Challenging the ugliness of beauty : beautification as an instrument of female agency

Abstract

The patriarchal beauty standard, or the beauty ideal, holds a powerful influence in societal practices and institutions. It prevails as a dominant standard that subjects women to vast amount of pressure and scrutiny in their physical appearance, and it acts as a basis for determining the socioeconomic opportunities of women. This results in women having to choose between conforming to problematic norms and institutions, or not conforming and risking social and economic disadvantage. On this note, the moral permissibility of women beautifying themselves in accordance to the beauty ideal has been widely debated on. In this essay, I will present conditions in which beautification can be deemed morally acceptable, and argue that beautification is morally acceptable when it is motivated by an informed personal choice. I will proceed to illustrate two ways in which beautification can take the form of an informed personal choice. Firstly, when beautification is practiced to reclaim the power of feminine beauty, and secondly, when beautification is practiced for pleasure. Overall, I will argue that practicing beautification is an exercise of female agency, and is morally unproblematic, when it is motivated by an informed personal choice.