Abstract
The internet’s impact on the way individuals view themselves has both positive and negative effects. On one hand, many have embraced their own personal perceptions of themselves and have chosen to share that positivity with the rest of the digital world. However, there are many instances where a person has felt diminished in their own body, particularly those of colour. The use of social media platforms like Tik Tok have pushed the concept of the Eurocentric beauty standard in various ways. This conference paper argues how the popular app has played a significant role in upholding Eurocentrism as the end all be all in today’s perception of beauty.
Introduction
The internet has played a significant role in helping shape the way people view themselves. In fact, the internet has been both positive and highly negative when addressing the concept of the beauty standard. It has become increasingly clear over the years that the internet has begun to push one specific form of beauty. One that is rooted in Eurocentrism. People of colour are often ridiculed, mocked, and shamed for embracing their natural, ethnic features, features they are born with. And yet the supposed consensus seems to be that in order to be “beautiful”, one must encompass a collection of features: blonde, straight hair, blue eyes, tanned skin that doesn’t border on being too brown, full yet small lips, a small button nose. Whilst beauty trends rise and fall as the internet has become incredibly oversaturated, it seems these collected features are what one should strive to achieve. Tik Tok is notorious for perpetuating the Eurocentric beauty standards, and further achieves this by having its algorithm favour white creators over Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) creators. This conference paper seeks to understand why Eurocentrism is the norm for beauty, and how Tik Tok is an exorbitant enabler of this standard through its unjust beauty algorithm.
Western Colonialism’s Impact on Beauty Standards
In the 15th century, Europe laid waste to foreign countries, stealing land and resources, enslaving Indigenous groups, and destroying cultures, all in the name of improving the economy, of bringing about positive change. Because Western colonists’ invasion of indigenous lands was so pervasive, the idea of the beauty standard in each culture began to adopt the Eurocentric perspective of what beauty should encompass. Research conducted by Chen et al. (2020) investigated how Eurocentrism has impacted the modern beauty standard in Asia. Focusing on East Asia, a major feature the East Asian beauty standard fixates on, is the size and shape of one’s own eye (Chen et al., 2020). The bigger the eye, the more attractive one is, deeming oneself to be cuter and more youthful. The double eyelid enhancing and enlarging one’s eye shape is a particularly popular trend in Korea (Chen et al., 2020). In fact, almost 50% of women in the twenties age range seek out double eyelid surgery to achieve this cute and youthful look (Chen at el., 2020).
Another perverse beauty ideal influenced by Western colonialism is skin colour. Mady et al. (2022) conducted a cross-national qualitative study in three different countries (India, Egypt, and Ghana), where lightness of the skin is upheld as more attractive. In this research, Mady et al. (2022) found that all three countries share the common experience of Western colonialism. The people of these countries were forced to submit under brutal colonisation that definitively preferred white people over BIPOC. Because of Western colonialism’s impact on these countries, the idea to centre whiteness and lighter skin tones became normalised. Women interviewed for the study held the belief that whiteness was preferable as a skin tone, and that those who were fair-skinned or lighter, experienced greater advantages in marriage or careers (Mady et al., 2022).
Majidi (2020) focuses on the impact of Colonialism and Globalisation on the standard of beauty in India. They dissect the idea of “Fair is Beautiful” and how Eurocentric beauty standards have become coalesced into modern India (para. 1, 2020). Due to British Colonialism’s deep roots, centering whiteness has been vastly integrated in the ways Indian women perceive beauty. The French West Indian psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon constructed a theory of colonialism and how the psychological effects can suggest a clearer idea of how these colonial powers fostered the standards and values of the West within a colonised population (Majidi, 2020). The theory in Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks (1967), argued how colonisation does not simply transpire for land and wealth but also creates an overwhelming psychological impact on the operations between the coloniser and the colonised. Moreover, Fanon signifies how BIPOC deemed their cultures and practices as lesser than to their white counterparts, due to the propagation of Western ideology and cultures by the colonisers in the colonised lands (Majidi, 2020). However, as a result, BIPOC then assimilated to these same ideologies and values as the colonialists and thus, the long-term effect of this integration is that the colonised groups have perceptions that diverge them from their own cultures, because they know they won’t ever achieve prosperity in ways a white nation does (Majidi, 2020). That said, Fanon clarifies that colonialists have essentially advanced in governing how BIPOC perceive themselves and forcing inferiority upon them (Majidi, 2020). Thus, BIPOC feel the need to mask in whiteness, such as culture, and the one method to overthrow this psychological dysfunction is to imitate white values and cultures from their oppressors (Majidi, 2020).
Tik Tok’s Harmful Promotion of Unrealistic Western Beauty Standards
Upholding Eurocentric beauty standards is ever present amongst digital spaces, particularly on social media. Women are increasingly susceptible to the harmful standards shown on these platforms. The vast amount of content surrounding the ideal beautiful person is so saturated and often leads to a person becoming heavily critical of themselves, questioning why they don’t fit into a very specific, Westernised box of attractiveness. Black women, specifically, are more likely to not be considered “attractive”. They do not uphold the Eurocentric standard of blonde, straight hair, or fairer skin, blue eyes, and small button noses. The Kardashian family, encompassing notably white women, have used Black features such as the curvier body and deeply tanned skin to further their wealth and celebrity on social media. What is ironic is that these features they have obtained through unnatural means, are constantly ridiculed, and mocked when seen on the average Black woman. Traditional media has been largely exclusive of black and brown bodies, and in place, social media has been a breath of fresh air for increased diversity of BIPOC. However, it is not without fault that social media has an alarming impact on beauty standards. For example, plastic surgeries have become more and more prevalent in achieving the ideal face or body type. According to a survey by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (2021), the demand for facial plastic surgery increased by 79%, all to accomplish improving one’s looks for a video and photo on social media.
The incredibly popular app Tik Tok, continues to play a rather pervasive role in perpetuating the Eurocentric beauty standard, specifically through its beauty filters and trends. In the realm of beauty filters, the Bold Glamour filter has sparked controversy amid its users, with some praising it to be “the most hyper-realistic filter”, whilst others deem it another tool to uphold the Eurocentric beauty standard (Primbet, para. 1, 2023). An article written by Primbet (2023) dubs the Eurocentric beauty standard as the “golden standard”, the only standard to aim for, ignoring the complexities and diversity of one’s own heritage (para. 2, 2023). As an Asian woman who moved to the UK, she explains how the need to fit into a Western country’s idea of beauty was ever present. She dyed her hair blonde and considered saving up for double eyelid surgery to appear more westernised (Primbet, 2023). This further iterates Western colonialism’s impact on modern society and how it has still deeply affected the ways in which modern BIPOC view themselves. The article quotes psychologist Alexis Conason who describes the Bold Glamour filter to be highly problematic as it “can make us believe that it’s possible to look like the filtered reflection” and how this version is “more desirable” than one’s own physical self (Primbet, para. 12, 2023).
Lijadu (2022) explores the idea that Tik Tok’s beauty trends feel as if they model after “repackaged eugenics” (para. 1, 2022). Eugenics is a particularly egregious form of “science”, formulated through racism and ableism (Lijadu, 2022). It is a pseudoscience that places humans in categories on a sliding scale that has a basis in using damaging bilaterality such as “civilised” and “uncivilised” (Lijadu, para. 2, 2022). Explicitly, eugenics sought to use science to differentiate human characteristics into categories of desirable and undesirable (Lijadu, 2022). It aimed to medicalise human traits perceived by European powers as lesser than, and thus created a hierarchy of aesthetics (Lijadu, 2022). A trend prevalent on Tik Tok was to analyse one’s own side profile. Users would cover their nose with their index finger to make it seem smaller and straighter, then reveal what their nose truly looks like (Lijadu, 2022). This trend is harmful to BIPOC creators as many felt disillusioned by their natural appearance, claiming they felt averse for the shape of their nose in a side profile (Lijadu, 2022). Lijadu (2022) postulates how these harmful trends on Tik Tok are a waking reminder of how individuals in online spaces are increasingly concerned with gaining status and attention based on their appearance. It shows how the Eurocentric beauty standard has negatively impacted BIPOC creators and users on the app, and how they feel inadequate in not being able to meet the standard in comparison to their white counterparts. While there are positive movements on the app looking to reject the standard, these harmful trends should be largely ignored to help stop Tik Tok’s perpetuation of the Eurocentric beauty standard.
Tik Tok’s beauty algorithm favours white users over BIPOC users
On Tik Tok, the place to be on is the For You Page (FYP). It is a curated space filled with content all personalised for one’s own viewing experience (Mihaylova, 2021). There are numerous factors contributing to the FYP. The first factor is how a user interacts with the FYP. The second factor is information from videos such as hashtags, captions or sounds, and the last factor is personal account and device settings like a person’s language preference or their location (Mihaylova, 2021). All these factors are considered, collated, then processed by Tik Tok’s algorithm for the purpose of presenting what the app deems the most valuable sources of content for each, singular user (Mihaylova, 2021). Despite how curated a user’s FYP, it is still likely for one to come across popular trends. These trends can come across even the most obscure FYP of an individual because of its virality. A large subcategory of virality can be attributed to Tik Tok’s beauty algorithm. This takes into account a user’s features, judges whether the features are conventionally attractive i.e., fits the Eurocentric beauty standard, then decides if these features are enough to achieve virality (Vu, 2020).
The users who fit the Eurocentric standard Tik Tok adores will be attributed an attractiveness rating, meaning increased potential for virality, and are thus more likely to appear on anyone’s FYP, to achieve virality (Vu, 2020). Pretty privilege, a concept that ties in succinctly with Eurocentric beauty standards, allows for white users/creators to achieve virality and status over BIPOC creators. For example, Charli D’Amelio, an incredibly popular white creator skyrocketed to fame after engaging in the ‘Renegade’ dance challenge. However, the original creator of the dance is a black teenager, Jalaiah Harmon, who did not receive the same benefits and treatment Charli did (Vu, 2020). The trend itself was fairly innocuous before Charli’s engagement, reinforcing the notion that Tik Tok’s beauty algorithm contributes to years of negative conditioning BIPOC creators/users believe in, and thinking their own features are fundamentally displeasing, all while the app continues to uphold the Eurocentric beauty standard (Vu, 2020).
Conclusion
Beauty is subjective and unique for every individual. The idea of a beauty standard is archaic and unavailing, especially one that deems one race’s appearance to be more superior than any other. Individuals are seeking to reject the set standard by engaging in content that discourages upholding Eurocentrism, and instead are welcoming the idea that all humans are enough. This paper sought to better understand the root of the Eurocentric beauty standard, and how social media apps such as Tik Tok play a consistent role in perpetuating that standard, only proving to be harmful to BIPOC.
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