Of Beauty and Diversity: What Are the Standards in 2020?

Is Bella Hadid the most beautiful woman in the world? Yes, no, maybe. It depends on the tastes: some would say “too redone”, others would reply “simply perfect.”

However, the London-based cosmetic surgeon Julian De Silva has no doubts: Bella Hadid is definitely the most beautiful woman on Earth.

Earlier this month, doctor De Silvia published on his Instagram account the news, specifying that   Bella Hadid is really the most beautiful woman in the world, according to the aesthetic canons the Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, an algorithm by which the ancient Greeks measured absolute beauty.

Basically, the surgeon took some ancient Greek beauty standards, that claim symmetrical faces are the most beautiful in the world, and paired them with celebrities’ faces. In using this technology to rank women, he found that Bella is the “gold standard”, and that Beyoncé is runner-up.

“The 23-year-old was found to be 94.35% ‘accurate’ to the Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which measures physical perfection – commented doctor De Silva – Her eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips, chin, jaw and facial shape were measured and came closest to the ancient Greeks’ idea of perfection.”

But how does that stand in 2019? Aren’t those really outdated standards?

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But if the beholder is the fashion industry, then beauty looks a lot like an army of white, tall, skinny young models.

What happened to the idea of diversity? And the concepts of inclusiveness and uniqueness?

The fashion industry claims to be inspirational, aspirational and inclusive. But the reality appears different: it is an exclusionary system set up with a narrow idea of beauty that takes advantage of people and that has for too long limited itself to aesthetics without ethics.

And it is now imploding.

The fashion industry is currently grappling with its body image: it is often blamed as responsible for setting unrealistic standards of beauty. Thankfully, this is being challenged by more and more brands nowadays.

Driven by social media, beauty has, in the last five years, moved to welcome and to represent customers all along the spectrum of skin shades and gender identities.

But if we are still here, talking about it, questioning if the Greek Standard still makes sense in 2020, I think the beauty and the fashion industry are still far from being inclusive. For every step forward, they take two steps back.

Written by Miriam Tagini 
Follow Miriam on Instagram & Twitter

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