Most of the teenagers in the world are subject to beauty standards. It’s a major issue that has been troubling the young ones for hundreds of years.

But what is a beauty standard? It’s most often about the skin colour, body size, hairstyle, and facial features. It’s mostly about how people see you. These days younger girls are the ones in the center of all this, they are the ones wanting a bigger posterior, bigger chest, and a slimmer waist.

The BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) popularity is an example of how beauty standards can change the lives of millions. The operation consists of a surgeon taking fat from different parts of your body and putting it in your posterior. It all started back in 2019 with models trying it to have a perkier butt, it soon became a popular trend on TikTok, and women from all around the world began having the procedure, some even undergoing illegal surgeries. It wasn’t long before people started having difficulties, some died. “The estimated death rate from fat embolism may be as high as one in 3,000 for BBLs” The Conversation reported.

Beauty is about culture. For example, in Senegal, the lighter your skin is the more attractive you are. Women from this country are not foreign with products said to make their skin colour cream-like. Even if they are not using the chemicals daily, the average one uses at least 2 shades of lighter foundation.

Not only are teenage girls insecure about their bodies, but young boys are also subject to these standards. “62.3% of teenage girls and 28.8% of teenage boys mentioned trying to lose weight,” the National Eating Disorders website reported. Most often it is about their height, their strength, genitalia size, and how deep their voices are. Intimidation and the desire to be part of a group are the causes of beauty inferiority.

The beauty mindset is always changing, like in the ’80s, it was all about fitness and good nutrition but right now everything is about accepting ourselves as we are. Even with all those movements, there are still girls going on strict diets to look like models, frequently putting themselves in hospital beds. Society has a major part in it, telling women and men how to live their lives.