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Women are always expected to follow rigid beauty standards however the 'Dispelling Beauty Myth' series breaks myths regarding beauty, ageing and gender identity. Here's more.
Women are always expected to follow traditional beauty norms; however, the ‘Dispelling Beauty Myth’ series breaks myths regarding beauty, ageing and gender identity. Here’s more.
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to skip the threading or waxing part of your beauty routine, because it’s so painful, time consuming, and the hair grows back anyway?
Did you ever fear growing old because being in the prime of youth implies beauty and vitality, while old age gives you a picture of perishing and decay?
Have you ever felt that society is too rigid with its gender demarcations and desired that there was more fluidity around the concept of gender? So what if a man wants to dress up like a woman or vice-versa, isn’t it their choice?
Don’t you feel it is high time that someone shattered these traditional beauty norms concerning looks and gender? In the video series– Dispelling Beauty Myths, Allure, a popular American beauty magazine, and Stylelikeyou, a platform focused on empowering the concept of ‘beauty’, feature videos that touch upon these issues. Here they bring together people who talk about how they’ve redefined their own lives according to their own choices and in turn dispelled some of the traditional beauty norms and created their own definitions instead.
In the first video, Monica Hernandez, Alexandra Marzella, and Ayqa Khan share the struggles they’ve faced with body hair. They speak about how it is only natural for a man to have stubble or body hair, but a woman with body hair is considered unhygienic.
This impossible requirement by the world for women to look hairless, the whole time is in itself an ordeal for many. The video talks about how people sometimes consider you a ‘hipster’ trying to follow a trend when you don’t shave your legs or armpits.
But why is something so natural, considered to be a strict no-no in the society? Why do girls always need to possess porcelain soft skin in order to look beautiful?
This thought provoking video shows how we need to accept ourselves first, without any conditions, with body hair and stubbles. Once we stop caring about the world, we’ll see the world will accept us slowly.
The video aims to dispel the beauty myth that ‘you don’t have a choice as to how you want to look’.
In the second video, Norma Kamali, Michaela Angela Davis and Jo-Ani Johnson talk about the insecurities associated with growing old. They’ve chosen to embrace their age with grace and they dress or carry themselves as they deem appropriate, rather than towing the lines of the so-called ‘age appropriateness’.
Along with the passage of years, most would succumb to old age grudgingly, hiding under non-descript clothes and leading a passive life. These women dress in vibrant colours, show how grey hair can be absolutely gorgeous, and live active lives. They say that they wouldn’t wish to go back to their younger days because with age they’ve also attained more wisdom, comfort, and clarity.
As Jo-Ani Johnson describes, ‘My days are no longer striving and pushing…my days are what is given to me and making the best of each and every one of them.’
The video shatters the beauty myth that ‘you have to be young to have a voice’.
The third video deals with gender fluidity. Here Rain Dove, Kate Bornstein, and María José speak about how identifying with the gender you were born with, is perceived as the only given thing in the society. The moment someone tries to look different or act in a different manner, society loses its ‘patience’ and tries everything to get them back to ‘normal’.
Rain Dove, the androgynous celebrity model from New York, speaks about how because of her so called ‘masculine’ looks, she is considered an ordinary white boy when she walks the streets in men’s clothing. However, the moment she steps out in women’s clothings, people perceive her as someone who is aggressive. She’d even had people following her home, when she was dressed like a woman. However, she feels more empowered in women’s clothes.
Why is it so important for an individual to blend into the crowd? Why should a human being not be able to decide whatever gender they identify with, or howsoever they want to dress up? These are some of the questions that are raised in this thought-provoking video.
The video aims to dispel the myth that the concept of gender is real.
Image Source: Youtube
Kasturi’s debut novel, forthcoming in early 2021, had won the novel pitch competition by Half Baked Beans Publishers. She won the Runner Up Position in the Orange Flower Awards 2021 for Short Fiction. Her read more...
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