Beauty over the Decades : What changed? How does it influence us?

Growing up I have always noticed my own looks and have been very self-conscious about them. Wherever I looked I saw girls prettier than me, skinnier than me, with a better style than me and more. Getting a phone and having access to social media only made matters worse. And that is the reason I decided to make my Matura paper about the developments and influence of the beauty standards and trends over the decades, starting more than 70 years ago, in the 1950s. This is a topic that is very current and is part of our daily life. Countless women struggle to keep up with all the new trends and standards, while slowly destroying their self-image and just becoming obsessed and focus on what society considers to be beautiful and not what makes the woman herself beautiful as an individual. This paper will solely focus on the different trends and standards like what kind of makeup was considered pretty, how a woman should dress to fit into the standard. Also, what kinds of hairstyles were trending and where did the inspirations come from. Beauty standards do not just come out of nowhere but are all based on already existing trends or very often famous people that try something new and influence countless others to do the same. In the beginning movies, TV shows or magazines were the source of inspiration. That all changed with modern technology, which has made additional opportunities to show off new looks on even more spaces like social media. It could be seen as a good thing, because now people can connect with each other and create new trends, but it seems to have created more issues than necessary. The influence of social media has had a very bad effect on many women, since all that can be seen are perfect girls with smooth skin, great hair, and a nice body. That has made many become obsessed with looking perfect and on top of that comes the pressure of society, which is just as obsessed with women having to look perfect. I have showcased all these points in my paper and have decided to create my own magazine with me transforming into a woman that experienced all those decades. In the magazine I am seen with the respective makeup, hairstyle and occasionally the clothes too. The magazine will only do visualization. In this paper, the distinct decades will each have a part, which describes what was considered beautiful in the respective years. Of course, by spreading those standards, insecurities will be spread too, so in the next chapter the influence and the effects of those trends are discussed. Since the world is full of different cultures and definitions of beauty, I solely kept my focus on North America since many popular trends and standards come from there.