The Not By Your Standards Movement

Kristina Japay
Diana Negron

Not by Your Standards Movement

Inspired by a series of Buzzfeed videos, Diana and I wanted to make a video surrounding the controversial topic of perception in beauty image. These videos show how the ideal body image changed throughout the years; however, in the more recent decades, as the video showed, the women were thin and pale, which suggests that the "ideal" these days are along the lines of Caucasian thin women.

"Mary Countess Howe” by Thomas Gainsborough, 1760.

"The Woman Bathing" Mary Cassatt, 1890

A research paper from Auckland Institute of Technology discussed the reasoning behind why people may think skin color is a symbol of superiority. Author Yee Yee Foo writes, "women of colour, especially from Africa and many parts of Asia, are oppressed by the European ideals of beauty where dark or tanned skin is often associated with primitiveness, lack of sophistication, hard labour and lower social status. Whereas, fair skin is not only a symbol of beauty but also is associated with better employment and marital prospects" (Foo 25). Additionally, "in the last 10 years or so, the thinness message has been paired with an increasingly sexualized image in the media. An emphasis on sexuality has increased on prime-time television and in other mass media, and in such depictions, women are likely to be treated as sexual objects. Depicting the sexy ideal woman involves portraying her in such a way that the features that differentiate her from a man are emphasized or exaggerated...Being dominant is a central part of men’s gender role expectations to be dominant and to the extent that muscularity helps project dominance it is useful"  (128, 132).

We researched on beauty ideals in skin color, and found a particularly interesting article about the ongoing trend for both women and men to bleach their skins. In many parts of the world, specifically in third world countries, a fairer skin tone signified a higher class. To this day, pale skin is still seen as being "privileged." In this specific Huffington Article, the editor focuses on the use of photoshop as a tool for slimming the body in pictures since having a thin physique is widely desired. Photoshop provides all people the ability to change the way they look on pictures, and to prove this, she uses this picture editing tool on much of the art done in the past.

Titian, "Danaë with Eros," 1544 reimagined by Lauren Wade

Our video focuses on the American beauty ideals that have originated centuries ago when pale skin and slim physiques are what we desired from our significant others.  We wanted to find out if in 2015, the glorification of paler skin and lighter eyes are still considered the most beautiful to people across the board. We took this idea to the most diverse campus in the nation, Rutgers University- Newark, and its neighboring school New Jersey Institute of Technology where we interviewed 16 random students of different ethnic backgrounds on campus in order to study how important these European beauty ideals stand in this new generation of college students. We asked these people to write on an index card what they physically think is attractive and what their ideal man/woman would look like (skin color, hair type, body type, ethnicity, height, etc). We then showed them the headshots of the students and ask them to arrange these students according to whom they found most attractive and who they found least attractive, and they were then asked to compare who they found most attractive to the features on the index card. We found there was an overwhelming response about a few of the questions we asked.


You can see the conclusion of the study in the video below.

We started the #NotByYourStandards movement in order to raise awareness about the idea of skin color and body type being a standard. A standard is a level and a goal that someone must reach in order to be considered normal or acceptable. Skin color and body type should NOT be considered a standard to expect of someone. Our standard of beauty should not be dependent of one's skin tone and physique; how can we expect this of someone else and be completely satisfied with the way our body looks? It is simply wrong.

Use the hashtag #NotByYourStandards on social media in order to promote this movement and discuss your opinion on the matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBi3PGRIHY

Works Cited

Cohn, Lawrence D., and Nancy E. Adler. "FEMALE AND MALE PERCEPTIONS OF IDEAL BODY SHAPES: Distorted Views Among Caucasian College Students." Psychology of Women Quarterly 16.1 (1992): 69-79. Web.
Frank, Priscilla. "Famous Nude Paintings Get Photoshopped To Fit Today's Beauty Standards." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Yee Yee Foo, Samantha. "The Beauty Trap: How the Pressure to Conform to Society’s and Media’s Standards of Beauty Leave Women Experiencing Body Dissatisfaction." N.p., n.d. Web.

"Women's Ideal Body Types Throughout History." BuzzFeed. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.