THE BEAUTY EXPERT

NOVEMBER 2021

Kerry Washington
on CRUSHING
beauty standards

Inclusive brands
and product
lines that stand
out to us The Progress and
struggles seen in the
beauty industry over
the years

The Inclusive Issue

The Progress and Struggles Seen In The Beauty
Industry Over The Years
By Sarah Gombos

The beauty and fashion industry dictate what qualities are viewed as attractive in modern day
society. Publications like magazines, ads and other mediums place immense pressure on those
trying to fit in. Having unrealistic beauty standards negatively impact men and women across
the globe. It is essential that all people are represented in modern day media to prove that
everyone is beautiful.

Over the years, beauty standards have
changed drastically and often reflect the things
that are important to society at the time. I am
now going to analyze the history of women’s
beauty standards over the years to gain a
better understanding of how this impacted
society.
The beauty and fashion industry has always
been incredibly exclusive. Until the mid-1970s,
magazine covers typically featured thin, white
women who embodied a household wife. This
type of woman was deemed the “ideal woman”
in society at the time. Having this reflected in
media constantly only pushed this idea even
further.

36 Allure, November 2021

FIRST STEPS PROGRESS MADE
This was all changed in 1974 when Beverley Major brands like Aerie and Target have
Johnson became Vogue’s first black cover claimed they will stop using photoshop
model. This step showed that every color of and use models who actually look like their
skin is beautiful, not just the women shown customers. The most influential company
in the past. This groundbreaking cover that switched to this model was Aerie. In
featured the tagline “our American- look issue” 2014, the company cast 57 non-models
showing that the magazine intended on being to feature in their campaigns and ads to be
revolutionary and wanted to show real women more inclusive. This not only meant women
who represent the United States, not just a of color, but also those of different body
select population. This cover which promoted types, showing that everyone is beautiful.
inclusion was major. Ever since this bold move, This was part of their “Aerie Real Campaign”
other companies followed in Vogue’s footsteps which has continued and only grown over
and there has been an increase in models of the past few years. Things that are typically
color to represent American society. photoshopped out like tattoos, stretch marks,
and curves, are all things that women
CHALLENGES TODAY
have are seen clearly in all of Aerie’s
Moving into the modern age, In 2016, photographs. The women also
issues with inclusivity are look very natural and normal in
still present. Even with the 78.2% of all these photos, as no one is sitting
previous push for more advertisements in an outrageous position to
inclusivity, many ads still appear more perfect or flawless.
feature blonde, white women
featured white
Most photos are more fun and
to promote beauty. In a 2016 models light-hearted, rather than being
fashion advertisement study, serious and looking like a “model”
researchers found that 78.2% of all which these women are not. Viewing
the models featured were white. This these pictures makes everyday women
shows that while there have been increases in want to buy clothes from this brand because
representation compared to the past century, they know that the clothing will look good on
we are still ways to go in regards to being fully a range of body types.
inclusive and representative of the population.
Issues regarding race aren’t the only issues
seen in advertising, as there are also many
issues in regards to photo-shopping models
and only using models with small, similar body
types. Photo-shopping does not promote
healthy ideas of beauty and its effects can
be extremely detrimental to impressionable
audiences. Not only is photoshop used to
make models appear thinner, but it is often
used to hide any imperfections like stretch
marks, freckles, and blemishes. Most women
have these so-called imperfections, so hiding
them makes them seem less “beautiful.”
Allure, November 2021 37
WRAPPING IT UP
However, despite these pushes in print and
online campaigns, photoshop is still widely
used across the board. Many celebrities
like the Kardashians and Jenners use
photoshopped pictures of themselves on
platforms like Instagram, promoting unrealistic
beauty standards. Many people strive to be
like their favorite celebrities, in both how they
act and look, so creating false ideas of what
they actually look like is unhealthy. There is still
work to be done in loving your imperfections.
Both the Vogue cover and Aerie’s push for
inclusion have made large impacts on society
which are crucial to its wellbeing. Both
companies took major risks in breaking from
the norms originally placed by society. Both of
these stances are similar because they were
revolutionary for their time and pushed for
a change in beauty standards, but they have
their differences. Vogue’s issue was targeted
at women of color and the current movement
is aimed to include truly every woman in the
country. It’s also important to note that the
Vogue cover was released shortly after the
civil rights movement when black models were
not used often. This shows how risky and
groundbreaking this cover was at the time.
This current movement towards real models
38
was not necessarily prompted by anything,
other than people being fed up with the
overuse of photoshop in almost all campaigns
and social media posts.
While the beauty industry is not perfect and
is far from being inclusive to everyone, there
are many companies committing to this goal
of inclusion. It is important for this push to
continue because of the impact media has
on society. Everyone should be able to feel
comfortable in their own skin and have this
reflected in large-scale media outlets.
Contributions:
Allen, Maya. “People Are Outraged That
Only White Models Walked the Runway
to Beyoncé’s ‘Formation.’” Cosmopolitan,
Cosmopolitan, 1 Nov. 2021, www.
cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/
news/a58532/only-white-models-walked-the-
runway-to-beyonce-formation/.
Chozick, Amy. “Keeping Up With the
Kardashian Cash Flow.” The New York Times,
The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2019, www.
nytimes.com/2019/03/30/style/kardashians-
interview.html.
“Kerry Washington.” MUBI, mubi.com/cast/
kerry-washington.
Mallenbaum, Carly. “First Black Vogue Cover
Model Beverly Johnson: The Fashion Industry
Must Fix Its Racism.” USA Today, Gannett
Satellite Information Network, 17 June 2020,
www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/
celebrities/2020/06/16/beverly-johnson-
vogues-first-black-cover-model-racism-
fashion/3203175001/.
“Survey Finds That 78% of Models in Fashion
Adverts Are White.” The Guardian, Guardian
News and Media, 10 May 2016, www.
theguardian.com/fashion/2016/may/10/
survey-finds-that-78-of-models-in-fashion-
adverts-are-white.
Allure, November 2021