Standards of

Beauty
Melissa Paramo
Soc. 104
Dr. Mediha Din
 Symbolic
Interactionism
The social issue of the standards of beauty with visual
media is that it gives society a false standard on what
beauty is. It influences what beauty ought to be vs. what it
really is. It effects and puts pressure on groups, labels, and
symbols.

What symbolic interactionists study is the symbols that

occur in media.
Underrepresentation of women
Stereotypes
Traditional Portrayals
What is newsworthy, such as Billboards, ads, TV, etc. They
display beautiful people all the time.

Media defines our reality of beauty.

 Visual Media:
Billboard
Why this image? I chose this
image because it is a typical ad of
Sex Sells.

Social Issue: Classic pin up, All-

American Girl
Connection: This is a social issue
because she is an
underrepresentation of women.
This is a blonde hair, skinny,
Caucasian woman representing
the ad. Women are not always Vermont Ave. and Normandie
half naked, but to influence men Gardena, CA
consumers she has to be. It gives Date: July, 21, 2016
younger girls the impression that
in order to look cute in boots they
have to look like the woman on
the billboard or just be half naked.
 Posed&synthetic
Pasadena, CA
Colorado and Hill
beauty
Ave.
July, 21, 2016

Why: My first glance, I did not

assume this was an optometry
business.
Social Issue: The people placed
in this long advertisement ad
are posed. It is not natural
 Continued

Connection: In our
society, platinum
blondes are normally
young beautiful
women. The color of
blonde hair symbolizes This woman was purposely
made platinum blonde
young and sexy
because she is older
women. Lighter
looking. This is the issue of
blondes, in society trying to fabricate natural
today normally get the beauty and that age is a
cover of ads or factor. (it really is not).
magazines. Such as
this picture.
 Pasadena, CA
Colorado and Hill
July 21, 2016
What I saw: Blonde hair, blue
eyed, Caucasian woman with
a
Stereotypes
Tall, dark, and Handsome
man.
Issue: This type of beauty is
illustrating the typical
fantasy of a very light
skinned woman with a
handsome man. This man
could be gay or Spanish, but
he was purposely placed with
a white woman.
Connection: Interracial
couples for some reason
anger society. This picture is
symbolic because it is a
stereotype of how a happy
married couple should look
like.
 Do people have to be
skinny to be
beautiful?
Why: There is no fat on Connection: Society tries to
this woman to promote influence women to have the
freezing fat and why ideal size. This is an example of
would someone freeze media defining in reality what
fat?
Issue: This is not society wants. A woman with no
promoting health or fat at all, even if it is half an inch
exercise, it advertises like this picture.
that any woman with a bit
of
fat should freeze it b/c
women must be a certain
size to be beautiful.

Gardena, CA
Artesia Blvd and
Vermont.
 Everyone is Beautiful
Interracial Families Gay Couples are
are beautiful! beautiful!

Modern Family Television

series is a positive example
that goes against all
My Home Television societys stereotypes and
Gardena Blvd and standards of beauty. The
Normandie series features an interracial
marriage and a gay couple