When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore

Beauty is an elusive concept that we encounter on an almost daily basis, in every aspect of our lives. It governs the identities of both men and women, albeit in different ways. I focus on the physical aspect of beauty, from the top-down perspective of personnel from Singapore’s beauty and fashion i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dhillon, Sasha Kaur
Other Authors: Xiao Hong
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69997
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author Dhillon, Sasha Kaur
author2 Xiao Hong
author_facet Xiao Hong
Dhillon, Sasha Kaur
author_sort Dhillon, Sasha Kaur
collection NTU
description Beauty is an elusive concept that we encounter on an almost daily basis, in every aspect of our lives. It governs the identities of both men and women, albeit in different ways. I focus on the physical aspect of beauty, from the top-down perspective of personnel from Singapore’s beauty and fashion industries in uncovering and showcasing how Singapore constructs beauty ideals. Through my interviews, I discovered that Singapore constructs along unique lines – intertwining both Eastern and Western cultures with heavy emphasis on themes like skin colour, gender and race. In fact, to a certain extent my data also showcases palpable state influence in the construction of these ideals. I also show how beauty is a gendered concept that disciplines the body of both men and women, on varying levels. I also showcase that racism exists in Singapore’s construction of beauty, despite us being a nation that prides itself on racial equality.
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spelling ntu-10356/699972019-12-10T13:17:36Z When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore Dhillon, Sasha Kaur Xiao Hong School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Social sciences Beauty is an elusive concept that we encounter on an almost daily basis, in every aspect of our lives. It governs the identities of both men and women, albeit in different ways. I focus on the physical aspect of beauty, from the top-down perspective of personnel from Singapore’s beauty and fashion industries in uncovering and showcasing how Singapore constructs beauty ideals. Through my interviews, I discovered that Singapore constructs along unique lines – intertwining both Eastern and Western cultures with heavy emphasis on themes like skin colour, gender and race. In fact, to a certain extent my data also showcases palpable state influence in the construction of these ideals. I also show how beauty is a gendered concept that disciplines the body of both men and women, on varying levels. I also showcase that racism exists in Singapore’s construction of beauty, despite us being a nation that prides itself on racial equality. Bachelor of Arts 2017-04-07T02:56:27Z 2017-04-07T02:56:27Z 2017 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69997 en Nanyang Technological University 31 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences
Dhillon, Sasha Kaur
When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title_full When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title_fullStr When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title_full_unstemmed When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title_short When east meets west: beauty standards and ideals in Singapore
title_sort when east meets west beauty standards and ideals in singapore
topic DRNTU::Social sciences
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69997
work_keys_str_mv AT dhillonsashakaur wheneastmeetswestbeautystandardsandidealsinsingapore