Skin Positivity
Community and Skin Acceptance
Contrary to pop culture, Skin Positivity is fundamentally based on the idea that the appearance of one’s skin does not define one's identity.[1]. The Skin Positivity Movement also works against the trivialization of common skin conditions by providing a social space online to share narratives and emotional experiences. It also seeks to include people with skin conditions into conceptualizations of beauty.
Furthermore, the Skin Positive Movement examines the psychological dynamic between low self-worth and skin conditions[2]. It works to dismantle negative stereotypes placed on people with skin conditions, especially acne. As a solution to the social isolation that many people with skin conditions face, skin positivity focuses on individuals living with skin conditions and includes them into a larger community[3].
The Skin Positivity Movement classifies conventional beauty standards, objectification, and idealism as oppressive and aims to liberate individuals by providing content and opening dialogues about why human identity should be informed by the quality of character rather than appearances and beauty standards[4]. Skin positivity believes that appearance is unrelated to human worth, and it argues that humans only associate the two because of societal conditioning, not instinctually[5].
Skin positivity also asserts that the existence of beauty standards requires people to be displeased with themselves. It argues that beauty standards feed into a larger economic superstructure that allows corporations, particularly those in the beauty industry, to exploit and perpetuate the insecurities of others[6]. Therefore, skin positivity views structures like beauty standards and the information systems that spread them as inherently exploitative and dangerous to mental health[7]. Because beauty standards are everchanging and partial to certain features, they are deemed as exclusive, degrading, and divisive [8]
For that reason, the ideology seeks to liberate and to help all people accept their authentic and entire selves. According to the ideology, after transcending social conditioning, the individual realizes their inherent beauty and worth apart from appearance, emerges into reality, and unifies with others who have also. From there, they are set on an individualized path of self-liberation free from mental exploitation.
Similarly, skin positivity does not project self-acceptance as a victory but as an ongoing and ever-changing journey and process of discovery. It also advocates for normalizing imperfections in mass media and society[9].
Skin positivity also views events like classism, fascism, colorism, racism, and homophobia as cruel and egregious, and categorizes them as social ills that are also related to concepts of image-based worth and ascribed value[10].
Discrimination and Mental Health
Self-esteem forms during childhood, especially throughout adolescence and teenage years[11]. 8 in 10 teenagers worldwide live with acne, and teenage years are also when skin conditions typically form[12]. Additionally, this is the time when humans are largely confronted with pressures from the media and social situations to attain beauty standards[13]. Given human development and society’s inevitable impact on it, there is no easy way to separate physical appearance from self-worth. As maintained by skin positivity, this is one of the greatest and most inevitable challenges to self-realization.
Self-perception is also formed by the opinions of peers, images on social media, television, and film[14]. As pop culture has an unfavorable outlook on skin conditions, this causes people to have a negative perception of skin conditions, including the people who have one themselves[15].
Many times, this exposure to prejudice induces trauma and leads those with skin conditions, especially acne, to behaviors such as skin-picking, self-mutilation, suicidal ideation, or restrictive eating[16]. Because self-esteem is so closely attached to appearance, many of those living with skin conditions also form illnesses such as OCD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, panic disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, etc., or become vulnerable to abusive relationships[17].
Through the lens of skin positivity, ideas of image-based worth consequently pose a threat to public safety and even public health because they provide a false justification for harassment and provoke mental illnesses[18]. In order to influence public perception and to appeal to the morality and compassion of others, the movement also seeks to educate others about the human experience of having a skin condition through social media, literature, and social events.
References
- ↑ Fasanella, Kaleigh (29 June 2018). "What the Skin Acceptance Movement Means for People Like Me". Allure. Allure Magazine.
- ↑ Kourosh, MD, MPH, A.S.; Yang, BA, C.Y. (21 October 2017). "Inflammatory Skin Disorders and Self-esteem". International Journal of Women's Dermatology. 4 (1): 23–26. doi:10.1016/j.ijwd.2017.09.006. PMC 5986113. PMID 29872672.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ Öztekin, Coşkun; Öztekin, Aynure (5 August 2020). "The Association of Depression, Loneliness and Internet Addiction Levels in Patients with Acne Vulgaris". BioPsychoSocial Medicine. 14: 17. doi:10.1186/s13030-020-00190-y. PMC 7405352 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32774449 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Edell, Celia (3 February 2017). "5 Reasons Why the Pressure to Have Clear Skin Is a Feminist Issue". Everyday Feminism. Everyday Feminism. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ↑ Cee, Sarah. "Your Worth is Not Determined by Your Physical Appearance". Medium. Medium. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ↑ Greenfield, Savannah. "When Beauty is the Beast: The Effects of Beauty Propaganda on Female Consumers". University of Nebraska at Omaha.
- ↑ Kholmogorova, A.; Tarhanova, P.; Shalygina, O. (26 October 2017). "Standards of Physical Beauty and Mental Health in children and Young People in the Era of the Information Revolution". International Journal of Culture and Mental Health.
- ↑ Greenfield, Savannah Greenfield. "When Beauty is the Beast: The Effects of Beauty Propaganda on Female Consumers". University of Nebraska at Omaha.
- ↑ Buddemeyer, Ruby (22 February 2021). "Influencer Trend We Are Here For: Real. Effing. Skin". Cosmopolitan Magazine.
- ↑ Donnella, Leah. "Is Beauty In The Eyes Of The Colonizer?". NPR.
- ↑ McElroy, Molly. "Children's Self-esteem Already Established by Age 5, New Study Finds". Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.
- ↑ "Why Do Some Teenagers Get Acne and Some Don't? Adult Acne Information". The Harley Street Dermatology Clinic. 19 November 2019.
- ↑ Rosen, L.D; Lim, A.F; Felt, J.; Carrier, L.M; Cheever, N.A; Lara-Ruiz J.M, J.M; Mendoza, J.S; Rokkum, J. (2014). "Media and Technology Use Predicts Ill-being Among Children, Preteens and Teenagers Independent of the Negative Health Impacts of Exercise and Eating Habits". Computers in Human Behavior. 35: 364–375. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.036. PMC 4338000. PMID 25717216.
- ↑ New, PhD, Michelle J. "Body Image and Self-Esteem". Rady Children's Hospital San Diego.
- ↑ Minett, Charlotte (11 June 2021). "Young Adults are Skipping School because 'Bad Skin' is Harming Mental Health". NY Post. The Sun.
- ↑ "Acne Excoriée". American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.
- ↑ Widdows, Heather; MacCallum, Fiona (18 July 2016). "Altered Images: Understanding the Influence of Unrealistic Images and Beauty Aspirations". Health Care Analysis. 26 (3): 235–245. doi:10.1007/s10728-016-0327-1. PMC 6061013. PMID 27432005.
- ↑ Tello, MD, MPH, Monique (22 August 2016). "Why are Our Girls Killing Themselves?". Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Medical School.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
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