Essay on The Connection between Fashion, Beauty, Appearance and Identity
How significant is appearance to identity? This issue has been widely discussed in scientific literature and the mass media sources. Researchers have found that the significance of appearance and identity is reflected in social interaction. Appearance is considered to be the most salient symbol of social interaction. According to Kathleen J. Fitzgerald (2007), “appearance plays a significant role in identity construction simply because it presents our identity to others in social interaction”(p. 157). Scholars state that people perceive the appearance of others, placing emphasis on skin color, hair, eyes, weight, height, clothes, etc. As a result, appearance can be interpreted as the source of identity because through appearance, “the self presents an identity” (qtd. in Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 157). Finkelstein (1991) believes that physical appearance can be viewed as a means for claiming certain degree in representing social status. Physical appearance has direct relation to human character because some details of personal affectations tell much about one’s identity.
In addition, it is necessary to explain the meaning of the term “fashion” in order to find the connection between fashion and individual self-expression. Fashion can be understood as both a system and a form of individual self-expression. There are several factors that influence the functioning of fashion as a system. First, fashion is a system because it has been developed into industry, which serves society. Second, fashion is a system that uses different signs to change appearance. Besides, fashion is a form of individual self-expression because it reflects individual culture, expressing one’s own individuality and personality. Fashion is conceptualized as the way to communicate identity through self-expression (Finkelstein, 1991).
In fact, appearance is important for a number of reasons. Appearance has the ability to impress others. According to Finkelstein (1991), people have always paid due attention to appearance, the body and clothing, in order to “enhance the human frame” and use fashion to highlight one’s identity. At the same time, beauty cannot function by denying its social construction because beauty is a social construction, based on research findings of social scientists (Kawamura, 2010). It is possible to make everything look beautiful and aesthetic, depending on the context. Due to cosmetic surgery, it is possible to improve the parameters of appearance, especially the appearance of women. The increase in the development of cosmetic surgery industry points out to the fact that it is possible to reshape the structures of body in order to improve both appearance and self-esteem (Northrop, 2010). Individuals today invest so much time, energy and money in appearance because they want to succeed in social interaction. Fashion and display are implicated in the fabrication of the self. As a result, cosmetic surgery is focused on the promotion of certain appearance norms that have been evolved in human society as effective tools of social interaction (Northrop, 2010).
The surface tells us something much deeper about our self-identity. We have not fallen prey to, in Lasch’s phrase, “a culture of narcissism”. Actually, social development effects the constitution and deployment of the self. For example, the politics of sexual identity, the role of the mass media and celebrity, social media and the Internet play an important role in the constitution and deployment of the self. It is impossible to fall prey to the “culture of narcissism” because many people have no opportunity to use cosmetic surgery. Their self-esteem is improved by the ability to demonstrate empathy.
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that there is the connection between fashion, beauty, appearance and identity. One’s own personality and individuality reflect the functioning of physical appearance. The popularity of such practice as cosmetic surgery helps to transform body and appearance, making it look perfect, based on the established social norms and standards. Cosmetic surgery helps to promote self-image contributing to social interaction. As a result, physical appearance has an enormous power over the successful practices of social interaction. Today many people are ready to invest much time, energy and money in their appearance in order to succeed in social interaction. Fashion is conceptualized as an effective tool aimed at communicating one’s own identity through self-expression.
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