STANDARDS OF FEMALE BEAUTY IN THE CONTEXT OF MEDIATIZATION OF MODERN CULTURE

Abstract

The phenomenon of beauty has many philosophical dimensions in culture, this study examines the cultural aspect of the standardization of female beauty in the context of modern media culture. The purpose of the research is to carry out a cultural analysis of the standards of female beauty of the 20th and 21st centuries in the context of media transformations in culture. The methodology of the research is based on the theories of culture analytics and media anthropology. The goal of our investigation determine the application of a complex of general scientific and cultural methods. In particular, methods such as the analysis of open sources, visual content analysis, structural-functional and historical methods, method of comparison and synthesis, and hermeneutic and semiotic approaches were involved. Scientific novelty. The authors carried out a cultural analysis of the standardization of female beauty in the 20th century in the context of Western media culture, identified the influence of social media on the development of the modern beauty industry, and determined the role of “new” media in shaping the criteria of female beauty in the culture of the 21st century. The conclusions drawn from the research indicate that the standards of beauty in the 20th century evolved with each decade, where appearance became a way of self-expression, and media served as its transmitter. The most vivid examples of the standardization of female beauty are observed in the context of mass culture, including fashion, cinema, and advertising. Based on the conducted research, the following standards of female beauty in the 20th century were identified: “Gibson Girls,” “flappers,” “glamour,” the image of the “strong woman,” the “guardian of the hearth” with the proportions “90–60–90,” “Twiggy,” “athletic build,” and “heroic chic.” At the beginning of the 21st century, social media emerged as the main platform for disseminating beauty standards, which not only provide new opportunities for communication and rethinking ideals through inclusivity, body positivity, and self-acceptance but also contain new dangers associated with the intensity of the development of the beauty industry and the use of digital technologies. The analysis of the standardization of female beauty demonstrates the temporality of such ideals. Adopting standards is a choice of the recipient, which must be made consciously and carefully, which actualizes the formation of personal media culture and critical thinking.