Beauty Fans Are Split Over Whether Beauty Standards Really Are Getting Harder
Main image – Adobe
If you’ve been noticing a shift in what people perceive as ‘pretty’ in a person’s looks these days, then you’re not alone. Users on Reddit have been discussing the issue of current beauty standards, compared to what they were a few years ago in a popular post entitled ‘What’s everyone’s opinion of the beauty standards changing?’ And it’s really got people talking!
In the original post, a woman in her thirties explains that after she had a baby, she ended up making friends with women a few years younger than her and that she found hearing their thoughts and opinions on reality TV stars “wild”.
“Talking about reality TV with these younger girls or going to the gym and hearing comments about how certain women are not beautiful has been surprising,” she wrote. “I’m sad that women are going through this now. I know our age group went through something similar however I think when we were early twenties, people were still called pretty without being perfect.”
She goes on, “Of course I had seen the beauty standards change online but I was naïve enough to think you could still be considered beautiful in person without looking like a photoshopped image.” Asking for other users’ thoughts, she ended her post with, “I love improving my skin and looks but I do it for me and not to reach perfection to someone else. I’m a minority, aren’t I?”
Image – Reddit
Users rushed to the site to add their thoughts on the debate and it seems no side has one clear winner.
One wrote, “Now we have filters powered by AI. It’s a whole other world in respect to beauty and not for the better,” while another said, “I wish your friends knew the difference between the ‘standard’ and what most people think is pleasing. I think most people still prefer ‘ordinary pretty’, which includes imperfections, asymmetries and normal elements of aging.”
Image – Reddit
One person said, “I think it’s just the group you hang out with. In my group, you can still be pretty without being perfect. And the plastic Kardashian look is not prized over a more natural looking girl who’s beautiful,” whilst another user added, “anti-ageing has become the new diet culture. As someone who did the Special K diet in high school and now spends a good amount on Botox, I have to agree.”
Image – Reddit
An interesting debate about supermodels of the 90s VS influencers of today cropped up too. “It is [an influencer’s] job to ensure you pay attention to what they look like and what you should buy and think about beauty,” one person said. “Back in my time, Elle and Naomi got paid either way, so what did they care if you saw them in a magazine?”
And it appears that most people’s opinions on the overall debate about beauty standards boil down to social media being the root cause, however you feel about it. “I hate to make it seem simple but can someone turn the internet off at the master switch?”, said one user, while another wrote, “social media ruined everything. I feel like ppl don’t know what normal faces look like anymore because of filters.”
Image – Reddit
The takeaway
It’s sad to hear that women in their thirties feel the bar is set so high for ‘perfection’. However it is also encouraging to hear that others have a different perspective on what they see as pretty or, ‘perfectly imperfect.’
So are beauty standards getting harder? Judging by this debate on Reddit, it depends on how you look at it and who you surround yourself with.
There does seem to be one opinion that most people have in common though. It’s that social media is partly to blame for shining a brighter spotlight on beauty standards than ever before, thanks to things like filters, AI and unobtainable trends, some of which require you to win the lottery to achieve.
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