A Character Design Tutorial is a short animated film critically comments on the absurdity of beauty standards in animated productions. It aims to expose how unrealistic beauty standards are for female animation characters in the form of character design tutorial.

Thesis advisor: Sharlene Hesse-Biber / This study contributes to and expands upon the existing literature regarding the development of cultural, ethnic, and racial identities as it relates to societal beauty standards. Through conducting nine individual interviews, this qualitative research aims to gain subjugated knowledge regarding the lived experiences of Latina women attending a predominantly white university. Using an intersectional framework, I incorporate theories of social identification, self-categorization, acculturation, and beauty standards. I deploy feminist principles of praxis and utilize a grounded theory approach in my data collection and analysis. My analysis of the data revealed seven major themes: the role of the family, messages about beauty, feeling caught between two spheres, understanding larger social forces, external pressures to identify, creating space for oneself, and defining beauty. The study suggests that despite struggling with elements of ethnic, cultural, and racial identities, the women interviewed ultimately grow to accept and embrace difference, finding value and pride in their identities and experiences. The findings of this study may be of importance to university leaders who seek to better understand ways in which to support this demographic, as well as to other Latina undergraduates who feel isolated in their struggles with identity and beauty standards. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Scholar of the College. / Discipline: Sociology.

The purpose of this study is to explain and analyse the body positivity movement in the social media platform Instagram, as well as its empowering effects on women active in this movement. The phenomenon based on visuality, body positivism, has more than three million pictures on Instagram, hashtagged under two popular hashtags examined in this thesis: #bodypositivity and #bodypositive. The goal of this movement is to show diversity in the portrayal of women, as well as to encourage acceptance of all body types, skin colours and body flaws - especially marginalised bodies that are often invisible in the current society. The research is conducted with methods of visual content analysis and interviews with women participating in the body positivity movement. This study is framed in feminism theory and this study includes theories of gender-norms, Western beauty standards, the male gaze and questions about identity and body image. The results of this study show that most of the people participating in the movement are white women and are pictured often in their underwear. In the pictures hashtagged with body positivity related hashtags, there are, however, not that many flaws visible - such as cellulite or stretch marks. Nevertheless, after interviewing the women active in this movement - active as picture publishers, conversation holders and as body positive Instagram-user followers - this movement is empowering to the women and helps develop a positive body image and better self-esteem. In addition, this phenomenon can change the narratives of the people with marginalised bodies and modify the image of how women are represented and portrayed in society.

In Song of Solomon, published during a transitional moment in the history of U.S. feminism, Toni Morrison portrays the destructive forces of hegemonic female beauty standards, materialism, and consumerism in a Midwestern African-American community from the 1930s to the 1960s. She reveals a hierarchy in which men define standards of beauty and respectability that enforce white bourgeois ideals. Focusing on five female characters, this thesis examines this hierarchy; the agents who maintain it; and the ways in which it affects female characters who accept and/or reject it. While one of the characters, Hagar, perishes in her attempt to live up to normative beauty standards, her cousin Corinthians is liberated when she leaves her oppressive father and moves in with a working class male partner. Morrison thus creates a viable alternative to strict adherence to materialist values, while representing the destructive force of oppressive beauty norms and standards of respectability.

Current research on viewing time measures of sexual attraction fail to explore potential confounding variables of viewing time. One viewing time measure, the LOOK, has been shown to be reliable over time and generally correlated with self-reported sexual orientation but has been unable to differentiate between a non-offending group and an offending group of individuals. This study utilizes the LOOK to examine the relationship between viewing time and a potential confounding variable of viewing time, beauty, using two constructs of beauty (facial beauty and full-body beauty). Facial beauty scores were created by measuring the degree of adherence to four universal standards of beauty shown to correlate with subjective estimates of attractiveness (Schmid, Marx, & Samal, 2006). Given the subjective nature of beauty when viewing the whole body, participants of the study rated the beauty of each LOOK image in its entirety. No significant correlation was found between facial beauty scores and beauty ratings, suggesting these are unrelated constructs. Significant correlations were found between facial beauty scores and male viewing time, and between male beauty ratings and male viewing time. These correlations suggest that further research exploring the extent to which estimates of beauty confound measures of viewing time may increase their discriminative ability and could aid in the development of a norm-referenced procedures for screening and diagnosis.

An unhealthy reliance on vision alone, fed by pervasive, doctored, hyperreal imagery in the mass media, suppresses a more balanced use of other senses, reinforcing superficial beauty standards. Trapped by an uncritical preference for the visually “perfect” and harmonious, people increasingly seek to remove physical attributes they consider “imperfect,” without first considering how these “imperfections” benefit and distinguish them as unique individuals. This thesis addresses superficial beauty standards by shifting focus from singularly visual experience to a more nuanced sensory aesthetic that also considers haptic qualities. Through a combination of research writing and targeted making, my work examines society’s understanding of flaws and imperfections by strategically embedding natural qualities of texture and randomness—blemishes—into ceramics, a medium treated as analogous to human skin. The resulting tools and objects, designed to support a healthy, ritualized daily skincare routine, examine beauty through the lens of wabi-sabi—the philosophy of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

Scholars have proved negative effects of social network sites on women’s body image caused by social comparison processes. However, only a few studies have examined the effects of Instagram on women’s appearance satisfaction and no selfies were taken into consideration in regard to that issue. The purpose of this research was to examine the social comparison theory through the lens of Instagram selfies and determine the effects of selfies on women’s appearance satisfaction. In-depth interviews with 26 female millennials, ages 18 to 32, reveal the re-defined standard of an ideal body image, shifting away from being skinny to becoming fit, affected by the exposure to celebrities and models’ selfies on Instagram. Though some of the participants admitted to having a positive body image, none of the interviewees reported a complete satisfaction with their bodies. Results indicated that although female millennials do look up to celebrities to define their ideal body, they experience equally intense negative feelings after the comparison to selfies of attractive friends. Most importantly, interviews have demonstrated that the number of likes and comments are as important to female millennials as the aesthetics of the selfie. Likes and comments on own selfie play a significant role in the construction of her body image, acting as a sign of validation from the society, and, thus, significantly affecting her self-esteem and perception of her own beauty.

This thesis explores the college lives of Black women who attend or recently attended majority white colleges and universities in the United States. Emphasis is placed on how Black women’s college experience is influenced by the way they define beauty, as well as how they perceive their White peers to define beauty. Through the collection of ten in-depth interviews, I examine how Black women’s perceptions of beauty compare with those of mainstream United States standards and those of the dominant culture of their schools. I explored how the Black women I interviewed responded when confronted with these mainstream beauty standards and how these standards influence their social and academic lives on campus.

Populiariojoje kultūroje nusistovi kūno, kaip kintamos egzistavimo formos, samprata, kuri gali būti formuojama pagal individualius poreikius, taip pat įpareigoja rūpintis kūnu kaip reprezentacijos objektu. Analizuojama populiarioji kultūra kaip vartotojo tapatumo fragmentacijos ir persikonstravimo vieta. Įkvėpimo šaltiniu tapo gilinimasis į kūno vartojimą – „kūno vadybą“ populiariojoje kultūroje. Sukūriau penkis skaitmeninės grafikos darbus pavadinimu „Žaidimų laukas“. Juose vaizduoju modeliuojamą, naujai perkonstruojamą kūną, kurį suvokiau kaip naujų produktų veikimo ir popkultūros nustatytų grožio taisyklių taikymo lauką. Šiame lauke vykstantis žaidimas simbolizuoja manipuliavimą kūnu, taip pat gali būti suprantamas kaip individų tarpusavio sąveikavimas, kuris yra pastebimas popkultūroje vyraujančių grožio etalonų fragmentas. / The body settles as a variable form of existence in popular culture, the concept, which can be shaped according to individual needs, as well as the obligation to take care of the body as a representation of the object. Popular culture analyzed as the consumer identity fragmentation and reconstruction place. A source of inspiration became the research about the use of the body – own body management in popular culture. I created five works in digital graphics technique titled "The Playing Field". Where I reflected the process of modeling, new reconstuction of the body. Which I understand as a place for the new product performance and practises of the beauty rules in pop culture. The game in this context means the manipulation of the body, can also be understood as inter-operation, which is perceptible in popular culture with the dominant beauty standards.

American culture supports a colorist system that values lighter skin tones in women of color, and these norms are communicated in some part by images present in our society. Previous research has not explored the impact that colorist images may have on the psychological health and appearance concerns of women of color. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether exposure to images of Black women who more closely meet colorist beauty standards (i.e., lighter skin) would negatively impact women’s psychological health and general appearance concerns. It was hypothesized that participants exposed to colorist images of Black women would experience greater increased negative affect, skin tone dissatisfaction, and appearance concerns; and greater decreased self-esteem. It was hypothesized that these relationships would be weaker in Black women who self-identify more closely with their ethnic background. It was further hypothesized that these relationships would be stronger in women with higher levels of internalization, poorer satisfaction with their skin tone, darker skin tones, greater desire for lighter skin, and lower trait levels of self-esteem. Results suggest images of Black women with varying skin tones do not impact the appearance concerns, negative affect, or self-esteem of Black women exposed to such images. However, trait self-esteem, self- identification with Black values, skin tone dissatisfaction and desired skin tone were found to moderate these relationships. This study makes an important contribution to the area of appearance and body image concerns specific to women of color. The dissemination of this research may contribute to the improvement of body dissatisfaction constructs specific to women of color.