Let's Bring Shame to Lookism
That tough love comment about someone needing a wax isn't actually helpful.
Remember back when looks didn’t matter so much? Ahh… those lazy days in the 1890’s, when a lady could just look however she looked and work on being nice, kind, and generous in order to be accepted and liked! According to moral philosopher Heather Widdows, incrementally, especially in the U.S. since the turn of the century, a woman’s value has shifted away from her character to being much more exclusively about her looks.
Studying the way that visual and virtual culture is shaping what it means to be human, Dr. Widdows knows a thing or too about body shaming, it’s history, and it’s effect on humankind. Her research has shown that the drive for thinness for women is now global and that while across the world, ideals for women center around thinness (with curves), firmness, smoothness, and youth, global trends for men agree only on height as an ideal. Though body acceptance can be difficult for all, the standards for women to look a certain way are more intense.
Interestingly, Widdows’ work has also confirmed that the level of disfigurement a person experiences has very little to do with how a person feels about herself. For those of you who insist that in order to feel good about yourself you have to look differently than you already do, science says otherwise. Many who have what some would consider exceptional “ugliness” actually have very good self-esteem. How you look and your sense of self-worth are in fact, separate. Once again, working on how you feel about yourself must happen before and independently from losing weight, fixing your nose, or any other make-over prescription you’ve decided will solve your problems.
Beauty matters less when you get to know people more."
~Heather Widdows, PhD
Dr. Widdows is putting body-shaming out of style. She’s asking for those who have stories to tell about negative body comments in order to “end ‘lookism’.”
Share your story here.
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