Amber Starks 'TED Talk A New Standard Of Beauty'

Module 6 Short Writing Assignment Beauty is a social construct in that it is something that we all consider to be innately true because we buy into it, but if we were not to accept the ideology, we would be able to recognize the fact that true beauty is not what society portrays it as. Amber Starks echoes a similar belief in her TED Talk, "A New Standard of Beauty." She says, "I believe that the standard of beauty is actually simply a cultural construct. This simply means to me that it's a collection of ideas and thoughts around physical appearance that each generation and each culture comes up with (Starks). While Starks uses the term cultural construct as opposed to social construct, her words act to reinforce the idea that the enforcement of a certain beauty standard is not natural, but something that society leads us to believe is natural. Stark's point about each generation coming up with their

Women are raised to prize being beautiful, but, contrary to what pop culture may promote, is never completely effortless. Becoming beautiful in the way that society defines it often requires hair dying, eyebrow plucking, trend following, makeup applying, leg shaving, and hours and hours and hours in the gym. Thus, in the words of Alisa L. Valdes in her "Ruminations of a Feminist Fitness Instructor," beauty standards serve to reinforce power relations in that they "distract us from the real business of our lives." That is to say that is women were to spend the time and energy they currently devote to beautification on endeavors they considered to be meaningful, whether they be professional, educational, or personal, the men of the world would have one less advantage over their female counterparts. Therefore, one way beauty norms support existing power relationships is demanding valuable time from women in the name of