Societal interest in 'looks' has a long history. Until recently, this interest has been considered largely benign: however, norms of appearance have become progressively more extreme and are now unattainable for the vast majority of people.
"I Don't Like the Way I Look": the Psychological Consequences of Appearance Norms
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Nichola Rumsey summarises research evidence charting the extensive and damaging impacts of dissatisfaction with appearance on physical and psychological health and the negative consequences for children, young people and adults in key areas of living including social, educational & vocational functioning.
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Is normality - or conformity to certain parameters of behaviour and appearance - a necessary condition of all advanced societies or a tyranny which constrains individual aspiration and social evolution? Do conceptions of normality have any objective basis or are they merely social constructions, inexorably tied to the exercise of political and economic power? These questions have troubled some of the influential minds of the last two centuries but are they still relevant today, as...
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