No-one has mastered the beauty sell better than the Kardashian-Jenner clan. From left, Kris Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian.
The beauty industry has always been rife with snake oil merchants peddling a myriad of remedies and regimens to impressionable consumers, many of them young women.
But with the advent of Instagram models, influencers, advertisers and sponsorship deals, there is a whole new and ultimately depressing avenue through which to reach women.
There’s “skinny tea“, which offers a bold and ultimately baseless promise of “detoxing” or “cleansing” you from the inside out; body-altering corsets, or “waist trainers”, once staples in aristocratic society, now tightly wrapped around the torsos of Instagram models; and appetite suppressants that come in the form of Garcinia Cambogia-laced gum, fibre-heavy cookies, and even lollipops.
The products that clutter innumerable medicine cabinets and makeup bags around the world are hawked as being potentially transformative – serums that are able to pull you out of the jaws of visibly aging, creams so potent they destroy stretch marks, and intense blackhead strips that latch onto your face like a scene from The Mask.
Adding lemon to your tea in the morning will helps boost digestion and detoxification ??☕️
A post shared by SkinnyMe Tea (@smtofficial) on May 14, 2018 at 9:35pm PDT
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But now the industry is moving towards serving two camps: those who are struggling with their body image, and those who are energised by the resurgent tide of self love.
Christine Morgan, CEO of Australia’s The Butterfly Foundation and National Director of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration, says body dissatisfaction is “one of the leading risk factors for the development of an eating disorder”, so how we communicate on social media platforms about body image and thus the promotion of appearance-related products is significant.
“With mixed messages about body image being present online, television and print media, it can be a confusing space to truly understand what constitutes a good relationship with your body and appearance,” Morgan says. The see-saw between self-hatred and self affirmation, and the exploitation that exists in both avenues is not without consequences.
Morgan explains that a major concern when it comes to these mixed messages is that, no matter whether the premise is radical self-love, or self-improvement, the outcome is the same: a woman’s worth is contingent upon her appearance.
The greatest challenge for her organisation right now is social media. Instagram users in particular have have continual access to not only marketing campaigns but the day-to-day lives of enviable people.
According to Morgan, constant access to filtered images of people, their food, their lives and quite frequently their bodies, can lead to unhelpful comparisons, as well as pressure to achieve a certain body type. “On top of this, celebrities and well-known individuals are often paid to endorse or promote certain products across their social media. This is quite concerning as it could mean that individuals are taking advice or purchasing products, without seeking professional advice first.”
The global beauty market, which is valued at some $445 billion, has always relied on and fed into insecurities; they pledge that every lotion, gel, peel, and injection is simply a small hurdle to jump through in order to land on the final and ultimate beauty marker where you’ll finally be content with what you see in the mirror.
A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Mar 19, 2018 at 12:12pm PDT
The media landscape is so riddled with fantastical bodies that are erased of any perceivably realistic quality, and this landscape now includes your acquaintances and even friends, who shave down their “trouble spots” with photoshop.
But, as feminist discourse has mainstreamed, so too has the language around “empowerment” been manufactured as a response to a toxic beauty industry, in order to maintain the crippling beauty standards, without the sexist accusations.
Thus, the beauty industry has evolved into a “self-love” or self-esteem movement. It first appeared in mainstream American society in the 80s, asking you to accept and even take pride in your imperfections but – of course – at a cost. You applied makeup because “you’re worth it”; you wash with a certain soap because “beauty comes in all sizes”.
If you can bottle up, print and press, sew, and even eat feminism and self-affirmation then market vultures will be there to sell it to you. You have Dove’s “Real Women” campaign, CoverGirl’s #GirlsCan sales pitch, and Pantene’s “Labels Against Women” advertisement tapping in to what’s been described as “femvertising“.
A post shared by Dove Global Channel ? (@dove) on May 3, 2018 at 6:08am PDT
All of the aforementioned companies gleaned the monetary potential in using self affirming, capitalist feminism and despite the criticism they’ve faced, they’ve still made considerable profit off these campaigns. It isn’t even just major brands attempting to make the case for consumerism as a means to feel good and in control, but beauty bloggers and writers who tell their readers that feeling “empowered” by a nearly $3000 blazer, or a $500 pair of pants is reasonable instead of downright ludicrous.
If you find yourself overwhelmed by thoughts concerning your size, weight or physical attributes, Morgan stresses that purchasing goods or beauty products are unlikely to help.
“You may experience satisfaction in the first instance at purchasing a new product, but this will likely subside. It is so important that we address the underlying mental health concerns that may be causing these thoughts, rather than ‘fixing’ or ‘altering’ our appearance in the hope this will make us feel better.”
Meanwhile, consumers are told to contour, laser, and suppress even their natural urge to eat so that they may become an object of desire, replete with millions of followers, and a sponsorship deal with a tea. This, now, is the ultimate aspiration of our age.
Where to get help:
– Eating Disorders Association of New Zealand: 0800 2 EDANZ or (09) 5222679
– Mental Health Foundation: 09 623 4812
– Sydney Morning Herald
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