A few days ago, my mother and aunt were talking and discussing potential brides for my cousin, who wants to get married. There were a couple of photographs of young women in their hands. But the interesting part is that their conversation was more focused on the physical appearances of the women, and the decision was likely made on features like the girls’ height, skin colour, nose, eyes, and other facial structure. What seemed a simple family conversation raised a profound sociological discussion on the importance of prevailing ideas of beauty. As a student of sociology, this everyday reality raised deeper questions: Why in this era of the modern world, are our thoughts deeply invested in physical beauty? And why are outer beauty standards still so influential in modern-day activities? The present article aims to explore how deeply rooted beauty norms continue to shape personal decisions and societal expectations.
As described in the Merriam-webster dictionary, “beauty is the quality or group of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or the mind or the quality of being physically attractive”. However, in a sociological sense, it is not merely a physical attraction. Beauty is a social construction. The notion of beauty is prone to change, and it is shaped by various social, cultural, historical, religious, etc. factors. Beauty is subjective and changes across time and space. For instance, in many South Asian countries, fair skin colour is considered the highest standard of beauty, while in Western countries like the U.S. and many others consider tanned or a little brown skin is considered beautiful. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has propounded the concept of cultural capital. For him, the idea of ‘capital’ cannot be understood only in terms of economy, but other non-economic aspects (such as culture) as well. These cultural capitals are the cultural assets, i.e., knowledge, education, physical appearance, etc. These capitals help people succeed and get respected in society (Ramsey, 2024). In many societies, beauty itself is a kind of capital. It acts like a social status symbol, like race, gender, class, etc. The more an individual fits into the dominant beauty ideal, the more likely the individual is to get social advantages, be easily chosen as a bride or groom, gain social status, better treatment in public spaces. Individuals considered “beautiful” are often assumed to be more skilled, successful, and competent, even in areas where appearance is irrelevant. This is because people tend to associate physical beauty with overall ability and tend to project higher social status based on appearances (Webster & Driskell, 1983). These beauty norms are deeply engraved in our minds, and these norms also influence our everyday decision-making, often without our conscious awareness. People tend to make judgments and decisions based on others’ physical appearance, without even considering other relevant factors such as ability, character, or competence. Despite growing awareness that physical appearance should not influence judgment, people still unconsciously use physical beauty as a basis for evaluation. This unconscious bias leads to social advantages for “attractive individuals”, including greater persuasiveness, increased likability, and better treatment in everyday interactions (Webster & Driskell, 1983). For example, in today’s generation, dating is quite a popular activity. In online dating apps like Tinder or Bumble, physically attractive profiles get more matches and messages, often leading to more opportunities to socialise or build relationships, even though people know nothing about the person beyond their photos. A physically attractive profile becomes a ‘symbol’ of desirable, trustworthy or competent. Unlike race or sex, beauty can be changed through grooming, fashion, or surgery. Therefore, many people attempt to “upgrade” their appearance to gain or maintain social advantages in competitive personal and professional environments.
Now, the question arises as to how these beauty standards persist from one generation to another. In this context, factors like media, traditions, art and literature play crucial roles. The media functions as an agent of socialisation in society. For a very long period media has been portraying and projecting a narrow standard of beauty with fair skin, thin figure, etc. Movies produced in Bollywood and Hollywood always showcase beauty with unrealistic features and standards. Even modern social media like Instagram, Facebook set some unrealistic beauty ideals. When these ideals are normalised and repeated, they are internalised by society. People begin to associate these looks with happiness, love, success, and acceptance, even if these links are not real. Along with media, various cultural traditions and rituals also fuel these beauty standards to be passed down generationally through family, marriage and so on.
An important point of this discussion is that, in patriarchal society, women are often more harshly judged on their appearance than men. Naomi Wolf, in her work “The Beauty Myths” (1990), writes that beauty standards function as a powerful tool of patriarchal control. For her, the modern “myth” of beauty emerged in the late 20th century as a response to women’s increasing social, political, and economic gains. As women began achieving greater access to education, employment, and political rights, the cultural obsession with physical beauty intensified as a way to reassert male dominance and keep women preoccupied with their appearances (Wolf, 1990). Similarly, beauty operates like a “political weapon”. Patriarchy makes women believe that their worth and identity are tied to how they look and present themselves. This manufactured insecurity sustains a multibillion-dollar beauty industry and functions as a means of social discipline, which consumes women’s time, energy, and mental space (Wolf, 1990).
From the above discussion it is obvious that the physical appearance has far reaching influenced in society. People’s day-to-day activities, even important decisions like marriage are often based on physical appearance. The song from Canadian singer Alessia Cara reminds us, “You should know you’re beautiful just the way you are. You don’t have to change a thing; the world could change its heart.” These words highlight the truth that beauty should not be measured by societal standards, but by the authenticity and uniqueness of each individual.
References
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Beauty. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 30, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beauty
Ramsey, G., & McLeod, S. (2024). Cultural capital theory of Pierre Bourdieu. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/cultural-capital-theory-of-pierre-bourdieu.html
Webster, M., Jr., & Driskell, J. E., Jr. (1983). Beauty as status. American Journal of Sociology, 89(1), 140–165.
Wolf, N. (1991). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. William Morrow and Company. https://ia800201.us.archive.org/33/items/the-beauty-myth-naomi-wolf/The-Beauty-Myth-Naomi-Wolf.pdf
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Rishiraj Nath is a 2nd year postgraduate student of sociology at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). His research interests include sociological theories and sociology of gender.