Part 3: Beauty Positivity and Diversity

HAS SOCIAL MEDIA LIBERATED WOMEN'S BODIES IN TERMS OF BEAUTY?

Positive Social Media

(TikTok, 2023)

There is evidence to suggest that social media has allowed us to challenge beauty ideals and can be used to liberate women. Social media has allowed for greater representation of diverse beauty standards and body types including different ethnicities, cultures, LGBTQ+ and plus size women. Providing a platform for people to challenge and consume content that goes against conventional beauty norms.

There are many accounts that have helped me to feel accepting of my own body and beauty. Including, Mik Zazon who has 1.7 million followers on TikTok (2023) and speaks openly about body image issues. She does this through her own experiences of having eating disorders. Including orthorexia, which is being obsessed with eating clean food, and bulimia which consists of binge eating and then trying to purge your body from it afterwards. Her account focuses on being aware of the difference in healthy eating and exercising. Compared to pushing your body to the extreme, including diets and excessive exercise. She is trying to challenge what is viewed as healthy and beautiful. A great example of social media promoting body positivity and liberating women from beauty standards.

Then, there is Precious Lee a black, plus-size model. She has worked with several high-profile brands and has used her platform, including social media, as a powerful voice for inclusiveness and body acceptance. She has a huge impact on boosting self-confidence among women of all shapes and sizes, demonstrating new representation in the media. It shows progress in accepting that being black and plus sized can be beautiful. Her existence on Instagram with over 400,000 followers (2023) speaks to the diversity that can be seen on social media.

(Instagram , 2023)

Precious Lee demonstrates the progress that magazines and fashion companies have made. She became the first black, curve model to feature on the cover of Vogue in 2015. It demonstrates a shift in the content of visual media. I have argued the existence of companies like Vogue sustain the beauty ideal. However, featuring Precious Lee shows a shift. Not just in how media is delivered but in its content, including diversity. Showing that companies are evolving.

(Instagram , 2023)

Particularly when we see beauty companies dedicating their whole social media to challenge ideas of beauty. Dove, who has 801,000 followers on Instagram, (2023) helped create The CROWN Act (2019). This stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair and is trying to end discrimination on race-based hairstyles through awareness and demanding legislation be put in place. This is just one of the many campaigns Dove have piloted including the 2023 Dove Self-Esteem Project Research for Kids’ Online Safety. This included a live event talking about the mental health crisis social media is causing, particularly affecting teenage perception of beauty. It featured live speeches, including from singer Lizzo, who talked about taking control of your social media.

(Instagram , 2023)

Therefore, I would argue that our society and visual media has become more accepting of diverse beauty standards. Someone like Precious Lee would not have been represented in previous media forms. Social media has allowed for more diversity, instead of focusing on white, slim women. It has allowed people to challenge the pressure they feel to be beautiful. Including, Mik Zazon who shows that it is ok for women to have scars and fat rolls, meaning beauty is not a strict ideal anymore. Social media has allowed women to post content, to not only liberate themselves, but empower other women.

Challenging Beauty Standards

There are examples in history of artists questioning what they see in the media and one key example is Cindy Sherman. Her work coincided with second wave feminism (Burkett, 2020) in the 1960s and 1970s. This female liberation movement touched on a broad area of women's experiences including family, politics and importantly sexuality, which I believe inspired Sherman to challenge female objectification.

In Cover Girl (1976) Sherman directly challenges the ideals in fashion, and specifically magazines. Her photos are parodies of magazine covers (Courtauldian, no date) used to undermine the stereotypical perception of beauty that is accepted as the norm. These fictional characters represent models. Through presenting them as magazine covers, she explores how media may not present reality through manipulating the images. Showing how media represents gender and identity as problematic.

(Cindy Sherman, 1976)

I argue if in 1976 artists such as Sherman were questioning how media is presenting women and beauty, we must be aware of beauty standards. As a society or as individuals we must recognise that we are more aware of how media presents people as beautiful and question its negative impact. We can challenge what reality is and understand that visual media is often edited to create the perception of perfect. Demonstrating we have developed to not passively accept the strict ideal on social media.

A recent example of someone actively challenging ideals is the work of Mihaela Noroc (2017) in her photography, Atlas of Beauty. She wanted to reflect inner beauty beyond race, class and cosmetics. Trying to actively show beauty is more than its portrayal in the media. Her photos, featuring five hundred women from over fifty countries, are diverse, including different races, ages, and body types. Someone once again trying to confront the norm. Demonstrating that people must recognise that beauty standards need to be challenge. Her work is making those who may not fit the ideal including different ethnicities, class, and age feel beautiful.

(Mihaela Noroc, 2017)

Her work has been promoted in a variety of mainstream ways. Such as on BBC, Forbes, and interestingly Glamour, a fashion magazine who now have 2.5 million followers on Instagram (2023). They say, on their account, they are redefining fulfilment for women with fashion, beauty, and culture news. Through sharing others work, like Mihaela Noroc, it shows that challenging beauty ideals is getting mainstream attention on social media. Showing how it can help raise awareness around harmful beauty ideals and help liberate women.

Not Everything Is As It Seems

It is important to recognise just because something is labelled as beauty positive does not mean that it is. Sometimes when trying to be diverse certain groups of people are excluded, which can cause problems and result in questions. How do we ensure that our beauty positivity and diversity is truly inclusive?

One beauty campaign by lingerie companies Victoria Secret collaborating with Bluebella was advertised on social media with the aim of promoting self-love (Bluebella, 2019). It features Victoria Secret's first plus size model, Ali Tate, a size 14 (Jordan, 2019). However, the average UK women’s dress size is a 16 (Hosie, 2017), meaning she is slimmer. As an individual, she may stand for diversity, but in this rebrand she represents something else.

(Bluebella, 2019)

The Guardian (Elan P, 2020) explored how Victoria Secrets' rebrand is “skin deep”. Claiming it was a response to the huge criticism around lack on inclusivity. They have been too slow in progressing diversity, including within the company, which is mainly run by men, and online. This article makes a direct comparison to Rihanna's Lingerie brand Savage X Fenty, which has been founded on similar ideas of self-love. However, they post more diversity on social media including multiple plus size, transgender, disabled and different ethnicity models. Therefore, I argue, Victoria Secret is adding diversity to avoid public criticism and is not genuinely inclusive.

Although this campaign may be labelled as promoting self-love and appear diverse, it is excluding certain women, including disabled women. Implying that they are not beautiful enough to be part of the campaign. It is only adding diversity due to previous criticism, not because they truly believe diversity can be beautiful. Making them feel unworthy and implementing standards.

(Instagram, 2019)

Including a group of people for public approval is an act of tokenism. This is explained (Sherrer, 2018) as doing something to prevent criticism or to appear fair when it is only symbolic, such as hiring one person from a minority group. Meaning, it is not fully inclusive and diverse, which can mean groups feel unwelcome or unvalued. It often (Stables, n.d.) happens when companies are unwilling to make a genuine effort to be inclusive. It appears like change is being made to the public, however, one campaign including one curve model, does not mean that the whole attitudes of a media company have changed. That is just a distraction.

Vogue, on their social media pages, feature women like Precious Lee a black, plus size model. They have posts as part their annual #GlobalWomen campaign (Nast, 2023) which focuses on six different types of women to capture how they represent themselves around the world. Such as, The Grande Dames of Milingimbi (Vogue, 2023) who are nicknamed the weaving women. They are a group of indigenous women off the coast of Australia who weave different pieces which connects each artist to their ancestors. It is a post that contrasts to others of models. Showing a new culture that is not represented. Portraying that as beautiful and adding to the diversity of social media.

Although, this may look like a piece that breaks new boundaries, Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, has been in trouble for lack of effort with inclusivity. One article has stated that Vogue’s push for diversity may have come too late (Lee, E, 2020). Wintour has been accused of a racist work environment which marginalised and tokenised women of colour, specifically black women. Therefore, we must ask if the use of diversity in Vogue is trying to be inclusive and challenge beauty standards or is it to gain public approval.

(Instagram, 2023)

Wintour has stated (Forbes, 2020) an apology saying she knows that she has not done enough to ‘elevate’ black creators and has published harmful stories and takes full responsibility for this. It is good that she has identified the problems in her company. It does mean there is potential for progress and challenging the beauty standard shown previously. However, it is harder to believe when Vogue's actions do not demonstrate that shift and align with her apology.

Wintour and The Vogue team caused controversy when posting American Vice President Kamala Harris on social media. The image of Harris was accused of laziness, including its editing and setting. People claimed it was not up to the standard Vogue normally produces. However, more shockingly, it was accused of white washing, (Elan P, 2021) but Wintour defended it. The act of white washing is explained as removing or replacing a person of colour with a white person or altering them to appear white (Gillespie, C. 2021). Obviously, this is problematic and is excluding people of colour in the portrayal of beauty.

The picture was apparently chosen against Harris wishes. It is creating the narrative that lighter skin is considered more beautiful. Therefore, spreading a harmful beauty standard through purposefully excluding people of colour. It is an act of tokenism that Anna Wintour has been accused of. Although, at first, they look like an example of progress, there is still a lack of tolerance around race which is refusal to be fully inclusive. There intentions are not to challenge diversity but are merely symbolic. This attempt of progress is superficial, evidenced by acts like white washing of the first female, black, American Vice President. This should be inspirational, but instead the focus was on her skin.

(Instagram, 2021)

Therefore, images labelled positive may be deceptive to the diversity we initially perceive. Portraying how pictures can be symbolic and not demonstrate what is happening behind the scenes. Showing how some social media posts can be acts of tokenism and not promoting real change in beauty standards. These tokenisms allow us to believe that diversity and inclusivity is being achieved despite standards of beauty existing.