In modern society, there is an unattainable expectation of beauty. To be beautiful is such an abstraction and yet everyone has a more or less universal idea of beauty. Although everyone has personal aesthetic preferences, the “beautiful” woman would typically be described as pale, light-eyed, light-haired, thin, and of average height. The idea of beauty does shift between cultures, but even in eastern culture, western beauty ideals are often upheld. Although, especially in current society, differences are being celebrated, there is a lot of exploitation in these physical differences or uncommon features. For example, a woman of color may be considered beautiful because she is “exotic” or a fat woman may be considered beautiful because she is “curvy.” Even though women are being lauded for their “non-traditional” beauty, they are rarely grouped in the same category as beautiful women who meet western ideals.
In the modeling industry, we are seeing a breakthrough of models of color, fat models, and trans models. But even these more diverse models are not representative of the common or average woman’s beauty. For instance, fat or plus-size models are often between a size 12 and a size 16. This is in fact rather average for an adult woman. Even still, women sizes 18+ are rarely viewed as beautiful. Furthermore, trans models are often radically femme or masc and fit into gender expectations. Rarely are trans women with facial hair or trans men with breasts seen as beautiful or represented in fashion campaigns.
For all intents and purposes, bodies that don’t meet these unattainable beauty standards are invisible. Clothing is not made to flatter these bodies. They are not seen on runways or in fashion media. They are shamed and shunned which leads to the more personal aspect of invisibility – when one feels like they want to be invisible so as to escape judgment from society. The exclusion of fat models, of models of color, of trans models, of disabled models, and most prominently the exclusion of models who belong to more than one of these communities, is allowing and encouraging society to more or less erase the existence and rights to expression of these women. When someone is made to feel invisible by their community, they begin to view themselves as invisible or unworthy or less than. “Inclusive” beauty campaigns need to be inclusive of the average or exceptional women who fall in between or outside of beauty ideals because these are the women who make up the modern world. Fashion media can no longer be dictated by the desires of men, rather the everyday mundanities and beauties found in the women you see on the street or in the halls. Beauty must be redefined to increase visibility of “others” and “too much”es and “less than”s. Beauty must celebrate women of all differences, not exploit or fetishize them.