We currently live in a world with exceedingly high standards of beauty. Let´s have a look on social media. I want to talk about Tumblr. Instagram Pinterest Youtube and all these new platforms where young teens 13+ have access to.  

All these media´s made a lot of space for creativity and social activism. It could possibly be viewed as a release from social pressures. For everyone who struggled with expressing themselves and fitting in. I am glad to be born at this century because we now have so many possibilities and chances to live the life how we want it to be. If all the technology is good or bad is another topic which we can discuss in another post later on… 

I remember the time where we had our first computer with internet access. I was 9/10 or somewhere around that age. Until then I didn´t care about beauty standards. I grew up in a little village around cows and sheep and enjoyed being a kid. Also some friends at school asked me if I knew specific songs or „Youtube-Stars“ but I didn´t. I am so thankful for that time because I still remember how it felt like to concentrate of your inner self and how to shine from the inside out which is the prettiest thing a human can wear in my opinion.  

But things have changed. Nowadays girls and also boys starting at the age of 8 already, watching hours of tutorials on blogs or videos on how to perfect nails, hair, make-up and of course clothing! A few years ago I deleted all my social media accounts on every platform. Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr. etc etc…  The reason why I did this is simple. I got bullied in school and if you wanna know a little bit more about this - I wrote in another blogpost about it.  But since I needed social media back in my life for business reasons and since I am capable to stand against this hate pressure, I registered at some platforms and started new. I still wanted to keep my feed clean and did not want to be manipulate by the beauty standards these days. So what I did was to follow accounts which I am interested in and ignore the most popular accounts like Kim Kardashian, Kyle Jenner etc. etc. … 

But that didn't help. My feed is full of beauty videos, non sense comedy and all that „popular stuff“.  

I realized that beauty standards are more important than ever to our teens. Women feel shamed if they do not fit a specific westernized body is a real problem with consequences. Have you seen the problem ? 

In Estelle Freedman´s „No Turning Back“, she writes, 

"In the contemporary United States, over half of thirteen-year-old girls and three-quarters of eighteen-year-old girls express dissatisfaction with their body. A 1986 study found that 70 percent of fourth-grade girls reported concern about their weight and that about half of them dieted.”  

I was kind of shocked reading this. When I was in fourth-grade I asked my mom or dad to drive me to a fast-food restaurant so I could eat anything that I dreamed of while I sat for hours and hours on a school bench.  

Also photo editing of celebrities has gone too far! They are exposing themselves to a specific, young demographic along with the pointed goal of the porn industry to adhere to men. The message they send is clear - Women who aren´t white but well tanned, skinny but also curvy and do not have long healthy strait hair or/and a flawless skin will never be accepted.  Please think about all the young girls being unhappy because of their look. Isn´t everyone pretty as long as they feel pretty in the inside ?  

Just imagine how a world without any beauty standards would look like

What do you think? I dont talk about neglect the hygiene, I talk about beauty standards! No fake lashes, no fake tan, no fake nails, no hair extensions , no plastic surgery … Think about a world where humans didn´t care about how they look and how they dress. Would we have less problems to fit in ? I mean, I also wear fake nails and make-up sometimes but I also feel extremely comfortable with fresh naked skin. ( With naked I mean no make-up lol )  

I really hope that some day we can live in a world where young girls do not refuse food at the age of thirteen or punish their bodies when they give in to cookies and co., all for the sake of looking „pretty“…  

I would like to read about your opinion in the comments so feel free to comment below.  

Thanks for reading
 

Stay focused 

Love, Soldier