Changing Beauty Standards for Women

Winnie Harlow is the new face of change in the modeling world. At the age of four she was diagnosed with vitiligo; this is an incurable skin disease that produces colorless patches of skin on a person’s body. Harlow was constantly bullied because she did not look like the stereotypical, ‘beautiful girl’. She was called ‘zebra’ and ‘cow’ because of her disease. Rather than allow this to deter her, she became a model. She has become fashion’s new ‘it' girl and is using her new found position to change the beauty standards for women.

            Modeling is not only a career for Winnie Harlow, but is also a way for her to show that beauty comes in many forms. She uses media, especially Instagram, to spread her positive feelings about beauty being more than race, skin color, body type etc. She hopes to encourage a shift in beauty standards and stereotypes for women, especially those portrayed in the media. Because women are portrayed in certain ways on TV, on magazine covers, in beauty campaigns, the media spreads a certain notion of what beauty is. Beauty stereotypes become commodities to sell magazines and shows. Harlow wants to change that. In an interview with CNN she says, “I think the industry is opening up but still needs to accept various forms of beauty as a standard, as opposed to an occurrence now and then. I want to see different faces on the covers of magazines, the stars of movies, featured on billboards... It's time we open the market up and embrace people from all walks of life.” Harlow hopes to use media to change the impossible standards and spread the ideals that everyone is beautiful in their own way, regardless if they fit the ‘media mold’.