The media has had a large impact on beauty standards by showing certain ideals of attractiveness through different platforms such as magazines, TV shows, social media, and ads. www.mentalhealth.org.uk shared “One in five adults (20%) felt shame, just over one-third (34%) felt down or low, and 19% felt disgusted by their body image in the last year,” which shows us how much body image truly affects people very negatively.

 Most of the things we see on the internet are altered with Photoshop and digital manipulation which causes unrealistic portrayals of beauty. Images are almost always retouched to give a person flawless skin, perfect body proportions, and other features to make a person seem “perfect”. Celebrity influence is a large part of beauty standards as they start trends through their influence on fashion, body image, and beauty practices. These trends can lead to people changing everything about themself just to fit a trend or a beauty standard. 

Advertising and marketing of makeup is also harmful because it could give off the idea that you need makeup to feel/look pretty and be happy. On these platforms, we usually see a certain body type, skin tone, and facial features that causes unrealistic expectations and pressure for people to conform to. These unrealistic expectations have led to self-esteem problems, body image issues, and worsened mental health for people who don’t fit these standards. These might cause an unhealthy mindset for people who don’t fit the stereotype because they may feel left out or unpretty. We can push past these unrealistic standards by realizing that everybody is different; some of the standards set are impossible to reach.  

Although this will likely continue, there is a growing awareness and movements to help promote diversity and inclusivity in beauty standards- such as showing more plus-sized models, incorporating various skin tones, and showing people with and without makeup in showing that they are pretty both ways. If we continue to have more diversity and inclusion it could potentially help a lot of people feel included within the realm of the media and encourage individuals to feel gorgeous in their own skin.