A strong reason why women should start learning about themselves. It’s more than just about the market.
You see those white-skinned, high-bridged noses and perfect teeth in TikTok videos and start comparing yourself to them, even wishing that you had a “perfect” body like theirs or, at least, that kind of beauty. Then, you start searching for products that could make you feel “beautiful” just like them: skincare products, makeup, and fashion items, and you check them out immediately. Will it end there? No. It’s a loop—a never-ending cycle.
Let me identify what beauty standards actually are. They are a set of “ideal” yet illogical standards that society expects women to meet. These standards are constantly shown through films, social media, magazine covers, and advertisements.
I am not saying that taking care of your physical appearance is bad, but it’s about how well you understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Nowadays, being a woman is quite tough. The internet keeps showing us what an “ideal” and “perfect” appearance should look like and how you can achieve it with certain products.
The question is, why? Why does the media keep showing these unrealistic ideals? Why does the media keep projecting that being “beautiful” means being worthy?
To be honest, I couldn’t think that clearly about this, but I think it’s more than just the market. It’s more than simply “keeping the market alive.” It becomes a form of control—a control without being physically imposed. Unfortunately, society contributes to this control as well. Men keep women focused only on their appearance. They limit women’s potential by creating such standards.
And what exactly happens when we don’t fit into these beauty standards? Internally, women start to feel anxious or even depressed because they are constantly told how they should look. externally, society sometimes would treat them “differently” even treat them “unfair” in certain level.
How many times, you meet people with such beauty standard being treated more kind and respect,rather than the one who actually “not fit into beauty standard” ?
On top of that, many beauty campaigns in the skincare industry focus on anti-acne products or reducing dead skin. “Bye-Bye Acne!” or “Look perfectly young at the age of 30,” or “Get rid of dull skin,” while the posters they show often feature a woman with a bronzed complexion who is transformed into someone with white skin.
They make normal things such as wrinkles and acne seem like something’s wrong with you, when, in fact, they are completely normal parts of being human.
The media opens the door to keep repeating these ideas and makes everyone constantly feeling insecure about themselves, feeling like they are never enough. By the end of the day, they sell products to supposedly make “women feel better.” Sadly, women won’t have enough mental space to think about their potential or the things they are actually capable of doing, because the media and society forced us to keep thingking about “how to be beautiful”.
So, as women, it is really important for us to be knowledgeable and aware of what is happening around us. What if we don’t? Then it slowly starts becoming a form of control over women. Men will keep your focus only on your physical appearance. They won’t let you become fully confident or think about your potential because they don’t want you to. They’ll have complete control over your focus.
That’s why it is really important to have a good awareness of what is happening around us.