Beauty and cosmetics have become a $570.9 billion business worldwide, according to the website Helplama.com. As students at Pingree transition into their teenage years, beauty standards and expectations are part of the way students contend themselves. The question is, do these standards become a pressure that gets in the way of students’ confidence and self esteem at Pingree?
To gather more information on the general thoughts of beauty at Pingree, I Interviewed 12 female-identifying students and 12 male-identifying students. Female-identifying students said that the most popular beauty trends included long eyelashes, no body hair, skinny torso/figure, and defined eyebrows. For male identifying students, the most common trends included a sharp jawline, muscular body, being tall, and broad shoulders. While male and female students had some contradicting answers, many male and female students also shared some similar thoughts. For example, both Minh and Jia-chi said clear skin, straight white teeth, and colored eyes.
As they were being interviewed, some students immediately had tons of answers, but other students had to think about it as they weren’t quite sure. This raises the question, “Where did students’ ideas of beauty and beauty standards come from?” For the most part , social media or other students. Pingree prides itself on being an environment where people feel accepted no matter their appearance or gender, but often these pressures to be more “conventionally attractive” still make their way into the students’ minds.
Another observation was that students from different backgrounds and cultures have strikingly different answers. Beauty standards change drastically based on ethnic and cultural backgrounds, which is something we as students at Pingree need to keep in mind when we judge ourselves and others.
While it is important for people to take care of themselves and be confident in their own skin, it is also essential that we do not let the beauty industry capitalize on insecurities created by social media and societal norms. Pingree considers themselves an environment that nurtures and strengthens teenagers struggling with adolescence and a community that aims to be accepting of others based purely on the quality of one’s character, and not their physical characteristics. It should be an environment that boosts people’s confidence, and as the beauty and cosmetics industry continues to grow, Pingree must also grow, but in the right direction. A direction that respects treating people based on their character, not their physical characteristics.
