The beauty industry

The beauty industry

The beauty industry is overflowing with ambiguity. It talks about evolving and showing the façade of inclusivity, but the extent to which this is taking place is wanting. The so-called standards of beauty are damaging to the women of colour with the industry falling short of diversity recognition and also in the varieties and products that the companies offer. However, this does not necessarily mean that change is inexistent; development in the beauty industry has been relatively tremendous. Media representation of the woman of colour has gone up, and there is a selection of profound faces in the industry that do not belong to the women of colour. However, is this due to a genuine morality and equality shift, recognition of the marginalization of this demographic or more cynically, an indication of the persistent novelty and entertainment of it-objectification and eroticization of the coloured body? A blind eye remains turned towards our multiracial society, inevitably creating isolation of the minority, which here, is the non-white woman.

Idealized stereotypes that are portrayed in the media do not include diversity, and it is evident due to the lack of representation for the women of colour, different body types, gender identity or even sexuality. In a recent study, it was found out that only 4% of women consider themselves beautiful (Ciarlo, 2017). Intersectional feminism identifies feminism as not solely being gender-based, but it also includes the perspectives of women of colour and all the marginalized groups. As women, there are many aspects of identity that contribute to our lives and experiences. Therefore, the beauty industry should be no different, and it should embrace women of colour, different ages, body types, sexuality, ability and also gender identity.

In a sexually supercharged culture, where attractiveness receives the most emphasis, people with various disabilities are always seen as asexual, or even sexually incapacitated either emotionally or physically. The theory of intersectionality leaves us to look into female beauty and sexual attractiveness and also how disability relates to gender and sexuality. If the aspect of sexuality is intersected, a lot would be said about homosexuality. Their assumed asexuality already limits people with impairments. The group of people is mostly rendered invisible by social, organizational tools. Mostly they defy beauty norms, including the LGBTQ community, which is also an object of prejudice when it comes hetero-normativity. Although homosexuality is a sexual identity that people have been claiming an taking up through history, the change of attitude towards the culture has only initiated in the society to be more accepting and inclusive.