The Beauty Myth

Dozens of graphically altered images of female bodies affect our psyche daily, resulting not only in comparison and lowered self-esteem among women and even very young girls, but also in psychological issues such as depression, eating disorders, or addiction to plastic surgery. Beauty standards lead society to overestimate the importance of appearance, fear the natural signs of ageing, push older women out of the public sphere, or discriminate based on looks, while also fostering increasing superficiality and consumerism, to which social media significantly contributes. Women are often depicted semi-naked or naked, as a result of which they are perceived by many men merely as sexual objects, and this perception subsequently transfers into real life. The primary inspiration for this series of paintings was the comparison of the beauty myth to the iron maiden in the book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. It is an alleged medieval torture device with an alluring exterior, inside of which hide sharp spikes that crush the victims (I explored this inspiration in the first painting). As a society, we tend to underestimate the beauty myth and its consequences because its form is aesthetically appealing – after all, how could looking at beautiful, smiling models be dangerous? Nevertheless, its consequences are often severe.