Nowadays, one of the main reasons why people are less confident and not their real selves is because of these unrealistic expectations and demands of beauty standards. Society has always been judgmental and will continue to become more overbearing. They will always have their hypercritical eyes over us, pointing out little flaws and commenting on how they don’t ‘fit in’.
These quixotic demands and so-called ‘beauty standards’ are just an illusion to make a person feel insecure about themselves, feel uncomfortable in their own body and make them think they are not good enough for this world. The previous year ‘beauty standard’ had been an hourglass figure which led to people starving themselves, even getting some of their ribs removed and going through surgeries to gain a thinner waist and wide chest.
People, especially teens, have a negative body image. Surveys have proven that 97% of women have at least one negative thought about the way they look every day, just because society has taken it upon themselves to ‘educate’ the world about how they should look if they want to be left out or fell like an oddball. Moreover, the suicide rate caused by body image concerns is 13%. One out of eight adults has suicidal thoughts or feelings because they have cynical opinions of their bodies. Society would be telling you how ‘ugly’ you look without make-up or surgeries or Botox when they are looking like the face Barbie-Dolls with their face caked with makeup. And the worst part is that body shaming and considering yourself ‘hideous looking' because you cannot meet ‘beauty standards’ is taken as normalcy in this era. It is ‘normal’ to hate yourself and the cause of it is social media, toxic people and ‘beauty standards'.
A friendly reminder, to keep believing in yourselves and be loyal to your own body. Because, if society is picking on you today, they’ll find someone new to comment on the next, no doubt. It’s their everyday life because they got nothing better to do. Just put them on mute and shove it in their face that you’re worth more than the rarest stone. Love yourself and when they see you are not affected by their words, they will feel downgraded.
By Syeda Omaila Ayaz
The Problem of Beauty Standards
