The default assumption tends to be that it is politically important to designate everyone as beautiful, that it is a meaningful project to make sure that everyone can become, and feel, increasingly beautiful. We have hardly tried to imagine what it might look like if our culture could do the opposite—de-escalate the situation, make beauty matter... See more

I think taking pride in and putting time and money towards your appearance is a positive thing if coming from a place of love for oneself, as watering a plant is done because you want it to stay healthy and grow. I think the emphasis should be less about beauty and instead about decentering men and refusing to fit inside the box the patriarchy puts... See more

According to Halim, there may be several ripple effects on beauty standards: “This renewed emphasis on a very slim body type as the ‘ideal’ could in effect make society revert to past standards where thinness was highly glorified, neglecting the progress made toward body inclusivity and diversity.