Beauty Demands

  On 19 th February 2021, the #EverydayLookism campaign hosted the first of its live-streamed panel discussions . In this event – Body Image As A Public Health Issue – Professor Heather Widdows , Dr Antonis Kousoulis (The Mental Health Foundation) and Dr Luke Evans MP discussed why we need to take body image seriously, and reframe it as a matter of public health. The panellists began by explaining why body image is important enough to be a public health concern. They argued that a focus on body image can have significant mental health implications (such as anxiety and depression) and can also have wider effects on physical health and everyday life (for example, preventing young people speaking up in class or engaging in physical exercise).  For example, Heather cited the 2016 Girls’ Attitude Survey by Girlguiding that showed that 53% of girls between 7-10 years old think that they have to be ‘perfect’ most or some of the time, and this number rises to 84% of girls betw...

  Zac Efron’s “dad bod transformation” caused a furore on social media after his Netflix show, Down to Earth , was released. Some loved his ‘new look’, others argued that calling his physique a ‘dad bod’ shows just how far the male beauty ideal has gone . Zac Efron isn’t the only celebrity shamed and praised for his ‘dad bod’. Jason Momoa was shamed last year for holiday pictures without a six-pack. And, Jamie Jewitt and Antony Costa have been praised by fans for working on their ‘dad bods’. The term ‘dad bod’ was coined by Makenzie Pearson in a 2015 article Why Girls Love the Dad Bod , and the term quickly went viral with many debating whether this type of male body should be a source of shame or pride . The ‘dad bod’ phenomenon is just one of the beauty ideals which men try to attain. In Perfect Me , Heather argues pressures to be perfect are increasingly affecting men. “The men’s personal care industry is predicted to hit $166 billion by 2022” and men’s skin-care products ...

As lockdown eases in the UK, we are returning to the hairdresser and beauty salon in droves. In our visual and virtual culture, beauty matters. So desperate were we to cover our roots or change our styles that some hair salons opened at midnight on July 4 th ! Doing beauty again is a pleasure for many and provides a sense that we are getting our normal lives back. [1] Some of us rethought our beauty regimes in lockdown. Felt it didn’t matter, given the magnitude of the pandemic. Others felt less pressure – wearing less makeup, taking less time on hair-styling, and wearing pyjama bottoms all day. Take Lily Allen and Una Healy embracing their grey hair on Instagram . But, as we’ve discussed previously , the pressure to be perfect didn’t go away, and for some it intensified.  By the third week of March, video conferencing apps had been downloaded 62 million times . Video conferencing has transformed our work and social lives, and their effect on body image was almost instant. Looking...

Putting on your face is something that very many of us do on a daily basis. On average, women will spend “ 29 minutes putting on make-up to achieve a 'natural look'”, and a third of us “ never go out without make-up ”. And, over a lifetime women on average spend 136 days (3276 hours) “getting ready for a night out”.   Once upon a time respectable women didn’t wear make-up. Only ‘painted ladies’, sex workers, wore make-up; made-up eyes, lips and cheeks were how they advertised their trade. Gradually make-up became OK, so much so that in the Second World War, lipstick was believed to be vital to morale - it was not rationed and was imported across blockades with other ‘necessary’ supplies (Dyhouse, 2011, p.82). Wearing make-up is now routine; required for work, special occasions, or to ‘face the day’. Make-up is such a part of who we are that we can raise money by not wearing it! The 2015 ‘bare faced’ selfie campaign raised £8,000,000 in six days for cancer research. The n...

In a world transformed by coronavirus, some people might think talking about body image is inappropriate. When our lives are stripped back and we are focused on survival, to think about measuring up in the beauty stakes is not OK for some, even morally wrong. The virus has transformed all of our lives, but some people’s lives more than others. Many will be sick or grieving or in fear of their lives or their loved ones’ lives.   In the current circumstances, every day we find ourselves safe and well, we should feel exceptionally grateful. This change might continue for some, and as we come out of this crisis ,they might continue to value every day, and care far less about things they used to think mattered. We fully recognise this and are not speaking about body image because we think it is the most important issue for everyone right now. But for some, it is an issue which is a continuing concern and one which is intensified in lockdown. Many, especially young people...