Beauty canons and Social media

To start with this report I wanted to ask the following question: Who sets the canons of beauty? Is it a public opinion? 

Advertising has been changing over the years and in a certain way towards better, although not always. Beauty is still a very polemic topic. Above all I can see it with greater importance in teenagers / young woman, we live in a society in which the physic predominates a lot in people. I mean, there is an established stereotype of thin bodies and this has become very harmful.

I have chosen this topic because I believe that it is very present in our society, nowadays the prototype of the “perfect body” is within exaggeratedly thin and tall woman, which the majority of the population does not acquire. In addition, with the high influence that social media has, it makes people to strongly want to have the physical acceptance for having what is nowadays considered “beauty”. Also, it is something which we feel quite identified since it is very close to us, as teenagers.

I wanted to use an existing example to make reference of what i’m talking about. https://images.app.goo.gl/pT9WKFN9kYeQVQCy8.
This campaign had a great impact on social media. The “Perfect Body” is not only controversial because of the values ​​and dangers it can develop in its target, but also because of the social stereotypes it reproduces. Once again, advertising over the years has witnessed the canons that are imposed on women by society and the way in which they are judged for it. The feminine appearance has always been, and is, an object of assessment and criticism of women. That is why the desire for perfection has been implanted to unimaginable limits in women’s society. Success and happiness for women come from the hand of a slender body and a pretty face, and their intellectual capacity is relegated to the background.

Today, aesthetic pressure is present in all areas. A good appearance in terms of established cannons means a better presence and more opportunities of any kind. The value of the image is so important that it is necessary to modify it to be within “perfect” and “beautiful”. However, man is not so socially pressured towards the constant search for a better aspect. The masculine sector is not judged by its appearance since it is attributed different values ​​and competences. “The Perfect Body” not only extols feminine beauty as an idyllic symbol, but also makes women an object with more or less value depending on their size.

The media doesn’t tell people what they have to think but it influences on what they will think and how to think, they have the power to give relevance to whatever they’re talking about. When media select topics, they determine the ideas that people are going to talk about and spread or give voice to speeches that already exist.

Media directly influences the public, the degree of attention to the information presented will depend on the public interest and the authority of who is saying that information. But there are always limitations that makes it is impossible to identify or control all the relevant variables when studying the effects of the media.

Moreover, I asked friends and family with different ages some questions about social media and it’s idea of beauty:
Do you think they’re right? Is their idea of beauty the perfect body? 
Yes—> 15%
No—> 85%

Who do you think imposes the idea of beauty nowadays?
Society/Public opinion —> 60%
Brands—> 27%
Influencers —> 13%

Do you think that these beauty canons are the ones that affect girls with eating disorders? No—> 0%
Yes—> 83% It may—> 17%

Basically with these results, it’s very clear the great impact of social media with beauty canons.

It is clear that social reality does not correspond to the images we see in advertising because it adapts exaggerating certain concepts to increase its benefits. Ethically it is not something to be presumed. Creating insecurities in the public and achieving negative effects on a social level isn’t something they should be proud of. But nowadays, brands don’t take much in consideration as they should the ethical part of it all, since its main objective is to increase profits.

During my investigation and after being well informed, I have realized that several questions have arisen along the way. Are beauty canons changing? Or are we simply more critical and no longer accept that they impose exaggerated and unreal ideals on us? Who imposes the canons of beauty? Who decides this is beauty?

Irina Rafel Clavell