Nina Lu Blogger post #5

 The beauty standard established by Hollywood historically is a proximity to whiteness, and throughout time this standard has expanded to include ethnic features. However, this incorporation of ethnic features is not through an appreciation for diverse beauty, but a public intrigue about the exoticness and historic “accessibility” of ethnic women. It was not too long ago that “Black women were considered as ‘amoral Jezebels’ who could never truly be raped” and Latina women were considered “available and accessible sex objects due to colonization” (Beltran 79). When having a conversation on how beauty standards have evolved in Hollywood, It’s important to acknowledge the fact that this appreciation for ethnic beauty was introduced through an “exotic” framing— that these women were admired for their sexuality and physical appearance but not respected as equals to white women. 

Beltran expands on this through her article focused on Jennifer Lopez. She notes that when Lopez first rose to fame, news outlets and reporters talked for days and days about not her acting or her talent, but her butt: There was an SNL skit solely dedicated to JLO’s butt, her butt was posted all over Entertainment Weekly and Times Magazine. Jennifer Lopez’s body rose to become her greatest asset, for since she is an ethnic woman, her beauty must be received in a different way, through the “exotic” ethnic frame. 

Yes, the way that JLO’s beauty was accepted by society was dehumanizing, but it also made started the conversation that allowed the diversification of the beauty standard. The media being obsessed with her body was still “a sign of Loepz’s role and social power as an active agent” in changing “cultural standards within mainstream media” (Beltran 83).

How can we as a society move towards having more productive and self-aware conversations of the beauty standard? Should the beauty standard even exist? How can being self-aware of our history perhaps change how we view beauty standards in America?


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