THE IMPACT OF MODERN BEAUTY STANDARDS ON YOUNG WOMEN: MY STORY FROM THE ARCHIVES OF ELLEXDESIGN

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Disclaimer

Some of you may know of Elle x Design, an older blog that I no longer write in. I started that blog to bring empowerment to women, especially women of color or of Desi background, more specifically. This is an article that I published over a year ago, and I decided to resurface it to share with you a true side of who I am. Maybe this can help you find confidence and comfort in owning your style and being who you are <3.

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Introduction

Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Every feature or scar exists to make us who we truly are, and that is a fact most people agree with. Something that a lot of people don’t recognize, though, is how modern beauty standards can impact the self-esteem and self-image of young girls. 

The “need” to be skinny yet curvy, fair yet tanned, have long hair yet rock short styles, and various other contradictory statements not only confuse young minds but also cause them to not recognize who they truly are.

This is especially true for adolescents who don’t naturally fit into these “modern beauty standards”, such as people of color like me. 

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The Impact of Beauty Standards in My Life

Being influenced by these “modern” or “Western” beauty standards caused a lot of pain and heartache in my own life, and wanting to fit in with those “requirements” caused me to change myself. 

I wanted fairer skin, straighter hair, and lighter eyes rather than loving the beautiful dark features that I was born with. Everywhere I turned, I would see my female peers who checked off every box, and I would lose my own confidence. 

Honestly, I don’t even think I had any confidence back then. 

These beauty standards impacted me so much when I was younger that I ended up severely damaging my natural curls. Every single day during the four years of 5th-9th grade, I picked up the straightener and fried my hair until it completely lost its natural pattern. I would also stay out of the sun to avoid getting darker than I already was, and I even started dressing differently to help me “fit in”.

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Slow Changes into Self-Confidence

I only stopped doing all of these things when COVID-19 hit. Schools were closed, everyone was on lockdown, and no one could see me through the computer screen. I was free to be myself, so I started healing my appearance. 

As I grew up though, I realized that most young girls are impacted by these “modern beauty standards”, no matter where they’re from. You don’t need to be constantly surrounded by the “ideal” fair-skinned, light-haired, bright-eyed girls to feel this type of insecurity.

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Conclusion

Beauty standards vary vastly throughout the world, but they all exist to try to change who you are. 

Ideas that the media feeds, like skin-bleaching products, self-tanners, actresses with artificially colored eyes, the lack of knowledge on how to care for curly hair, and the pressure to have “beachy” texture on pin-straight hair can cause women to feel insecure about their natural beauty, especially when they are younger.

In the end, everything is a contradiction. You’re either too tall or too short. Too skinny or too fat. Too dark or too fair. 

There is no in-between.

There is only the option of being yourself. 

So, just be yourself. You can’t satisfy anyone else in this world.

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