Academic Heather Widdows wants us to ask the question: Do we have a duty to be beautiful? In her latest book, Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal, she investigates the current definition of beauty, analysing how we define its ideal form.
Despite acknowledging the fact that what is considered to be beautiful has always changed, Widdows sees the advent of social media as the catalyst for a tectonic shift in the way girls and women view their bodies. She touched upon a society in which thinness, firmness, smoothness and youth are now championed over intellect or kindness. Anything else is deemed unworthy, she said.
“We have never before had a global ideal that has been so dominant,” she continued. Her argument centred around the vast quantity of messages and images fed to girls through varying social media platforms. In a society that allows there to be more mobile phones than flushing toilets in India, Widdows highlighted how unattainable expectations are gradually being accepted as normal and natural.
She explored the measures many women are taking to modify their body; from skin whitening treatments and hair removal creams to Botox and more severe cosmetic surgery. In one of her case studies, she looked at girls who were forced to grow their body hair. The language around the experiment was negative and harmful. “Hairy legs and hairy armpits look gross,” said one girl. “It signifies a woman being lazy and not taking care of myself.” The self-titled feminists who also felt uncomfortable with their body hair said that their reaction made them feel guilty.
This is a linguistic trend that Widdows thinks is cause for public concern. She looked at the morality associated with beauty ideals and eating habits, quoting, “I’ve been good today; I said no thanks to that cake.” Body dissatisfaction, she said, can lead to lower self-esteem, anxiety, disordered eating, shame and a loss of self-worth.
While the majority of Widdows’ talk was a critical analysis of current beauty trends, she hinted at how society might change. “Categorically, beauty will not make you happy,” she said, “and striving for beauty, especially at the expense of everything else, will stop you achieving in other areas of life.”
If you enjoyed this event, or missed it, you might like event number 336, Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up, on Friday 1 June at 5.30pm.