The article that I read this week discussed the positive impacts that social media has made for creating a societal image of beauty that is more attainable to women. This is something that I totally support, but I don’t think that it’s as widespread as the article made it seem.
Beauty bloggers like PatrickStarrr are definitely helping with breaking the traditional beauty norms. He’s a plus size Asian man doing makeup on YouTube. He’s representing plus size people and people of color, and loves to remind his followers that “makeup is one size fits all.” He often talks on his snapchat about where he finds his clothing and what techniques his stylist uses to make him look his best. This encourages his followers to embrace their bodies and to open themselves to the world. Unfortunately, Patrick is one of the few famous bloggers that has created a more positive space for beauty in this unique way. But, I do not want to denote what other bloggers have done.
Beauty bloggers aim to teach their followers. By teaching followers makeup tips and tricks, they’re making beauty more accessible to a lot of people. You don’t have to be a makeup artist to beat your face, you just have to be able to watch a tutorial. This eliminates the unattainable aspect of “unattainable beauty.” This only deals with the beauty that resides on the face, but I believe that if you have other insecurities, these may be lessened by the confidence gained by learning how to snatch your face. I know that insecurities with body image are not the same as insecurities one may have about the way one’s face looks, but I always feel a lot more confident in the way that I look when I’m wearing makeup. Faces are what we usually first notice when looking at or meeting someone. They determine how we may feel about someone based on their expression or whether or not we think they’re cute. So if you’ve got a little extra cushion for the pushin’ that you’re not happy with, but your face is beat for the gawds, I think that you’re going to exude more confidence than if you weren’t wearing any makeup at all. This means that social media has helped to create a more accessible standard of beauty. Self confidence is available in just a few clicks and tutorials, which is pretty cool to me.