Would you want to be a cover model too?

Before The Makeover

"When you look at yourself and you know you can never attain that ideal."

"I'm never going to be skinny."

"I feel like I have some wrinkles around my eyes."

"It's hard when you see models and celebrities and like you just don't look the same."

After The Makeover

"I feel like it doesn't even look like me."

"Why would you want to make someone look so different?"

"I like my freckles. I feel like they give me character. I don't even know who that is"

"Once someone else has done your makeup, and done your hair, and directed the way your body looks, and taken away your imperfections, there's not much left of who you really are."

"We feel like we have to look to this standard that not attainable for everybody."

Beauty is attainable, but not the kind of beauty the world advertises in magazines or on television.  Buzzfeed is diverse in the types of articles they offer, but this one stood out particularly. It plays on the gendering aspect of every generation. Women are always supposed to be flawless, clean shaven, perfect skin, skinny, physically fit, and well-dressed. These women proceeded to be made into cover girls and their reactions were not what I was expecting. 

At the beginning the women are pointing out their flaws and how they do not even compare to the cover models on magazines. Why were they pointing out their flaws? They were pointing out their flaws because as women, they are taught to fix those flaws. It was most likely unintentional but two of the three women were white. In class we talked about how being as close to the white standard of beauty is ideal, and only one of these women has darker skin. The message might have been stronger if they had more diversity. This also puts down the idea that the ideal version of ourselves is being held up to the standard of cover models. 

These women reacted negatively to their new makeovers and did not like being so unnatural. They lost their identity. This is a positive change in women, because they are not succumbing to societal pressures. When we talked about women's expectations for their bodies and what they want to achieve, we noticed that it is something that is being taught from a young age and will not change overnight. However, these women may be the ones who are helping to spark this change.