In the Eye of the Beholder

A recent app in the App Store caught my eye the other day; Hot or Not, an app in which people upload an image of themselves and others on the app can rate it either "Hot", or "Not". This app really surprised me, and in my opinion isn't something that should be encouraged and sold in the App Store.

There has always been an obsession with looks and beauty since the beginning of time. Old ads used to encourage beauty in the products they sold, claiming that you would become as beautiful as the model if you used their product. Here is an example:

If you can't see the quote under the picture, it states, "You'd hardly believe that the same face could become so beautiful, would you?". By this phrase, we can tell that the ad infers that the image on the left isn't beautiful until the model puts the makeup on. 

In the 21st century, these ads persist. One example that we see everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE, is this: 

Victoria's Secret. It's no secret (no pun intended) that they represent one body type that is seen as beautiful, and encourage people to buy their product to help mold into that body type. By claiming that it "adds 2 cup sizes", it is saying that to achieve this beauty you need to have a bigger chest, and the image shows that a smaller stomach and skinnier legs are sought after as well. 

So how do these ads compare to the Hot or Not app? Well, these ads show up in magazines, on billboards, all over the media making it nearly impossible for girls to miss. They encourage women around the world to care more about how they look, even causing them to turn to plastic surgery to improve their looks, searching for the beauty that the media represents. It even leads them to post pictures of their selfies to see if they are truly seen in other's eyes as beautiful, and have indeed achieved this goal. Beauty has become the sole importance to girls around the world, and it isn't fair that these ads are leading them to believe that looks are the only thing that matter, when really they should be confident in their own skin without relying on others for reassurance.