How and why does ethnic identity affect the beauty cross-culturally Research Paper

How and why does cultural identicalness affect the beauty cross-culturally - Research Paper ExampleOften, it is the financial imperatives of mass consumerism that gains the upper hand. As a consequence, ethno-cultural idea of beauty is in a process of losing its prominence. This essay will further substantiate this claim, namely, that ethnic identity mediated notions of beauty is challenged and weakened in contemporary America. To begin with, let us deal the case of the United States which has evolved as a melting pot of finishings, races and ethnicities. As a result, American partnership has developed the aesthetics that is based on inclusiveness as opposed to exclusiveness. While this inclusiveness is a sign of racial equality in one sense, it has less noble connotations, too. In other words, the assimilation of African Americans into mainstream culture is as much a reflection of social progress as it is a measure of commercialised opportunity. As minority spending power and social interactions of different racial groups in America suck increased over time, advertisers have increasingly been concerned with reaching minority ethnic groups through ocular inclusion. With minority purchasing power increasing, this contingency could no longer be ignored by marketers. However, many another(prenominal) companies were initially leery of offending the White majority that was their consumer base. In a 1953 study, only 0.6% of ads contained African Americans. By 1980, that frequency had increased to approximately 5.7%, indicating that the country was becoming more than comfortable with the use of Blacks in advertisements. 1 One of the key features of ethnic identity is skin tone. It is also a key factor in racial classification. Skin tone is not merely a statistical or academic expatiate in practical life. For an individual, his or her skin tone has implications in all realms of life be it social, formalized or political. Skin tone is also identified as a s pecific variable at the root of racially related issues. Hence, while universality of beauty is a laudable idea, the flip locating of it is discouraging. For example, researchers have correlated skin tone with feelings of self worth, attractiveness, self control, satisfaction, and with quality of life. 2 The theory of colorism is of saliency here, which states that hoi polloi of lighter-skin tone (across ethnicities) are given privilege over dark-skinned members of the same community. The interesting decision here is the applicability of this concept across and between ethnic groups. For example, African Americans tend to feel more favorable towards Black models with a lighter skin tone. This phenomenon is not exclusive to African Americans because colorism is concerned with real skin tone, as opposed to racial or ethnic identity. Research done by Shyon Baumann (2008) has sh own that people within our culture, regardless of race, have a set of ideals about how people should idea lly look, including judgments regarding skin color. lightsomeness and darkness of skin tone have specific meanings attached to them and we subconsciously relate those meanings to those we encounter. 3 The statistical veracity of the theory of colorism is a setback to ethnically identified notions of beauty. It is a serious dent to the economy of authenticity and nativity in an atmosphere saturated with uniformity and conformity. There are qualifications to the theory of colorism though for people with strong ethnic identification feel more affinity towards a model which resembles their own features. Likewise, black consumers generally respond