Socio-cultural Influences and Media Portrayal of Concept of Beauty for Women

Abstract

The present qualitative research is aimed to explore Socio-cultural Influences and Media Portrayal of the Concept of Beauty for women. There is a need to discover how young women perceive the idea of beauty because of the pressure they face to meet beauty standards in socio-cultural context. For this purpose, eight University female students (aged 22-24) with varied physical characteristics were selected for semi-structured interviews using Thematic Analysis as an approach/method. The analysis revealed five major themes; Desirable Characteristics, Role of Social Institutions which further included four sub-themes (Family, Marriage, Educational Institutions and Professional Institutions), Perfection in Media, Attractive Qualities and Self-Image. It was concluded fair complexion, tall height, slim physique and long and straight hair are perceived as most important physical characteristics for meeting beauty standards. The role of social institutions, media and beauty products are important in reinforcing the concept of beauty. It was also found that participants’ self-image was related to socio-cultural and media’s concept of beauty and they emphasized more on inner qualities than physical appearance. The findings are discussed in light of existing researches and implications are given. There is a need to further investigate on this phenomenon such as ethnicity of participants and beauty practices to get better understanding about beauty standards.