The value of "beauty" has become fixed in our subconscious without us realizing, as if it were common sense or social norms we were compelled to follow.
Recently the value of "beauty" has been changing. Advertisements for body hair removal, once popular in Japan, are now being questioned; putting on make-up is no longer something only for women; the link between light skin and beauty has been deconstructed. Even so, repeated advertisements and social media posts reinforcing negative beauty standards still persist, greatly influencing the standards of beauty within people's minds.
The standards of beauty that take root will differ depending on your culture and societal upbringing. In this series, we will take a look at these standards and compare differences between cultures. By examining these differences, why don't we examine our preconceptions and stereotypes that persist in our daily lives and look at them together?
We prepared four questions related to the "Beauty standards".
Q.1: What kind of person do you think of when you hear the word "beautiful"? Why do you think so?
Q.2: In your country, are there social norms regarding appearance? Do they differ depending on gender?
Q.3: In your country, is lighter skin still viewed as more beautiful?
Q.4: Do you think women should shave their body hair to look more beautiful?
How would you answer these questions?
Do you think your answers would be different from those of other countries?
In the next article, we'll share with you the answers to these questions from APU students from different countries!
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