Erin Griffey’s research showed Renaissance women were obsessed with ‘natural beauty’, wanting clear, luminous skin, healthy hair and a slim yet curvy figure. What I found really interesting was how these feminine beauty ideals continue to remain the same for women today. For centuries, women have been striving to fit into one defined box, trying to reach unattainable beauty ideals.
While Renaissance women kept ‘books of secrets’, women today instead use social media, advertisements, and TV shows to share the same ideas and tips for feminine beauty. Although Renaissance women may not have been spending thousands on Instagram ads promoting weight-loss tea, snail slime face masks and UV teeth whitening machines, women were and still are trying to achieve radiant skin and a perfect figure, hoping that it’ll miraculously improve their lives.
They always say life comes easier to pretty people.
But does it really though?
In the same way that Renaissance women were happy to use mercury and lead to bleach their skin, hoping to make themselves appear fairer, therefore higher class, more people today are ignoring the health dangers that unknown chemicals and fast fad diets can wreak on their bodies. Outward beauty is becoming a higher priority than inner health, as women strive to fit standards that are simply impossible.
I think it’s perpetuated by the fact that body image and how you compare to societal standards still plays an important part in dictating your attractiveness, other people’s perceptions of you and even your place in the world. Through the lens of society, your appearance is one of the most important factors in your identity. Beauty ideals have become embedded in our culture and they’re unconsciously incorporated into every social interaction. Doesn’t everybody look at someone and make a judgement when you see them for the first time?
That’s why dressing the part when going for a job interview is seen as so important. In such a competitive world, employers are more likely to go for someone well-presented. They see it as a reflection of the person themselves – their good looks demonstrate that they’re organised, put effort into and take pride in their appearance.
So is it worth it spending $125k on that La Prairie face cream to increase your chances of landing that job?
