The Beauty Myth Essay

- Radha Chopra

The Beauty Myth is a feminist publication that speaks about the concept of beauty and how it makes women feel pressurized to adhere to certain unrealistic standards of beauty. Naomi Wolf explains that women have gained freedom in different spheres of life and have access to resources like never before. Unfortunately, they don’t end up taking full advantage of this liberty because of the pressure to look beautiful in a time where the standard of beauty is set high by fictitious images presented by the media. Ironically, this makes women more powerless today. However, women are not the only ones affected by this myth. This concept affects men, because as women become more feminine, men feel the need to become more masculine. This means that men are forced to repudiate their feminine side. Like women, they have to consciously look and behave in a certain way that society expects them to. After analyzing the photos taken of my partner, I can discern that not all men are affected by this beauty myth. As I photographed my partner Sukrit, I realized that he is uninfluenced by the beauty myth that allegedly pressurizes men to behave more masculine and reach unattainable standards.

Vacuuming the room In this photo, Sukrit is holding a vacuum and cleaning his bedroom floor.  

Combing  hair  Sukrit  is  looking  into  the  mirror  while  he  holds  a  comb  in  his  hand,  to  get  ready  and  start  the  day.  

Ethnic wear Sukrit is sitting on a chair in his bedroom. He is dressed in Indian attire, wearing a striped blue and beige “kurta”.

Eating pop tarts Dressed in ethnic clothes, Sukrit is sitting on his bed while holding a plate with pop tarts in it. In his other hand, he is holding a pop tart and is about to take a bite of it.

Smoking Sukrit is sitting outdoors on a black platform, with a background of green leaves. He is holding a cigarette with his right hand as he begins to smoke.

Working Out Sukrit is using a cross trainer machine while working out in the gym

Sukrit doesn’t stress himself over the fact that he is “supposed” to behave and look a certain way that society holds is ideal for men. This is manifested in the photos taken of him. Vacuuming a room and keeping it clean is something that is considered a woman’s job, but Sukrit isn’t embarrassed to do the same from time to time. We can see him dressed in traditional Indian ethnic wear, which doesn’t showcase the ideal photos of men published by the media. In another photo, Sukrit is eating pop tarts, which represents how he isn’t on a constant drive to maintain a healthy diet. A healthy diet is usually considered the path to desirable body characteristics for men. However, there is a flip-side to this, as Sukrit has his own way of interpreting the concept of male beauty. He does so by dressing and behaving in a manner that he is comfortable with. Sukrit finds satisfaction in keeping himself well groomed, as revealed in his photo of combing his hair. He is also fond of smoking and working out, both of which are considered masculine activities. Sukrit doesn’t engage in these supposedly masculine activities because they are what the media and society demand. He carries them out because they live up to the standards that he set for himself, in order to reach an ideal way of looking and behaving. Therefore, it can be concluded that not all men are victim to the beauty myth, and can hold pride in their individualistic interpretations of male beauty.