The American beauty industry capitalizes off of women’s desire to stunt the progression of a natural part of life. Growing older. As women do this growing, they become more and more conscious of their age. This opens the floodgates for the beauty industry to sell skin creams, makeup, and serums that slow the progression of age and for the cosmetic industry to focus on reconstructing and reversing the effects of age. This wouldn’t be made possible without women buying into the idea that this is actually important. Consider this: women are beauty, and beauty is youth. One thing is guaranteed; people will get older. Aging comes with fine lines, wrinkles, sagging, grey hair and more physical indicators of time, but but why are we so afraid of it?
Pageant Beauties
For Beauty Pageant Queens, the answer is simple. The younger and more beautiful the women are the higher their chances are of winning, and these women want to win.
The annual Mrs. USA pageant was held at the Omni Resort at Championsgate in Davenport, Florida the first week of July summer 2018. Since 1952, there has been a yearly awarded title holder who is regarded as the standard of beauty and grace in the eye of the nation. Like many concepts, the pageant’s standard of beauty evolves with time. In summer 2018, attaining the desired “look” had surpassed a struggle centered solely on the thin or thick scale, (not that this wasn’t at all a factor) and moved into an area that focused on something more… vital… youth.
Michelle Davina, who holds the title for Mrs. South Carolina 2018, spent 10 days at the Omni Resort preparing for the Mrs. USA pageant. Davina, who is 50 years of age, has been in the pageant world for about a decade. She feels the pressure to appear more youthful in order to not only have a leg up in the competition but to keep her marriage alive. She says “I think women hang on to youth because that’s the time most of us come into our sexuality. I know I never want to lose the ability to turn a man’s head just by merely walking by them.” She continues, “Also, as I age, my husband is aging, and I have to keep him interested or the younger women will.” For Davina, the pageant preparation includes a spray tan for evening skin complexion, hair extensions for volume, facials for skin firmness, and an exercise and diet regimen that is designed for weight loss and toning
The Pageant organization allows women of all races, sizes and ages to compete for the title. The only requirement for the “Mrs.” division, is that the women competing must be married. Of the 52 registered contestants, 36 of them are under the age of 30. Of the remaining 16, only 7 women are over the age of 45. Mostly all of the women take part in the same regimen as Davina, as well as butt glue for lifting, teeth whitening, manicures, pedicures, eyelash extensions, and hours of professional makeup to create an illusion of a “youthful glow.”
This phenomenon raises a few questions: Why do women go through all of this? Do these products actually make these women appear younger? Is this method of thinking exclusive to pageant women?
Research
To answer why, our group (DJ Terry, Jordyn DiMaso and Jessica Leuenberger) conducted several interviews that received responses from 10 women of varying age groups, racial backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses. Although not all of these women felt the personal pressure to curb the progression of their own age, the majority agreed that there is a societal expectation for women to stay looking young.
Do these products actually work? There have been mixed reviews on the actual effectiveness of the products but Lancome skin care professional, Derrick Kirsten, at Somerset Collection in Troy Michigan warns that not every product works for every skin type. This is why there is so much variation.
The method of thinking that “I must stay young to stay beautiful” is celebrated in the pageant world, but it is not exclusive to pageant women. Davina is a pageant queen herself, but she has a group of friends that are not at all interested in being in pageantry. These women still have talks with Davina about beauty. She said “Over the last 4 decades that we have been interested in beauty, I have noticed one constant, and that is ‘how do I fight age’. I know if someone had the cure I would buy it, and I can only imagine what people would do to have the magic pill, cream, injection, or remedy.
Women all across the America are having the same concerns as Davina and her friends, believing that youth is beauty. Advertising Professor at Oakland University, Judith Sawyer, says that women are conditioned this way because manufacturers believe that having younger consumers are more valuable because they haven’t locked themselves into any specific brand preference. This makes them prime consumer targets. She said “As society ages, better health allows the more mature to enjoy many activities not practiced by prior generations. As a result, marketers are finding new consumers, not sought in the past…those with money to spend and time to spend it.” Sawyer elaborates, “Young women feel the same pressure about aging as older women, they just know they have a bit more time.”
The industry is not convinced. Models like Cara Delevingne promote “age-delay” products rather than “anti-aging” products. These types of campaigns insinuate that women actually need these products even before they begin to see the signs of aging. Those pressures from society and advertising are felt much younger than they need to be.
Professor of Communication at Oakland University, Kathleen Battles, believes women begin to feel insecure about their aging in their 20’s. She believes society has conditioned women specifically from a young age to feel unhappy about the aging process.
She said, “We push products to make women appear younger because of sexism, misogyny – it keeps women in their place.” Battles believes that women are made to feel inadequate, even with aging being beyond anyone’s control. They are raised seeing beauty products and face creams that promise results, so they occasionally achieve those results.
Social Influence
Sydnee Little, a college student says, “Social Media praises young women who may have had unnatural enhancements… We need to start glorifying natural beauty.”
Kourtney Allen, 23, is a cosmetology student graduating in February 2019. She has a similar sentiment as Little, saying, “Society needs to encourage young woman to embrace their natural beauty and to be themselves. Also, be a role model for them by doing the same and encourage them to be vocal about what they believe in by not letting others dictate them.”
Natural beauty seems to resonate well with women. Well, I guess that depends on what is meant by “natural.” Women over a certain age often times undergo cosmetic surgeries to rid themselves of wrinkles and conceal age, but some women are finding that aging with confidence and grace is the way to go. Using the right products can make you look healthy and beautiful as a substitute for looking younger. The beauty industry seems to be very much prepared for dominating the market.
According to Reuters, the anti-aging market was worth $250 billion dollars in 2016, and is estimated to grow to $331.4 billion by 2021. This shows major success in the industry, and huge growth potential.
Our group sat down with Sandra DiMaso -an insider in the beauty industry for 30 years- and asked about her views on the beauty industry and aging. Her insights highlighted some opinions of women in the women in the later middle-aged bracket, as her friends try to reclaim their youth with various skincare products. Sandra believes that certain skincare products can do wonders for your skin, no matter your age.
The beauty industry brings aging to the forefront of minds more than it ever has before with integrated social media advertisements that directly target their primary demographic. Anti-aging companies can reach women through TV commercials, radio, internet, and out-of-home advertisements.
Anti-aging advertisements frequently feature older celebrities sponsoring wrinkle creams, or fashionably hip grey-haired women dabbing their faces with moisturizers selling the idea of an excited life through a skin moisturizer that reverses the effects of age.
The beauty industry does indeed target women, either using fear appeals or glamorous desire. Women are willingly purchasing anti-aging products. These products may or may not work, depending on the full regimen that is used and how seriously it is taken. One thing is for sure, anti-aging products do have lasting effects on women, either mentally or physically, which is why women are projected to keep buying and companies are projected to keep selling.
Some may buy creams and lotions to make sure their husbands are still interested, while others may buy products to protect the health of their skin, the end result is the same. A multi-billion dollar industry is profiting from the wants and needs to look younger. Not just because age is beauty, but also because beauty is confidence and confidence fuels life.
CommenTerry 