You're More Beautiful Than You Think.

For millennia, beauty has been dictated by society by a slender frame with a large bust and a narrow waist. The jawline was supposed to be defined, and the cheekbones were supposed to be high and pointed. The nose angular in shape. The lips large, but not to the point of being hideous. The eyes big and vivid, either blue or green. Hair long, thick, and flowing, with a golden hue if possible.

Many people, particularly women, have suffered from body shaming and low self-esteem as a result of this categorization. Because society has already established the SI Unit of beauty, people have grown up disliking their appearance.

The commercial sector has turned classification into a weapon, profiting billions of dollars from people attempting to meet predetermined norms. The world is so diverse that I believe whoever devised the categorization had a very impaired perspective.

As revealed in this Dove social experiment, perception is a very powerful thing.

The firm, which has spent the previous several years promoting "true beauty," enlisted the help of FBI-trained forensic artist Gil Zamora, who created two drawings of the ladies who took part in the study. The first is based on a woman's description of herself, while the second is based on a stranger's description of them.

The chosen participants were invited to a loft in San Francisco without being informed why. Following their introductions, the women were led one by one into a room where Gil Zamora asked them to identify themselves. The artist and the women were separated by a curtain, so he didn't meet them face to face until the sketches were finished.

The ladies were instructed to use neutral language and adhere to the facts while describing their experiences. Zamora drew each woman solely on the basis of her self-description. The next day, a stranger they had met in the loft described the same woman. The subjects were then given the two sketches.

The whole exercise was recorded and the results were turned into a six-minute film entitled Dove Real Beauty Sketches. (It’s available on youtube)

Each of the ladies uses more negative vocabulary to describe herself, but the strangers use more positive language to describe the same person, resulting in the second sketch being more flattering and accurate in every case. Many ladies were so moved by the outcome that they cry when they saw the stark contrast between the two sketches. We are more attractive than we believe, yet we think so little of ourselves as a result of society's imposed criteria for beauty.

The beauty ideal is indoctrinated in us at an early age when we are just children. That's why, once we've been classified, we can't change our minds about beauty until it's too late. Toys and Barbie dolls that we used to play with were already designed to suit the concept of 'real' beauty. The advertising we see on television typically shows the ideal model, and so forth.

What are our options for altering the narrative? We must shame the gatekeepers of 'beauty' into opening the doors wider so that no one is ever left out.

Mettel, Inc., a global toy manufacturing company based in the United States, has been taking steps in the right way in terms of body positivity for just some time.

Last year (2020), the business released a broad range of dolls in an effort to distance itself from Barbie's reputation as the unnaturally slim blonde symbol accused for warping young children's perceptions of beauty, skin tone, and body form. Mattel is attempting to appeal to a wider audience by creating dolls with ‘imperfections’. One of the dolls is bald. A prosthetic limb is worn by another. Another doll's curling black hair is whisked away from her face to reveal that she suffers from vitiligo, a disorder in which areas of skin lose their color.

Are people's opinions changing? Yes and no at the same time is the answer. Large women, no matter how famous or wealthy, continue to cause disquiet in the fashion industry. Regardless of how attractive their appearance is.

For the arbiters of beauty, elevating them to legendary status is a difficult, psychological challenge. They want elegant élan in their beauty icons. Long lines and sharp edges are required. They're looking for women who can fit into small sample sizes.

The expansion of luxury fashion businesses into Asia, Latin America, and Africa has compelled designers to explore how to sell to those consumers while avoiding cultural stumbling blocks.

A new concept of idealized beauty is required. Who will sort it out? And what will the definition be?

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