Impact of Beauty Creations Among College Going Girls

Mr. Shinto Sebastian, Assistant Professor in Department of Visual Communication. Achariya Arts and Science College, Puducherry
ABSTRACT This article tries to attempt to explain the emerging beauty consciousness of present world. This would be raging from the different issues with varied perspectives. This includes media discourse, marketing strategies, psychological pluralism etc it is an attempt to find out the current scenario of modern world which attempts dictates terms for beauty and how it is being carried out by the younger generation especially college going girls. The attempt dealt with the success and beauty as well as the marketing strategy of the media to influence the young buds to build up their self esteem. The perception, need and use of cosmetics all dealt with the emerging trends tin modern society where media rule the younger generation in controlling their minds. KEY WORDS: Hybridization, Paradigmatic, Syntagmatic, Behavior, Social Opportunities, Friendship, INTRODUCTION Today we live in age where commercialism determines what is beautiful. Many young women tend to be become confused by such messages sent out by the mass producers of todays society. Women tend to find themselves caught in a trap that makes them eager to fit themselves in the mould of "the beautiful woman"a standard set by the social trends of the time. Women were subject to what society determined as beautiful such as Small waists, long legs, narrow hips, shining hair, matte lipsticks, spaghetti straps, dumb expressions breaking into smiles. Exquisite movie stars who were curvy and charming with pale skin, frosted hair and a seemingly grand lifestyle were the ideal. Beauty publicists instructed women to inflate their breasts with padding or silicon, to frost their hair with carcinogenic dyes, to make themselves look paler by whitening their face and lips with titanium to emulate in short. They were pressured to be beautiful at the sake of their health. Beauty is not a myth anymore. It is a buyable, doable, achievable thing. Hundreds and thousands of those would do anything to be glittering stage, vying for the crown for the most beautiful woman. Every year the number of aspirant beauty queens and models multiples. So as mentioned above this study tries to understand and unveil the functionality of the media in constructing the concept of beauty among college going girls. Cultural STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM This focuses whether media plays a significant role in constructing beauty among college going girls. To explain this in the simplest of terms, beauty according to a common theory would be the appearance of things and people that are good. Following this reasoning, it can be concluded for the definition of beauty as that which most people judge physically attractive, be it human beings or objects that is good, both physically and on deeper levels. This would turn the phrase about beauty lying in the eyes of the beholder, on its head and relegate it to the realm of subjectivity. Beauty in todays context is believed to be with the parameters of pure physical attractiveness or apparent physical traits of an individual human person, including but not limited to sexual attractiveness. A lot of the categorization of beauty may be linked to factors like emotional connectivity as well as physique, which can be judged by personal interaction as well as by the human eye of society. Since this judgment of attractiveness of physical traits that constitute beauty is universal to all human cultures, even though it may vary as a matter of individual preference, it has an effect on the society. Beauty can have a significant effect on their cultural behavior such as how people are judged, in terms of employment or social opportunities, friendship, sexual behavior, and marriage. When things are believed to being in harmony with nature, it brings out a feeling and experience of attraction, affection and pleasure that is apparent in human appearance, which in turn looks beautiful. Thus, when we speak of any object of beauty, in the modern context, this may mean anything that is filled with a personal meaning or that which may have been assimilated in the subconscious due to sheer commercialism having promoted certain concepts and ideologies about beauty having certain parameters. The term "beautiful people" is used to refer to those who closely follow trends in fashion, physical appearance, food, dining, wine, automobiles, and real estate, often at a considerable financial cost. Such people often mirror in appearance and consumer choices the characteristics and purchases of wealthy actors and actresses, models, or other celebrities. Thus this research study attempts to know the various parameters and messages disseminated by the media which tries to construct a fake reality by defining new beauty notions for womens beauty in the society. This study also investigates the depth of penetration of such media messages in the audience mind and what kind of behavioral changes has it contributed in recent days. CONCEPT OF BEAUTY: A LITERATURE REVIEW

To obtain knowledge about the concept of beauty and how media construct it these days, it is important to understand what the visual impression is and how does it work on people and influence them? So according to Herbert (1970:185), Every perception of an external body involves a presentation of it to the mind such-as a something more or less specific and this implies either the identification of it as a particular thing or the ranging of it with certain like things Before a mere visual impression can be developed into a perception of things causing it, one must add in thoughts of those attributes of solidity, extension, size, quality of surface which when united, constitute the nature of the thing as it is known to us. Though these seem to be given in the visual impression, it is demonstrable that they are not so; but have to be reached by inference. And the act of knowing them is termed acquired perception, to signify the fact that whilst really mediate, it appears to be immediate. When defining Feminine beauty one must know in which time to define it. To understand todays women according to Mary P. Ryan (1973:299) Being a woman means more today than ever before. She wants more and she gets more who invested untold hours in the binding of her breasts, the bobbing of her hair, and the slimming of her waist; the result was the simultaneous emulation of both her younger sister and the opposite sex. This view was reflected in the popular media, as male journalists, struggling with these new interpretations of womanhood, mocked the flapper and her convictions. In constructing the image of women media plays a key role influencing minds of the people and defining the concept of beauty. According to the web article Girls on body image When we talk about media influence, we are talking about the way television, magazines, bill boards, music, advertising, or the news portrays girls. Frequently, the media shows girls and women in unrealistic ways. This could be their looks, clothing, sexuality, body type, actions, or even thoughts. Unrealistic portrayal of women can be through airbrushing or selectively using exceptionally thin women. The media tends to misrepresent us women and girls, which can be harmful to our feelings towards our bodies and ourselves. As Yellis (1969: 44-48)says media has taken positions to define beauty for women including every aspect of her look and move. She argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that real womens bodies have become invisible in the mass media. Women learn to compare themselves to other women, and to compete with them for male attention. This focus on beauty and desirability "effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate." According to girlsonbodyimage web article beauty and body image in the media Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Womens magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, theyll have it all the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. And like quoted in the book Female and male perceptions of female physical attractiveness in frontview and profile (2001: 92, 391402) Body shape will be a better cue in profile and potentially more likely to influence perceptions of attractiveness.According to Naomi Wolf (1991:267) Beauty myth is the last (and most

dangerous) of a long line of lies concerning the "rules" of feminine attributes and behavior. It is the most dangerous because it has succeeded in effecting women's internal sense of themselves. It has created a standard of femininity that is impossible to attain, and women are reacting with increasingly obsessive behavior in their attempts to measure up. Energy that might be used to further positive goals is turned inward instead--dissipated in guilt, shame and unhappiness at one's physical faults. Trying to understand who regulate media to define the terms of beauty there was is an argument which points men were the core player of the show. Media is predominantly possessed and controlled by a large men population who ultimate develops and directs the concept of beauty for women through the audio-visual and text aids. According to Mulvey (cited in Film & psycho analysis,1998:11) argued that in a world ordered by sexual imbalance the role of making things happen usually fell to the male protagonist, while the female star occupied a more passive position, functioning as an erotic object for the desiring look of the male. Woman signified image, a figure to be looked at, while man controlled the look. According to halo effect from the online article Looking Good: The Psychology and Biology of Beauty, Looking Good: The Psychology and Biology of Beauty, explains that In society, attractive people tend to be more intelligent, better adjusted, and more popular. This is described as the halo effect - due to the perfection associated with angels. Research shows attractive people also have more occupational success and more dating experience than their unattractive counterparts. One theory behind this halo effect is that it is accurate -- attractive people are indeed more successful. Concept of beauty has been extended defining the proportion of the female body apart for the pretty face. A scientist research proves this true from the web article Looking Good: The Psychology and Biology of Beauty, which says the body's proportions play an important role in perceptions of beauty as well. In general, men have a preference for women with low waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs), that is, more adipose is deposited on the hips and buttocks than on the waist. PERCEPTION OF BEAUTY About 87% of respondents have perceived character as their idea of beauty while 7% of the respondents perceived a person as their idea of beauty. And 4% of respondents felt nature as their idea of beauty and 2% of respondents for object.The focus population has perceived character as their idea of beauty. Though this is contradicting, respondents have felt that character is the only deciding part of a womens beauty despite their physical appearance since character is the quality of a person that cannot be tampered. This is proved by the 87% of respondents response who have perceived character as their idea of beauty. As one of the respondents said that beauty of the person is determined with their character and media also partially portray the same. For instance considering any feature films in India such as Life in Metro, a Hindi movie showcases Iswarya Rai; the actress as epitome of explicit beauty while the character of the same cast is the hidden reason for her physical beauty.

Media usually associates physical beauty to character. Apart feature films even the television serials, video commercials have been talking the same idea very loud. A well characterized is commonly a beauty heroine while the ugly looking women are assigned to low brow characters. This kind of suggestive reinforcing by media has made the respondents consciously agree that character as their idea of beauty as mentioned above and relate the same to the physical appearances of any person. NEED FOR BEAUTY From the entire population 90% of the respondents felt feeling good about their self as need for the beauty while 4% of the respondents felt that their male companions and society expected while 2.4% of the respondents wanted to live up to media trends.

to have and boost their beauty to feel good about their self which is made as a common connotation for girls in constructed culture by the media. There were days earlier where women considered their intelligence as their first quality to feel confident but over several years of exposure to media messages that smeared the idea beauty replacing the intelligence to feel good about them. As Naomi Wolf describes about media message in her book Beauty Myth that media messages has succeeded in effecting women's internal sense of themselves. It has created a standard of femininity and how women are reacting with increasingly obsessive behavior in their attempts to measure up. Energy that might be used to further positive goals is turned inward instead--dissipated in guilt, shame and unhappiness at one's physical faults. The media messages attempts to convince audience that it is not a fictive message, that it is a true reflection of reality, a window into the real world of the woman which has made respondents to believe beauty is necessary for todays society. For instances the images of beautiful women on the covers of female magazines are "iconic signs which represent the better self which every woman desires to become". In other words, the media of today puts incredible pressure on all people, and women in particular, to look "beautiful," whatever that really means. And it maintains that if girls don't look perfect, there must be something wrong with their willpower, because if they really wanted to they could. EXPECTATION FOR WOMENS BEAUTY About 86% of respondents have felt men expect women to be beautiful and along with 43% of the respondents who also felt reward for beauty were an expectation for womens beauty and 32% of the respondents also felt by being beautiful one would gain more friends which confirm this as one another reason women to be beautiful.

The respondents felt that the need to be beautiful as an element to feel good about themselves. The reason behind this was respondents felt that they should be presentable & impressive to others which in return helped them to gain more confidence to face the world. More over a recent studies conducted on young girls in India proved that person who appear beautiful to society received a lot of attention from majority of the people and that has helped them to develop positive characteristics. About 90% of the respondents confirmed this statement by opting the choice

Majority of the respondents felt that men expect their female companions to be beautiful. This substantiates the above finding of the need for beauty. About 86% of respondents have felt men expect women to be beautiful and along with 43% of the respondents who also felt reward for beauty were an expectation for womens beauty and 32% of the respondents also felt by being beautiful one would gain more friends which confirm this as one another reason women to be beautiful. Since men expect women to be beautiful, the women population has started to consider

beauty as their basic element in them apart from the character. Media has turned womens beauty as a sign of attracting opposite sex i.e. beautiful women have become an object of desire to men and women also take pleasure of been looked by men. This statement is proved by the respondents who confirm the men expect their women companion to be beautiful and beautiful women win best men in their life. The expectation imposed on beauty has taken them to such an extent where women started to believe beauty is a nice factor for them as proved above. Secondly the rewards gained by women who are beautiful also hiked the expectation of the beauty level in women. Most of the cosmetic commercials portray women who are beautiful walk on the ramp of success bagging best rewards. Such messages have got so registered in the mind of the respondents who consider the same in real life too. Media has influenced the mind of the women to a large extent which makes believe a girl with a poor body image is perceived as being unattractive while a girl with a good body image is seen as attractive to others. This factor has forced the respondents in increased use of cosmetics to maintain an impressive appearance for winning both men and rewards. USE OF COSMETICS 62% of the respondents from the entire population used cosmetics and other beauty products frequently while 38% of the respondents used occasionally.

celebrities influenced by an Ad message. To quote an example there is an assumed underlying narrative in the ad, which explains the relationship between the signifier and the signified. The woman shown on the first page of the advert does not wear any make-up. She then transforms into someone (or something) else on the second page. The make-up has changed her into someone else. Western beauty practices, from the wearing of make-up to more invasive procedures such as body art and cosmetic surgery, can be understood as factors that perpetuate the subordination of women under patriarchy. Feminist theory feels virtually any mainstream magazine or television commercial shows womens beauty as forerunner of womens success which has made the respondents feel the same and who has confirmed it by opting for the corresponding choice beautiful women can achieve better things in life. ROLE OF MEDIA About 86% of the respondents considered media as their source of information for updating latest beauty trends and while 58% of the respondents has felt role of media is very influential in creating need for beauty among girls.

As a result of media influence there is an increase in use of cosmetics from average level to frequent use by the respondents. 62% of the respondents from the entire population used cosmetics and other beauty products frequently while 38% of the respondents used occasionally. This again reconfirms about the penetration of media messages and its impact on the audience. Majority of the product commercials for women are of various brands of cosmetics which reinforce the need to be beautiful. This kind of continuous emphasis on beauty has resulted in increased use of cosmetics among the focus population. Media has persuaded the audience mind to such an extent that the respondents willing to use cosmetics to improve their appearance as commonly expected quality in the society. There are many similar defining paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements on the Ad messages that would attract a teenage girl to purchase the cosmetics. These demonstrate effectively the dominant ideology of teenage femininity in the media. This statement is confirmed by the audience who accepted to use unusual products or products that promises beauty equal to

Majority of the respondents have considered media as their source of information for updating themselves with latest beauty norms which proves media creates beauty norms to the audience. Most of the respondents have strongly agreed that media influences the society by creating and setting new and different trends for beauty. Most of the respondents have also felt since media only concentrates in women who are beautiful in their visual representation such as a beautiful model endorsing a product or a gorgeous heroine playing characters that represents a better lifestyle. Such over dosages of messages have started working on peoples subconscious mind where they have accepted the media norms in their every days life. About 86% of the respondents considered media as their source of information for updating latest beauty trends and while 58% of the respondents has felt role of media is very influential in creating need for beauty among girls. By doing so media constructs an unrealistic perspective of beauty that is been carried by a large number of people in the society. While half the majority of the respondents have felt the influence of media which tries to dictates new dimensions of perceiving beauty. As Mary P. Ryan (1973:299) says Being a woman means more today than

ever before. She wants more and she gets more who invested untold hours in the binding of her breasts, the bobbing of her hair, and the slimming of her waist; the result was the simultaneous emulation of both her younger sister and the opposite sex. This view was reflected in the popular media, as male journalists, struggling with these new interpretations of womanhood, mocked the flapper and her convictions. In recent years the media & media messages has successfully extended the notion of what it is to be a woman. A college going girl is seen as someone on the lookout for boyfriends and beautifying as a norm; it is argued indeed that these are transcribed as their sole purposes in life. The college going girl has therefore been heavily stereotyped by the media messages, and interpretation of the codes and conventions used in the media. By applying feminist approach to the media messages we would understand the intention of media to construct the concept of beauty among the college going girls. This allows us to understand how the patriarchal media and submissive quality in women has given powers to media to define beauty. According to Mulvey (cited in Film & psycho analysis,1998:11) argued that in a world ordered by sexual imbalance the role of making things happen usually fell to the male protagonist, while the female star occupied a more passive position, functioning as an erotic object for the desiring look of the male. Woman signified image, a figure to be looked at, while man controlled the look. IS PHYSICAL BEAUTY NECESSARY? About 63% of the male respondents felt that physical beauty is necessary for college going girls for various reasons such as women would gain more confidence, to gain attention among others, to feel nice about them while 37% of respondents felt physical beauty is not necessary for college going girls.

can improve their confidence and men can also be pleasured by it. He also adds more the womens physical beauty is pleasing, more is the attention gained by them which eventually result in boosting their self confidence level. This notion can be one of the reason for creating beauty consciousness among women and as Yellis (1969: 44-48) says that women learn to compare themselves to other women, and to compete with them for male attention. According to feministic view this perpetuates the imagery of the woman as the passive, watched object, and the man as the active, watching subject implies passivity of women, it protects men from feeling evaluated by a female gaze, and is thus no danger to mens self-esteem, while it confirms that a womans looks are her real value, free for everyone to evaluate. DOES BEAUTY DETERMINE SUCCESS? About 63% of the respondents felt that a womens beauty determined their success in career and life while 37% of respondents denied it.

DOES BEAUTY DETERMINE GIRLS SUCCESS? Majority of the respondents felt that a womans beauty determined their success. About 63% of the respondents felt that a womens beauty determined their success in career and life since they felt beauty as an element of impressing opposite sex, which made girls make their way easily. Some of the respondents felt though talent and caliber of the girl determines her growth, beauty gives them an opportunity to exhibit their talents. They also believed that women wear make-up to adhere to a strict societal appearance code and from this code they derive secondary benefits such as power, status, sexual allure, and increased self-esteem. Unfortunately, in society today looks are very important. It is a fact that people who are good looking have an easier time excelling in their careers and in life in general than people who are not. This is a sad and very shallow fact that shows society has really not come that far since the days of Martin Luther King, Jr. Society has moved from discriminating because of color but what is on the outside is still what really counts to many people. One of the respondents Mr. Bala Murugan of 24

Majority of the respondents answered yes because they felt beauty will make the girls feel confident and also men liked to see beautiful girls. About 63% of the male respondents felt that physical beauty is necessary for college going girls for various reasons such as women would gain more confidence, to gain attention among others and also for mutual benefit where men can have the pleasure of seeing beautiful girls around them. One of the respondents named Mr. Jayanth of 19 years confirms this statement where he discloses a womens physical beauty

years has personally witnessed as how a womans beauty can take her close to the doors of career and success. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that the self need for beauty was driven with the feel-good factor amongst the focus group. The need for looking good becomes pertinent and is greatly influenced by the expectation of the male members of the society. Recognition amongst peer group and rewards scored lower than the need to look beautiful to impress the opposite sex. This can be related to some of the media constructs that heavily use this finding. To quote an example, in a Fair & Lovely ad the lady is expected to look fairer and this gets her a win her suitor. The campaign uses a family setting and thereby reinstates the fact that it is an important requirement in the social set up for the girl to look fair skinned and beautiful. In direct contrast to this, the study also revealed that a greater population perceived character as their idea of beauty. That good character reflects beauty scored highest amongst the focus group. Interestingly the opposite sex shared the same view. The study also revealed that the opposite sex influences a womans conception of beauty, and thus reinforces their need to look beautiful. There has also not been a significant media construct that depicts beauty in the form of character. This draws me to a closely interesting campaign by the renowned brand Dove, who related beauty to the everyday normal woman group. The campaign was called campaign for real beauty that used normal looking woman with all kinds of imperfections, whom people related to, unlike others who splurge on celebs and models to promote their product usage. The campaign talked to a larger audience and made woman feel their best the way they are. They touched upon glorifying and enjoying beauty in the way it is in each one of us without having to go through the disproportionate association to a celeb that is a far dream to most of us. Media influenced the focus group in building the perception of beauty. While Media served as an educative tool to the latest in the world of beautification processes and products, they had a greater societal impact on what beauty should be related it. Predominantly they have been attached to slim body shapes, fair skin, good complexion as key success factors for a woman. This largely impacts college girls who seek to stay thin and indulge in trying various beautification products and processes. The target groups displays their acceptance of this constructed reality and live with it in day to day life. REFERENCE Spencer, Herbert. (1970) The principles of psychology. England: Gregg International Publishers Ryan, Mary P. (1973) Womanhood in America. New York: New viewpoints Tasra. Girls on body image. http.//www.girlsonbodyimage.org/ (visited on August 14th 2007 at 9.01pm) Kenneth A. Yellis,( 1969) Prosperitys Child: Some Thoughts on the Flapper,. American Quarterly Martin J. Tovee and Piers L. Cornelissen., (2001) .Female and male perceptions of female physical attractiveness in front-view and profile.

Printed in Great Britain: British Journal of Psychology John Hill / Pamela Church Gibson. (1998) Film and psychoanalysis, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies .England: Oxford University Press Charles Feng. Looking Good: The Psychology and Biology of Beauty. www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue6/features/fe ng.html (visited on August 19th,2007 at 11.00pm) Melinda Brodbeck and Erin Evans. Dove Campaign for real beauty case study. http://psucomm.blogspot.com/2007/03/dovecampaign-for-real-beauty-case.html & www.campaignforrealbeauty.ae(visited last on September 15th ,2007)