Commercials, runways, billboards, magazines, movies, sitcoms – it seems that today's women are being ambushed from every angle by the “Beauty Myth”, the belief that there is a singular, exclusive, pristine image of perfection and that this image is what self-respecting women everywhere should look like (Wolf 120). Fortunately for the vast majority of us that are not a size 0 there is How to Look Good Naked and shows like it that herald an enlightening message: despite what size bra you wear, the color of your hair, or how many kids you have had, you are beautiful. However, it is hard to view the show without a feminist lens and an uncritical eye. Although the message HTLGN sends is an overall positive one, it still feeds the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry that pays for those models in the magazine ads and those billboards beside the freeway. Though it cannot be denied: the media has grown to become more accepting of women of varying shapes, colors, and sizes, the fact is that women are still primping for hours before a mirror prior to setting foot outside their front doors which only breathes fresh, sustaining life into the Beauty Myth.
When Naomi Wolf wrote her article in 1991, I am pretty sure she did not for see the myriad makeover shows sprinkled throughout cable television networks, including How to Look Good Naked, a show that premiered earlier this year on Lifetime. Hosted by Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley, the show helps body-conscious women get rid of the painful, damaging images they have of themselves in exchange for an more approving, self-loving view. In January, Kressley appeared on Good Morning America to give audiences a preview of HTLGN. Kressley told Good Morning America: “The point of the show is to say you don't have to be perfect to be beautiful”, you can be beautiful just as you are (ABC). In a world where nothing less than perfect is acceptable, the show's message appears to be a positive one. Nicole Cohen of Herizons magazine observes that “beauty standards have evolved from functioning as visual health cues to becoming bodily insecurities companies [use] to hawk lipstick and liposuction” (37). I can walk into any drug store or supermarket and see entire aisles devoted specifically to women's cosmetics and care: face creams and body lotions, hair straighteners and curling serums. With so much evidence to woman's undeniable imperfection, how can we ignore the need for improvement? Kressley acknowledges that women today cannot help but be sucked into an oppressive, self-deprecating state of mind because of the myriad size 0's dancing in music videos or clear-skinned, long-lashed bombshells serving chicken wings in the local bars. He proceeds in the interview – and on the show itself – to share tricks of the trade that help.
Nevertheless, is that enough? Makeover shows may take the outward appearance of media-oppressed women and morph it into the “goddess within”, but is that enough to cancel out the decades of promoting botox, bronzers, and boob jobs? Sheila Mason articulates that “over the past thirty years...women have gained increasing access to work and leisure opportunities that were previously inaccessible to them. Social and philosophical obstacles to collective self understanding have diminished with the appearance of emancipatory social movements” such as feminism and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender awareness (Beyond flow 233). Women have overcome paramount obstacles over the past years in order to gain an equality that was once unheard of. Yet in spite of all our accomplishments, we are still struggling under the yoke of the Beauty Myth. A point that Wolf makes in her essay is that “'beauty' is not universal...nor is beauty a function of evolution”, in essence beauty is fluid (Beauty Myth 121). A beautiful woman to a man in Kenya will undoubtedly be different from a beautiful woman to a man in Japan, but because the media has tattooed an exclusive image into our minds, women cannot help but feel inadequate with what they have. In this way HTLGN can be applauded because the show helps society's women who are so often disappointed with their reflection – in some cases, to the point of tears – realize that they do not need to fit the prototype to be beautiful. You can be four foot seven and still look sophisticated, you can wear a size 14 jean and still exude confidence.
However, does self-appreciation reciprocate the fact that HTLGN is still working for a system that capitalizes on women's need to buy beauty products and trendy outfits? Not necessarily, but I do feel that women – and men – should feel good about looking their best. In addition, looking your best does not mean plastic surgery and starvation. Everyone – man, woman, transgender – has the potential and the right to look as good as the next person. I personally adore makeover shows because they make me realize that there are women in the world who are so insecure about the way they look on the outside that it effects how they feel about themselves on the inside. And it is because of the Beauty Myth that 99% of women are unhappy with their bodies. However, shows like HTLGN show women that there is nothing to be ashamed of, there is nothing that they should envy; every woman is beautiful and it starts with how they feel about themselves. It was for this reason that I chose to do my media analysis on HTLGN.
So, it is true that How to Look Good Naked raises the consciousness of women about body images and shows them that the “ideal” body image is nothing but a myth. Nevertheless it is also true that shows like HTLGN continue to oppress women with the fact that beauty is only as good as the clothes you wear and the highlights in your hair. The Beauty Myth cannot be vanquished with shows like HTLGN; they only prolong the fight to liberate women from the yoke of commericalism, the need to wear mascara and lipstick.
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~Remember! Regardless of who you are or what you look like, flaunt it!!!
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