Eurocentric beauty standards favor physical features which Europeans – or white people in general – have. Such features include a small nose, fair skin, and very soft hair. Because Eurocentric beauty standards are the most popular standards which girls are taught to look up to at a very young age, especially through the consumption of Western media, girls or women of color tend to grow up with lots of insecurities. They start to believe that just because their features do not resemble those of a European, it means that they are less beautiful.
Western Media
Because Western media is widely consumed all over the globe, people who are not white grew up watching Hollywood movies and skimming through magazines that mainly showcased white women who were tall and skinny with air skin and light eyes and hair. The impact this had on people outside of Europe was huge. As people experiencing this firsthand, we often dreamed about looking like these women. We would beg our parents to buy us colored lenses, let us dye our hair blonde, and even let us undergo rhinoplasty. Eurocentric beauty standards are not simply harmless societal standards that one can ignore – these standards created thousands of insecure women just because they are ethnic.
Colorism & Internal Racism
Another major problem Eurocentric beauty standards have created is colorism. Colorism is the discrimination against people who are dark-skinned. This includes people who are black, brown, and even Middle Eastern. Not only is colorism evident in the West against people of color, but it is evident in the households of dark-skinned people themselves. For example, the idea that being fair skinned makes you more beautiful is very much evident in Arab households. Because Middle Easterners are usually born with tanned skin and dark features such as brown eyes and brown hair, when one of them is born with lighter features, such as being blonde or having blue eyes, it is celebrated. These people are considered unique within their family and even become labeled as the beauty queens and kings between their relatives. This allows for the insecurity of the people around them. Hence, their siblings or cousins who have darker skin or darker features might start using bleaching creams or hair dye in order to feel like they are good enough.
What Is Happening Today?
The reason behind Eurocentric beauty standards being so ingrained in our brains, even culturally and traditionally, is not just because of the consumption of Western media. The main reason behind these standards – affecting women of color in specific – is due to colonization. Much of the East has been colonized by Europe and, through that, they have spread their racist views on the features of Eastern locals.
However, an interesting occurrence has been happening over the course of the past ten years and that is white women mimicking ethnic features through plastic surgery or make up. For example, celebrities like Kim Kardashian have taken on the habit of extreme fake tanning to the point where they look like women of color. Kim has even undergone surgery to try and attain a curvier body that looks more ethnic. Why so? According to Bell Hooks, a feminist scholar, “there is pleasure to be found in the acknowledgment and enjoyment of racial difference. The commodification of otherness has been so successful because it is offered as a new delight, more intense and more satisfying than normal ways of doing and feeling.”
The features of women of color have been commodified and are being used as accessories by white women. Yet, women of color are still seen as less. For that, such a commodification can also be viewed as a result of the harmful Eurocentric beauty standards.
What is important today is acknowledging that this issue ends firstly by self-eradicating Eurocentric beauty standards. Every time you feel like you are being lured into Eurocentrism, take a step back and work on self-affirmation. Remember that you are beautiful just the way you are and that your ethnic features are a part of what makes you special. Moreover, take the time to educate those around you whenever you notice them actively being drawn to Eurocentrism without actually knowing how dangerous this concept could be.