Obsession for Perfection
Obsession for
Perfection
But what really is perfection? And who is the judge?
Beauty standards and role of media:
We hear about the perfect body, the
perfect hair, the perfect skin, the perfect color, a perfect life. To be honest
the notion of “being perfect” is unrealistic. We human beings could never and
will never be perfect, we all are imperfectly beautiful in our own ways but
when we strive to be something we cannot obtain often causes us stress and depression,
making us feels scarce and worthless.
And despite
the fact that we hear so much about all this perfection ideals, there is only
one place where I, personally, have encountered it: in the pages of novels,
poetry, books formed through the words of authors who describe individuals who
don’t exist, Or in the movies and dramas, where everything is drafted and hours
have been devoted to make-up, hair, and airbrushing, Or on the cover of a
magazines, where the model in issue has starved herself all day to keep up the
image criteria of the photographer, and then been photoshopped by graphic
experts until the model no longer resembles herself.
Traditional feminine beauty standards vary across cultures throughout
the world. Stereotypes regarding beauty include a Latin American admiration for
petite women with curves; an Asian admiration of oval faces with black hair and
average heights; and Indian and African cultures admire for women who have a
healthy weight and body. Although these stereotypes seized to be true in the
past, globalization is changing traditional concepts of beauty. International-beauty-standards, as propagated by international
beauty contests are now valued by some societies.
Diversity is attractive. It makes life much more interesting.
But for some reason, a few people still feel the urge to tear others down for
what they look like.
There is a well-known notion, that a thin, “conventionally
beautiful” woman is what all women should make every effort toward
becoming and that anything outside that standard isn’t worthy.
Body shaming is a term used when individuals are judged
negatively due to their physical appearance. Commonly, women and men are
fat-shamed if they have been seen “overweight” or don’t fit in the ideal image
of “smart and pretty”.
Undoubtedly media, in general, is
able to create a damaging, unrealistic notion to how a woman’s
body should look. This includes movies, television, and print.
Academic studies of media and its prevalent effects on body
image specify that we live in an image-based society both online and in person,
because of this, media owners are focused on appearance is fierce than ever. Audiences
are presumed to loves thin, whether it be in print ads, movies, music videos,
etc., seeing something odd isn’t considered trendy.
Whilst some research studies have shown that representation
of men and women’s figure and ideal beauty standard in the media can have a consequence
on how young generations, in particular, perceive their own bodies, it is way
more complicated than that.
There are a lot of things we don’t
like regarding our physical appearance. Perhaps our nose is of inappropriate
size, or we may have acne on face, or any other so called ‘flaw.’ We might feel
nasty and disgusted with ourselves because of these flaws. They may even make
us feel anxious with our own appearance and this might lead us to conclude that
others don’t love us because of these flaws.
Social media impact:
Social media took the
wave of body shaming to a new height. Few companies and celebrities are now
working to alter the narrative regarding beauty and what are adequate standards
of the female body. Today, teenage girls and boys are swamped with a flood of
“perfect” body figures through their social media feeds. On top, people comment
on these pictures, at times in disapproving and rude tones.
Body-shaming practice isn’t exclusive to the female gender.
Teen boys and men are also the victims to thoughtless judgments and insensitive
comments.
“Keyboard courage” is an aspect that plays a huge role for those who make insensitive
and offensive comments for others online. By typing down their insensitive
judgmental comments towards celebrities and strangers online, they feel as if there
would be no significant impact of their statements and words.
Harnaam Kaur, a body positivity campaigner, said there was a
lack of diversity in body images in the media. Ms Kaur, who has
claimed a Guinness world record for her beard, said this had given her confidence to set up an
Instagram page. Speaking after videos of her surfaced on social media
around the world, in an interview she said: "I'm trying to
separate myself from the norms of society. "That
is why Instagram is so important for me, to do photo shoots and show people it
is ok to look different.”
"I
do also feel that companies need to open up their doors to people who do look
different and actually stop photo-shopping images… "The way that women's
bodies and men's bodies that are being portrayed are not actually their natural
form."
Embrace your Imperfections:
The gateway
to embracing imperfections is to realize the fact that there is no such thing
as perfect. Perfection is subjective in nature and indicates something
different to everybody. It also is detained on a base of greatness that is too
unbelievable to actually be real. Perfection is the idea you have in your mind
that you think will make you the happiest and show off your skills the best. Whilst
there is no doubt that the objectification of bodies needs to be controlled,
When we believe in ourselves and are comfortable with our own bodies, it is
then we can pass that confidence onto our children – not just to say it – but
to believe it! And those imperfections are creative and unique.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1187344/mirror-mirror-how-warped-beauty-standards-dominate-pakistani-style
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