KnE Social Sciences
ISSN: 2518-668X
The latest conference proceedings on humanities, arts and social sciences.
The Dilemma of Beauty in the Social Media Era
Published date: Dec 21 2022
Journal Title: KnE Social Sciences
Issue title: 5th International Conference on Education and Social Science Research (ICESRE)
Pages: 100–109
Authors:
Abstract:
This study aims to analyze the dilemmas of Indonesian society, especially women, in understanding beauty, amidst the constructions of what is deemed beautiful by Instagram. This study included 10 female informants aged 23 to 26 years, with different ethnic backgrounds, including ethnic Melayu, Batak, Minang, Banten, Betawi, Sundanese, Javanese, Papuan, Arabic and Chinese. All these ethnic groups are present and exist in the midst of Indonesian society, actively using Instagram and following Instagram influencers. This study uses the hyperreality theory of Jean-Paul Baudrillard, which includes simulacra, consumption and simulation. The results of this study show that Instagram creates a construction of which physical characteristics are beautiful through content uploaded by influencers. Secondly, the impact of this construction is such that followers of these influencers believe that their physical characteristics are not attractive and ultimately want to be like the influencers they see and follow on Instagram. Lastly, Instagram is a performative media such that the physical characteristics that are shown on the platform have often gone through alterations involving make-up, filters, and editing processes. Indonesian society, as a multicultural society, is faced with a dilemma when it comes to upholding values of beauty when the media highlights ‘beautiful’ physical characteristics that do not represent any ethnicity in Indonesia.
Keywords: Equality, Beauty, Social Media, Instagram
References:
[1] Mustofa. Undisciplined reviewed from the Habitus Pierre Bourdieu Theory. The Journal of Society and Media 2019. 2019;3:142–158. Available from: https://journal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/jsm/index
[2] Bastick Z. Would you notice if fake news changed your behavior? An experiment on the unconscious effects of disinformation. Computers in Human Behavior. 2021;116:1– 12. Available from: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh
[3] Damayanti NL, Hidayat MA. Hiperreality of social media: A phenomenology study of self-confession of housewives of Facebook users. The Journal of Society and Media. 2019;3:261–277. Available from: https://journal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/jsm/index
[4] Lidwina A. 94% orang Indonesia akses Youtube satu bulan terakhir. 2021. Available from: https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2021/02/17/94- orang-indonesia-akses-youtube-dalam-satu-bulan-terakhir/
[5] Steinsbekk S, Wichstrøm L, Stenseng F, Nesi J, Hygen BW, Skalick´a V. The impact of social media use on appearance self-esteem from childhood to adolescence – A 3-wave community study. Computers in Human Behavior. 2021;114:1–7. Available from: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh
[6] Althoff T, Sosič R, Hicks JL, King AC, Delp SL, Leskovec J. Large-scale physical activity data reveal worldwide activity inequality. Nature. 2017;574:7663.
[7] Carney N. All lives matter, but so does race: Black Lives Matter and the evolving role of social media. Humanity & Society. 2016;40.
[8] Carpenter JP, Morrison SA, Craft M, Lee M. How and why are educators using Instagram? Teaching and Teacher Education. 2020;96:1–14. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7380928/
[9] Riama CO. Peran influencer dalam proses electronic world of mouth untuk meningkatkan persepsi merek. Jurnal Manajemen Komunikasi. 2021;5.
[10] Leite FP, Baptista P. The effects of social media influencers’ self-disclosure on behavioral intention: The role of source credibility, parasocial relationships, and brand trust. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. 2021;30:295–311.
[11] Suhada, Nurul D, Demartoto A, Sunesti Y. Women in the shadow of self-racism: A phenomenological study of women using Instagram. Interdisciplinary Social Studies. 2022;1.
[12] Indozone T. Seperti apa ciri khas kecantikan perempuan Indonesia? Indozone [Internet]. 2020 Jul 8. Available from: https://www.indozone.id/beauty/0ysXZQD/sepertiapa- ciri-khas-kecantikan-perempuan-indonesia
[13] Jonesy. Pesanku pada adik-adik perempuan tentang standar kecantikan. Magdalene [Internet]. 2021 Oct 26. Available from: https://magdalene.co/story/standarkecantikan- indonesia
[14] Hidayat MA. Menggugat modernisme: Mengenali Rentang pemikiran postmodernisme Jean Baudrillard. 1st ed. Pavitrasari SO, editor. Yogyakarta: Jalasutra; 2017.
[15] Damayanti NL, Hidayat MA. Hiperreality of social media: A phenomenology study of self-confession of housewives of Facebook users. The Journal of Society and Media 2019;3.