Article
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Citation
Abreu R (2023) Negotiating Representation: Ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences of Beauty on Instagram. En-Gender!, 5 (Special Issue 1), pp. 10-28. https://engenderacademia.wordpress.com/en-gender-volume-5-activism-borders-and-media/
Abstract
Social media plays a key role in young women’s
conceptualisations of beauty and their negotiations of
femininity and identity. However, previous research on social
media and beauty largely centres on White women’s
experiences. Functioning as a subset of a larger study on the
perceptions of beauty of ethnic minority women aged 18-25, this
paper presents an intersectional exploration of these women’s
experiences navigating beauty discourse on Instagram. Using in-depth, focus group discussions among Black, Asian, Arab and
mixed-race women from various geographical contexts, the
interdisciplinary research demonstrates a strong relationship
between Instagram and ethnic minority women’s perceptions of
beauty, emphasising the influence of Eurocentric ideals. The
findings also reveal ethnic minority women’s unique criteria for
beauty, which are significantly affected by cultural values such
as religion, health, and socioeconomic status. The research
concludes that more diverse representation of ethnic minority
beauty on Instagram is needed and offers further avenues for
research on the culture-specific experiences of ethnic minority
women.
Keywords
Social Media; Beauty; Ethnicity; Representation; Gender Identity
Journal
En-Gender!: Volume 5, Issue Special Issue 1
Status | Published |
---|---|
Publication date | 31/03/2023 |
Publication date online | 31/03/2023 |
Date accepted by journal | 30/11/2022 |
URL | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34977 |
Publisher URL | https://engenderacademia.wordpress.com/…rders-and-media/ |
ISSN | 2700-1415 |
People (1)
PhD Researcher, Communications, Media and Culture