Beauty will always be an undefinable, nebulous concept. So, the term “beauty standard” is already failing to be anything but a made-up concept for made-up ideals to carry on manufactured, dangerous insecurities such as those surrounding weight.
A beauty “ideal” can become lethal. The eating disorder community on various social media platforms, such as X, is an upsetting example.
It’s a community made up of young women determined to lose weight by any means possible.
Common posts in the community include images of extremely thin women labeled “thinspo”, calorie- counting meals, obsessive BMI tracking, aggressive fatphobia and constant encouragement from fellow users to lose weight.
As they become thinner and thinner, they gain more followers.
Their comments are filled with encouragement and compliments, no matter how unhealthy they look.
Many users in the community have been hospitalized due to their condition but frequently relapse due to the appeal of being seen as beautiful.
It can even be deadly. In the example of eating disorders, the idea of beauty becomes so warped that there are some users who aspire to the term “deathspo” which includes images of severely underweight women.
A big part of many eating disorders lies with the addiction factor of maintaining a certain weight, but it certainly starts off with a superficial desire to be thin, the standard.
As the beauty standard starts to disintegrate into an addiction related to extreme control over food intake, it’s difficult to do anything but calorie- count and “bodycheck” above any other priority. What starts off as a desire to be “pretty” can turn into something lethal taking over your life.
The discussion of beauty should be paired with what’s so appealing about meeting beauty standards.
It’s not difficult to see how people treat those they consider “pretty” better. Most people have experienced it themselves, whether it’s the difference of losing weight or wearing makeup, fulfilling a beauty standard can be the difference between having someone’s attention or disregard.
We are currently stuck in a particularly brutal time to pursue being considered beautiful. It’s never enough and it never ends, and it’s focused on all the wrong things.
There’s nothing wrong with being invested in beauty but it needs to be approached differently than it currently is in American society. Ideally, physical appearance should be a very small part of what beauty is.
It should be much more abstract and aligned with morality and the actions a person takes.
It feels like we are at a point of no return and well, we might be. However, it’s still worth trying to reframe what is beautiful in people.
Being stick-thin and having perfectly clear skin should take a backburner to someone who makes you laugh or someone who takes the time to listen to you.
Appreciating people’s actions as what makes them beautiful will help to distance us from toxic standards no one will ever meet.
