Beauty Demands

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...

Press coverage of the emergence of Theresa May as the only Tory leadership candidate left standing and her elevation to PM was distinguished for me by the focus on her shoes. The Sun headline was ‘Heel, Boys’, and decisions about who is in and out of the cabinet was dubbed the ‘Hot Shoe Reshuffle’. Perhaps more dramatic than the headline was the full page image of the shoes and their implied link to sexiness via the dominatrix imagery of leopard-skin print, kitten-heels stamping on the heads of male politicians. While this is the most dramatic example you don’t have to go far to find other mentions of her shoes. The Telegraph ran ‘ Theresa May’s greatest footwear hits ’ and ‘kitten-heals’ have been frequently mentioned outside ‘women’s programmes’ on Radio 4 over the last few days. While at least some of this coverage is celebratory and fun – and I confess to also being a shoe-devotee (the ‘Beauty Demands shoes’ are mine) – I can’t help again reflecting on the difference bet...

In this post, Fiona MacCallum wonders whether the Disney Princess brand is having a detrimental effect on young girls. You don’t have to be the parent of a young girl to be aware of the Disney Princess brand. The abundant merchandise (toys, clothing, lunch boxes, towels, party decorations – the list seems endless) is visible in any shopping centre, or children’s department.  In comparison to Barbie and other more overtly sexual media models, whose potentially damaging effects have been much discussed, the princesses can be seen by parents as “safe”. But with their exaggeratedly feminine body shapes and facial appearance, and with the gender stereotyped behaviours of the older examples (e.g. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella) who are uniformly portrayed as needing rescuing, can interacting with Disney Princesses really be so benign? New research from Professor Sarah Coyne and colleagues at Brigham Young University suggests not.  In a study of nearly 200 chil...

The beauty demands briefing paper launches TODAY 9 th of June 2016. For a hard-copy please email Ruth Wareham or download a copy here . The briefing paper will be launched at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics this afternoon . The briefing document is one of the final outputs of the beauty demands network. The Network on “The Changing Requirements of Beauty” is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under a policy highlight notice. The network is a partnership between the academic community and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Academics from many disciplines, including anthropology, cultural theory, history, law, medicine, philosophy, sociology and psychology, have contributed to the network. The network has also included many voices from beyond academia and we have had sessions and contributions from non-academics, including, artists, curators, doctors, journalists, nurses, psychiatrists and surgeons. The network was built around four workshops ...

In this post, Fiona MacCallum (University of Warwick) discusses how the sharing of idealised images via social media is influencing individuals' perceptions of body image and wonders what actions can be taken to counteract the negative consequences of  selfie culture. We’re used to seeing adverts telling us that we can have perfect skin in “3 easy steps” or “just one week”. However, digital technology claims to speed the process up further with apps designed to improve the photos we post on social media, such as the “Instabeauty” app which offers a “one-tap makeover” to give the user “flawless skin”. This raises the interesting question of what effect engagement with social media, and particularly with a stream of carefully chosen idealised images, might have on individuals’ satisfaction with how they look. Evidence has shown that exposure to visual mass media depicting idealised bodies is associated with higher levels of body image concerns (e.g. Grabe, Ward & Hyde, 2...

In this blog, Katharine Wright (Nuffield Council on Bioethics) reflects on the final Beauty Demands workshop, 'Routine Maintenance and Exceptional Procedures' and asks if it is possible to draw a coherent line between the two.  One of the early challenges of the Nuffield Council’s  Working Party  on cosmetic procedures has been to define what it is we should include in the concept of ‘cosmetic procedures’. Is it really possible to draw clear and consistent dividing lines between medical procedures undertaken for cosmetic purposes as opposed to rehabilitative/therapeutic purposes?  And, at the less invasive end of the spectrum, is it possible to draw coherent distinctions between everyday beauty routines and procedures that span the beauty/clinical divide, such as chemical peels, laser treatments and skin-whitening treatments? Or are these lines inherently porous and fluctuating? The fourth (and final) workshop of the  Beauty Demands  network, hoste...

In this post, Professor Steve Garner (Birmingham City University) and Somia R Bibi  (Warwick University) discuss their work on lightening practices and explain why this is an area which requires further research . Skin-lightening (also known as skin-whitening, and skin-bleaching), is a global, multibillion pound industry. Both men and women lighten their skin, yet women are measured most against normative aesthetic standards, and remain the dominant market group for the sale of skin-lighteners. Starting with a British Academy Small Grant we are attempting to analyse skin-lightening practices and highlight the need for research within the UK. We began by trying to establish a base-line, using anonymous surveys, about what products women buy, where they are sourced and how they are used. Today whilst multiple beauty ideals exist, the idea of fair skin as the most beautiful, particularly among ethnic minority communities, remains widespread. The message that having fairer ski...