Yara Shahidi Compares Hollywood's Beauty Standards To Those Of High School, And They're Not Really That Different
High school definitely holds a lot of expectations for teenagers, especially young girls, with regards to their appearance, the way they interact socially, and the pressures that are put on their future. Most issues for girls revolve around how they look, as at that point in life, very few things are prioritised above being noticed by someone that they like, or being the prettiest around. We can't blame teenagers for this, as this is society's doing, and Black-ish star Yara Shahidi spoke out about her experiences with beauty standards as a teen.
The 17 year-old plays Zoey Johnson in the show, and recently she spoke about how she personally found similarities between the pressures surrounding body image in high school and in Hollywood. 'What's funny is I've gone through high school and Hollywood kind of at the same time,' she told People Now. 'I do realise there are a lot of parallels where the standards that I go through aren't different [from] many girls in high school or in schools, [and what they're] going through.'
Despite talking about the pressures in Hollywood, she admitted to being lucky with those who she's been surrounded by. 'Fortunately I've been in environments where I've not had to deal with a lot of criticism, but there's moments in which, even in terms of make up, [...] I remember feeling make up dependent for so long. It was no longer this fun process of just self expression but it was like, I need [a full face] to feel "ready", or to feel as though I'm professional.'
'I think everyone kind of goes through that moment of [...] being told unconsciously that this is how you look "ready", versus, "oh no, use make up as you want". If you want to put a face on, great. If you don't, great. But it should be something that you don't feel obliged to do, but a fun process.'
It's so great to see someone so young fully understand how beauty standards permeate our ways of thinking and talk so openly about it to help those of a similar age to her.
