We are subject to beauty standards. In fact, our emotional health is directly impacted by the arbitrary standards set by society. It impacts our sense of identity, self-esteem, and emotional health. Teenagers, especially with the rise of social media accessibility, are taught to determine their worth from filtered photos, unattainable ideals, and edited bodies. But why are they regarded as beautiful?

Take freckles, for example. These are merely speckled dots on your face, yet we attach immense meaning to them. Some visit cosmetic clinicians to apply them, while others meticulously apply skin-bleaching cream to remove them. So are freckles ugly or pretty? There isn’t a definite answer. These labels, once used to define, have now become so overused that they altogether lack meaning.

Rarely do we ever pause to wonder how and why those standards came to be imposed on us. Our frustration is often reduced to a surface-level “why,” rather than an anthropological one. We critique the outcomes, but not the systems that created them. It’s like putting a bandage on a skin-deep wound, or simply telling your friend that they’re beautiful after they complain about their textured skin.

After all, many practices we consider “traditions” were carefully manufactured, whether it be diamond engagement rings popularized through De Beers’ advertising campaigns, or the modern red-suited image of Santa Claus popularized through Coca-Cola marketing. Approaching this phenomenon through an anthropological lens, one that asks how cultural phenomena originate, has allowed us to unravel many of the standards we internalize as the “norm.”

Behind every societal obsession is a self-interested individual who preys on our vulnerabilities. Insecurity isn’t accidental, but built up and manufactured from an individual who introduced the idea. We want to pinpoint and probe exactly why and how these standards originated. Our mission is to set ourselves free from the shackles of marketing through the lens of psychology and anthropology.

We want to undo the psychology behind every social marker and empower adolescents to recognize, question, and ultimately dismantle the forces that shape how we see ourselves.