EPISODE‌ ‌88: Crossing the Sea - Perfection and the Culture of Comparison

“For most people in the real world, their experience of beauty is that it is a moral ideal.”— Professor Heather WiddowsWe live in a world that is obsessed with appearance. Social media filters allow young people to create personal images far removed from reality, plastic surgery “trends” pop up almost seasonally, and we increasingly conflate our self worth with how well we conform to societal beauty standards. For many people, achieving aesthetic beauty is virtuous — consider the guilt that we can feel when we skip the gym, put on a few pounds, or run into an acquaintance while having a bad hair day… or the way that we may judge others for doing the same.What is the fallout from our current cultural preoccupation with beauty, and how can we uncover a healthier sense of self?This instalment of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an episode of Crossing the Sea, a podcast about mental health. In this episode, Dr. Elliott Malamet speaks with Professor Heather Widdows, British philosopher, John Ferguson Professor of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England, and co-writer of the Beauty Demands blog.This discussion covers the moral and ethical implications of our focus on the external, as well as its effects on our mental health.“We’ve moved from the cut of the dress to the cut of the breast.”— Professor Heather WiddowsThis‌ ‌episode discusses:‌ ‌

• How the digital age has shifted the way that we engage with beauty ideals
• The role that capitalism plays in creating or emphasizing aesthetic “problems”
• Questions regarding individual agency and control around objectification

Highlights:‌ ‌00:51 Intro03:18 Beauty as a moral ideal05:14 Has beauty always been so important?07:03 Normalization of beauty practices09:05 Beauty & capitalism10:52 Origin of beauty standards12:25 Pretense of diversity13:53 Women’s individual agency16:17 Where youth receive beauty ideals19:34 Dominance of image & being camera-ready23:33 Control v. objectification29:32 Living with contradiction31:32 Beauty & age34:15 Men & beauty36:27 Ideal selfhood39:39 Final takeaway41:13 ConclusionLinks:‌ ‌Beauty Demandshttps://beautydemands.blogspot.comThe Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble To Get Inside Our Heads by Tim Wuhttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/234876/the-attention-merchants-by-tim-wuMy Body by Emily Ratajkowskihttps://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250817860/mybodyTo get in contact or learn more about Living Jewishly:Visit‌ ‌our ‌website: https://livingjewishly.orgFollow us on Instagram: @living.jewishlyWatch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO2YEegjapKpQeXG6zh6tzwor send us an email at hello@livingjewishly.org.Shalom!