Diversity in its simplest terms means variety. So having a diverse group of people is to have people who look different, with different ethnicities and backgrounds, body types, etc. Society’s image of what’s considered beautiful doesn’t encompass a diverse image. Somewhere along the way, diversity has come to be seen as weird or not beautiful by society’s norms.
Typically when people think of what’s considered beautiful, they think of a skinny white girl with long hair with wide hips and full lips— that’s what’s plastered all over the media anyways. People tend to fetishize white women with characteristics of women of color but women of color aren’t seen as beautiful when they have those characteristics that their race or ethnicity is inherently known for. For instance, the plastic surgery industry has been altering physical appearances by injecting lip fillers and implanting silicone into the hip, thigh, and gluteal region. Augmentations of this kind have been popular as of lately. By all means, everyone is allowed to have any procedures they would like to have and this isn’t about shaming plastic surgery, but the idea that glorifying these features when they’re unnatural and shaming them when they’re not has got to stop.
Yes, everyone is allowed to have their own definition of what’s beautiful and what’s not. Rather than uplifting women that fall into that category and degrading the women that don’t by making them feel inferior or less then, you could simply keep it zipped if you can’t come to see the beauty in all women.
As of recently some issues have come to light where women in the makeup industry are not hiring women of color for shoots. Rather than paying women to show what makeup swatches would actually look like against their complexion, they photoshop a white woman’s arm to seem as if they are being inclusive. There are also issues with trans women and plus size women explicitly being excluded from certain companies because they’re not part of their “brand”— which is just another way to say “you’re not society’s ideal image of what’s considered beautiful, therefore we can’t have you representing us.”
It’s time that we recognize that all ethnicities, races, cultures, body types, backgrounds, etc. are beautiful and that we need to stop idealizing a certain image. Just because someone doesn’t fit that “ideal image” doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful and should be treated any differently. So let’s stop outcasting women for things that they can’t choose like what they look like or where they come from. Hopefully somewhere down the line we can create a more inclusive image of what’s considered beautiful and abandon our current societal beliefs. Women of all backgrounds deserve representation and to feel beautiful.
Thanks for reading, loves!
xoxo,
Alliah ♡