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They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
But what exactly is our perception of beauty and how do we define it?
Is it determined by the symmetry of the face? The shape of the body? Size of the forehead?
Gender? Race? Age? Color? Weight?
How big your bum is? How thin your tum is?
According to theMerriam-Webster Dictionary, beauty is:
The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit
Sounds romantic.
So, is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?
Well...yes, kind of. However, much of what is typically perceived as beautiful has been dictated by society. Social conditioning has taught us that some looks are more beautiful than others and that there are beauty ideals we should measure ourselves against.
What’s more, these standards have been known to change.
A lot.
Throughout history, individuals have gone above and beyond to adhere to ephemeral beauty trends, sometimes even at the risk of death. For example, women in Europe used to rub lead on their skin to look paler!
The modern perception of beauty can’t be as bad as it used to be, right?
The widespread use of poisonous substances on our skin has greatly reduced, yes. But nowadays, thanks to social media, we are bombarded with content that accelerates beauty trends, perpetuating the issues surrounding body image and self-esteem.
The Internet has connected the world and in doing so we are now more intimately acquainted with the “everyday lives” of celebrities and influencers. Of course, we all know that many of these feeds are carefully curated to make everything seem beautiful and perfect but there’s no denying that this can have a knock-on effect on our mental health.
It doesn’t have to be!
In fact, there are growing numbers of influencers using their platforms to spread positive change.
Accounts promoting freedom of expression, body positivity, gender equality, and sharing conditions/invisible illnesses are becoming increasingly popular. Huge online communities have been formed to support one another and many of us have discovered a sense of self-belonging. These collectives didn’t exist before social media.
As we mentioned earlier, the Internet has connected the world and enabled us to form positive connections that change our perception of beauty.
We’re reclaiming beauty together!
March 8th marked International Women’s Day, where we took time to reflect upon the achievements we have made. It also focused on the ongoing challenges we face as females.
This year’s theme was #ChooseToChallenge and Yubi has decided to put the spotlight on some amazing women around the world who are challenging the perception of beauty.
After all, from challenge comes change.
To celebrate IWD and Women’s History Month, our team has come up with a list of beauty influencers who lift us up and inspire us! These gorgeous souls aren’t afraid to let their humanity show by sharing their experiences and inviting us to grow alongside them. We’re in this together.
A freelance health and travel journalist and content creator, Danae used to work as the editor-in-chief for Women’s Health Middle East before she turned her focus toward body positivity. Nowadays, she runs a supportiveFacebook group that is 26.5K strong and manages a women’s empowerment podcast calledTalking Out Loud With Danae.
Her fitspo and influencer hacks, where she reveals the tricks people use to hide cellulite, lengthen their legs, and plump up their bums. By openly sharing her insecurities, Danae inspires confidence and body acceptance, while showing us that we’re beautiful, whether we’re posing or not.
My goal here is just to remind you that yes, SKIN FOLDS. And ROLLS. And MOVES. And that’s pretty darn cool too. So don’t compare yourself to online moments. After all, you’ve got a whole wonderful, wild life to own - and that’s way more interesting anyways.
A black plus-sized model who changed history when her viral posts influenced Instagram to adapt its policies, Nyome is an incredibly inspiring beauty influencer!
Liza Crenshaw, Instagram’s Communications Representative, told the media: “We are updating the training of our algorithms that look for this type of content and we’re actively adding in more body types, different races, nonbinary bodies so that our machine learning can know when to recognize those bodies and make sure that they’re not being trained on a certain body type or a certain race. In adding that diversity, we hope that our machine will get better at recognizing diverse bodies.”
Nyome’s actions to gather as many women’s stories as possible to ensure that change is inclusive and diverse. Her social media posts reveal her unapologetic attitude towards the perception of beauty and why it needs to change.
Just an image of me because I look hot. 🤷🏾♀️ #BigUpYourself
Billie was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the age of 20. This chronic autoimmune condition led to a colectomy and she now wears a stoma bag. In addition to raising awareness for IBD and other invisible illnesses, Billie uses her channel to promote representation for all bodies.
We love how Billie breaks down the stigma surrounding sexual and reproductive health and how she encourages others to believe and see beauty in themselves.
#Healing from societies pressures to look a certain way & from my surgery, takes time. My body has healed from the surgery but sometimes my mind wanders back & I find myself still very much on that journey of healing ✨ I’m still very much trying to unlearn the pressure to look a certain way. To be a certain way. And today it’s hit me harder than I thought it would. What I’m trying to say is, even tho today is about love, if you don’t feel like loving yourself today, that’s ok.
British Vogue named her one of the top 25 most influential women, Munroe has made international headlines for her work on amplifying marginalized voices. In addition to being appointed as a UN Women Changemaker, she sits on the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board for L’Oreal Paris, one of the world’s largest beauty brands.
Munroe uses her social media platform as a voice for the black, trans, and queer community to champion diversity and push for lasting change in the beauty industry and beyond. Every day is a school day when you follow Munroe’s account and we love how she challenges us to think about how we could be more inclusive.
Never let anyone's misconception of you, become your perception of self.
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