Dismantling the Beauty Myth: Critiquing Social Media Impact and Body Politics

Abstract

Defining beauty and body has always been a major concern of societies of different periods. Multiple discourses provide the image of ‘ideal body and beauty’ which plays a pivotal role in structuring the minds of people, based on which they make themselves fit for that era. There always exists a visible constant struggle between people and the norms that are set by the hegemonic power groups. This paper strives to place its primary focus on how the beauty norms and structures of society have constructed a generation of people having manipulable bodies through the strong influence of social media. In analyzing this prospect, Michel Foucault’s concept of “Docile Bodies” has been used, a term he introduced in his work Discipline and Punish (1975). This paper attempts to draw attention to how Foucault’s idea of docility still works in the field of beauty and the ways in which these are exerted.