Beauty Demands

This post discusses beauty as an ethical ideal as defined by Heather Widdows in her book Perfect Me: Beauty As An Ethical Ideal, particularly focusing on the actions required to meet that ideal, and what happens when you are prevented from doing them. Before going into my argument, I want to clarify that this post does not wish to criticise people with disabilities or chronic illnesses who engage in beautifying behaviours; none of us are really free from beauty as an ethical ideal, including the author, so it would be wrong to condemn anyone who takes part in it. Part of the complexity of beauty is that these practices can genuinely be tools for bonding, self-expression and empowerment; to totally denounce them would be nonsensical. The aim instead is to consider how some of these behaviours support the concept of beauty as an ethical ideal.  Beauty as an ethical ideal involves actions – meaningful pursuits towards a goal. These can include: ‘maintenance’ or routine behaviours to...

Oxford Street with its cold white chiselled structures has some kind of intoxicating effect on me, even when I have vowed to purchase more ethically (and minimally!). The high gloss smooth images of faces beckon away from the grey drizzle of the January streets. Each body curve a cue to come further in, through the double doors into the land of plenty. Later, reflecting on it, I try to pick apart more of what has happened. Whom am I responding to in these adverts, and who do I want to become in this exchange? It feels like a guttural response, like a longing of desire, to be fed and nourished, to participate in the plenty. To feel what it means to be welcome, to have plenty. But who is the person, what have I actually exchanged, in the encounter? There is a lot that can be analysed in this example. The effects of consumption habits, the unconscious motivation, the capitalist strategies at play. However, as I critically engage with the givenness of this situation, I see how pheno...

When you scroll through Instagram or Facebook nowadays you are bound to come across an abundance of images of thin and attractive women. Although we are accustomed to seeing beautiful women in magazines and on television, social media creates a new opportunity for users to be exposed to idealised images of their peers and their favourite celebrities. In traditional media, celebrities are presented as beautiful and ideal figures for women to aspire to. But how does exposure to attractive celebrities on social media sites such as Instagram affect women’s body image?   Instagram in particular is a unique social networking site because its prime focus is on images. Instagram users can edit and filter their images to achieve an ‘ideal’ look, much like magazines photoshopping their images. However, Instagram is more personal than magazines. It presents celebrities and peers together on the same platform, and potentially makes celebrities seem more like friends. Given the rise...

Older women are shamed into believing they must fight the fear of ageing. The omnipresence of anti-ageing creams, gravity defying potions, surgical and non-surgical cosmetic interventions has resulted in an appearance-obsessed society which judges individuals by how well they measure up to the media stereotype of 'perfection'. Women in particular, and increasingly men, are targeted by advertisers and marketers to purchase products that promise youthful perfection. The global cosmetics industry continues to grow; its value in 2015 was  € 181 billion and the largest sector is anti-ageing products. The fear of ageing, sold to young consumers, generates an ageist perception of the ‘horrors’ that come with getting older. The unwelcome natural signs of ageing, including variations in skin tone (age spots), wrinkles and less collagen and therefore less elasticity in skin on the face, body and limbs must be fought or hidden at all costs. Baring flesh is a stressful issue for women and...

Fiona MacCallum This is the seventh in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned. Here Fiona MacCallum,  Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick, and Co-Investigator of the Beauty Demands project, gives her thoughts. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to  Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised?Would you differentiate depending on where adverts were placed; for instance would you accept adverts in women's magazines where the intended audience is adult women, but not in public places wh...

Melanie Latham This is the sixth in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned. Here Melanie Latham,  Reader in Law at Manchester Law School, and Co-Investigator of the Beauty Demands project, gives her thoughts. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to  Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised?Would you differentiate depending on where adverts were placed; for instance would you accept adverts in women's magazines where the intended audience is adult women, but not in public places where they would be seen by children?Alternative...

This is the fifth in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned. Here   Jean McHale , Professor of Health Care Law at Birmingham Law School, and Co-Investigator of the Beauty Demands project, gives her thoughts. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to  Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised?Would you differentiate depending on where adverts were placed; for instance would you accept adverts in women's magazines where the intended audience is adult women, but not in public places where they would be seen by children?Alternatively do yo...

Heather Widdows This is the fourth in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned.  In this post, Heather Widdows , Professor of Global Ethics in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, and Principal Investigator of the Beauty Demands project, gives her views. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised? Would you differentiate depending on where adverts were placed; for instance would you accept adverts in women's magazines where the intended audience is adult women, but n...

This is the third in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned. Here   Clare Chambers , Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, gives her thoughts on this question. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? Certainly for cosmetic surgery, and I was a signatory to the original letter to that effect from the UK Feminista campaign. See http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/14/cosmetic-surgery-advertising-ban If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? As for the non-invasive treatments: I generally dislike them, and would be happy if they were not advertised, but I think it would be difficult to construct a ...

This is the second in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned.  In this post, Carolyn Mair , Reader in Psychology at the London College of Fashion, gives her views. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? No, but I would like to see this 'industry' regulated with referrals from professionals (psychologists/GPS etc.) being required. If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? Yes, for treatments that are expected to produce results that can be achieved through other interventions (such as exercise/diet). If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised? Treatments that could enhanc...

Nichola Rumsey This is the first in a series of posts about whether advertisements for  cosmetic surgery and other beauty practices should be banned.  In this post, Nichola Rumsey , Professor of Appearance Research and Co-Director of the Centre of Appearance Research, University of the West of England, gives her views on this topic. If you would like to contribute to this discussion please email your response to Jan Kandiyali. Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? Rather than a ban (which is difficult to enforce) I am in favour of any advertisements being factual only. This would mean a ban on images that infer the procedures will do anything other than alter the feature in question (e.g., making the recipient more beautiful, happier, improving his/her chances of job success, etc). Many advertisements sell a dream while playing down the risks and shortcomings. If you are not in favour...

In anticipation of the second BeautyDemands workshop, ‘Professionals, Practitioners and Beauty Norms’, we asked participants to consider whether they would be in favour of banning advertisements for cosmetic surgery and beauty procedures. To contribute on the topic and post on this discussion please email your responses to Jan Kandiyali. Question for Consideration: Would you be in favour of banning all advertisements for non-invasive beauty treatments and/or cosmetic surgery? If you are not in favour of banning all advertisements would you be in favour of banning some - for instance for certain types of procedures? If so can you explain why for some and not all and how you would determine which should be advertised? Would you differentiate depending on where adverts were placed; for instance would you accept adverts in women's magazines where the intended audience is adult women, but not in public places where they would be seen by children? Alternatively do you think that any ...