• blarghly@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Hot take: women aren’t insecure about their bodies because of advertising campaigns. They are insecure about their bodies because of real social consequences they face from the people in their everyday lives.

    People treat you better when you look nice. This isn’t morally “right” or “fair”, but it is true. Intuitively or explicitly, women recognize this, and put effort into meeting society’s expectations of them. If all women woke up tomorrow and said “I am completely at peace with how my body looks”, the beauty industry would likely be largely unaffected, because they would quickly be reminded of the second order effects that their negative self image was driving them to achieve in the first place: a good partner; a better job; more, cooler friends.

    • Ecco the dolphin@lemmy.ml
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      10 hours ago

      This.

      If I don’t cover up my very natural dark under circles and acne scars, I am treated differently at work by customers.

      Wearing light makeup is professional, like wearing a collared shirt is professional. Society has decided this for me.

      Some men at work don’t even realise I wear makeup because I choose natural looking application without eye-shadow. They only notice when I don’t wear it (“Are you OK? You look tired/sick”)