Beauty pageants have long been criticized for encouraging only one kind of beauty. In America, this beauty ideal tends to be tall, slim, blond and busty, much like the Barbie dolls we grew up playing with. According to Jezebel, strict ideas of beauty might not just be an American thing. Dodai Stewart recently reported on the 2013 Miss Korea Pageant and the possibility of a “cosmetic surgery template” when she saw the similarities between all of the contestants (originally pointed out by a Japanese blog and on Reddit). Stewart wrote:
“At first glance, the images of the contestants in the 2013 Miss Korea pageant seem like a trick of the eye: Wait, are some of these the same person with different hair? At second glance, it’s clear that there are different women in each photo, but they have very similar features.”
Then Stewart asks an important question: Are society’s views of beauty too narrow? If women feel the need to look exactly alike and are willing to get cosmetic surgery to make it happen, then perhaps society needs to redefine what it finds attractive, or at least, stop pressuring all of us to look the same. Then she makes an even better point: Women should be evaluated on something other than their looks, their sexual appeal, such as their character or accomplishments, the same way a man is evaluated in society.
Do you feel pressured to measure up to a particular ideal of beauty? What do you think we can do to change how we perceive ourselves and how the media portray women in general?