not the comments or approval of society, but the fact that each of us possess a unique face, and that unique face tells stories of our past, our ancestors, our cultures, and ourselves. We have forgotten that we add so much beauty to the world by being different, by possessing different features, by being unique and irreplaceable. No one is you and that is your power. Don’t let society diminish the way you feel about yourself because you don’t fit the Hegemonic Standard; you’re not supposed to be able to fit a mold. You’re not as simple as they want you to be.
