Women have been placed in various roles throughout history and have fulfilled the responsibilities given to them according to the conditions of the period. Among these given responsibilities, the concept of beauty comes to the fore. Media, fashion, and new trends in line with the concept of beauty have dictated that women comply with a certain standard. If we give the concepts of beauty that have changed throughout history, for example in terms of body, in ancient times the concept of "overweight" women are beautiful was replaced by the concept of "curvy" and later by the concept of "size zero". According to research, the main reason for the pressure exerted on women through beauty discourse and fashion is economic. In this way, the world of cosmetics has developed. Today, the modern economy depends on the definition of women within the beauty myth. (Wolf, 1991) Diet, cosmetic and aesthetic surgery interventions, which are considered among the powerful industries, owe their sustainability to beauty discourses and fashion, in short, to women, whom they determine as their target audience. There are expressions that keep the body under control for the continuity of health, beauty and fashion consumption. Body images play an important role here. Body image is the mental picture of one's own body image. Although body image is multidimensional and subjective, it would be more accurate to say that it is the mental schema of all the emotions, thoughts and perceptions of the individual regarding his body. Individuals with a positive body image have positive self-esteem, have high self-confidence, feel more comfortable in social life, and make positive judgments. Individuals with a negative body image have low self-esteem, low self-confidence, and therefore high anxiety. They perceive themselves as worthless in front of others and avoid participating in social environments because of the thought that they will not be appreciated in society. Self-esteem defines how we see ourselves, what we think about ourselves, and how much we value ourselves. This includes the individual's self-respect, self-confidence, accepting and valuing himself, approving himself and finding himself valuable. (Yörükoğlu,1990).
There are various components that make up body image. These components; perceptions (a person's body how she visualizes her body measurements in her own mind), attitudes (how her thoughts about her own body fit the ideal of beauty, both cognitively and emotionally), and behaviors (eating in moderation, overeating, excessive exercise and dieting, wearing make-up, hair care). are listed (Botta,1999). Beauty discourses have revealed the ideal body image. The characteristics of this ideal body are defined in the media through certain keywords and concepts. For example, being thin, muscular and physical fitness are equated with being young and looking beautiful, and an aging body and wrinkled skin that does not look beautiful become a source of concern for the person (Özbolat, 2011). Being fat, looking unkempt, or getting older are presented as situations that should be avoided. Individuals turn to compensatory behaviors to eliminate this. The most important of these is hair care. At this point, the media comes into play again. Media is a tool that spreads not only the ideal body, but also what needs to be done and the methods to achieve these ideals. Therefore, the individual who compares himself with the ideal body in the media learns from the media about the efforts he will make to reach that ideal body as a result of this comparison. (Warren and Rios,2013)
Media is a powerful source of today's beauty ideal. Articles, advertisements and visuals in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and media reveal ideal and should-be body goals and create a demand on women, who are the target audience. The clothes consumed in these media reveal the concepts of beauty and aesthetics. An image of being unfashionable and bad is created. An ideal and sometimes surreal image is presented and women are shown that they have flaws that they need to cover up. And it gives the image that they can exist in society only when they have these. In fact, they are trying to become acceptable to society with the new identities they create through the media. They give the image of the "ideal woman". In fact, they give women messages that they are inadequate and that they can be better. If we consider the cosmetics part through various industries, solutions are offered to women. Fashion is constantly changing With the formation of new needs, dissatisfaction and deficiency become constant. Concern about aesthetics and perfection creates a lack of self-confidence in women and they fall into this consumption cycle. So much so that this image of the "ideal woman" has become normalized among society, small groups and individuals and has begun to appear as a universal necessity.
How beauty discourses are perceived and the value they attribute to industry and consumption, and the emotional and physical effects of all these. As a result, it is seen that women resort to various methods. For some, hair care is a necessity, for some it is a tool that provides self-confidence, for others it is a necessity, and it is an action that must be done in business and social life. According to some approaches, hair is an expression of personality and an indicator of socially desirable and undesirable characteristics. Women want to give messages to individuals about their body image, their own mood and character through their hair. Well-groomed and healthy hair is an important factor that makes a person feel good and self-confident. Well-groomed or neglected hair can give clues about personality development, lifestyle and motivation. Women want to send a message to people about how they want to look through their hair. Which features are important here varies from culture to culture.
Determining and standardizing personality through criteria such as hair style, cut or shaping-colouring, and making evaluations in this way are a continuation of the social pressure on women, and the information given based on this is healthy. Impossible. Contrary to popular belief, defining personality is a complex and difficult process. It is an issue that needs to be evaluated in a much more nuanced manner, informed by the person's geography, own life story, genetic heritage, family history, subjective experiences, and sociocultural and socioeconomic situation. However, whether a woman has short or long hair, perm, curly or straight hair, whether her hair is thin or thick, whether she is blonde, black, brown or purple or pink is a direct statement about her personality and everyone is on the same page. Although it does not provide definitive and clear information about the person, it can give us clues about the person's lifestyle, expectations, wishes and desires.
Emotional fluctuations seen in some mood disorders can cause differences in a person's appearance. A person with a depressive mood feels depressed, depressed, unhappy and has lost interest in everything and has difficulty in doing daily activities and these people have problems in performing self-care skills (bathing, combing hair, dressing, applying make-up). For this reason, these people's hair is not well-groomed, and their body image; The images of their bodies in their minds (perceptions, attitudes, behaviors) are negative and they do not make an effort to change it.
Anxious individuals, especially individuals with a perfectionist pattern, are very concerned with how they appear from the outside. Since they can easily get the feeling of inadequacy, criticisms, facial expressions, looks and behaviors that may come from outside can cause people's body images to be negative. In order to cope with their anxiety, they strive to have a perfect and flawless appearance. They do not neglect the care of their hair and do not go out without going to the hairdresser. They frequently change their hair style and color, thus trying to achieve a more eye-catching appearance.
When we evaluate it in terms of Personality Disorders; If we consider Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the main feature of these people is grandiosity in behavior or fantasy and the need to be admired. Narcissists are generally thought to be people who love themselves too much and are too self-confident. However, the real situation is exactly the opposite. Since the narcissist cannot love or respect himself, he constantly feels the need to do something in order to love and respect himself. They have the feeling that they are very important. They ponder dreams of unlimited success, power, intelligence, beauty or perfect love. They want to be admired. For this reason, these individuals spend a lot of time on their appearance because they care about their beauty and need external appreciation. The easiest way is to Since they can create changes in a short time, they are in a certain effort with their hair. They do not go out with a hairstyle that is unkempt and that people will not like. They attach importance to hair care. They often follow new fashions and trends. While long hair was preferred in traditional and ancient times, short hair has become more preferred in the modern age. It is thought that short hair length makes people look fresher and younger. Narcissists desire to attract more attention from outsiders by choosing hair colors that are different from blonde or a classic color. They desire to be liked by people by choosing an assertive, different and well-groomed hairstyle.
The main feature of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is excessive preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control in mental and interpersonal relationships. For this reason, they ponder the perfection we see in the pattern of anxious individuals. They do not neglect their hair care and do not go out with neglected and unattractive hair. They spend long hours dealing with their hair.
The main feature of histrionic personality disorder is that these people are excessively emotional and seek attention in almost every field. They become uncomfortable when they are not the center of attention. They always want to draw attention to themselves. Since they cannot tolerate indifference, they use every means to draw attention to themselves. They constantly use their physical appearance to attract attention, as it is one of the easiest ways to attract attention and make others care about them. They wear colorful, eye-catching clothes with very revealing cleavage or slits. They always take care to be well-groomed, they always walk around with their hair done, they wear big shiny accessories and colorful and eye-catching make-up. They spend a significant part of the day concerned with their physical appearance and care. Since the easiest way to show themselves as a different and interesting person is their hair, they prefer different colors that are not preferred by everyone and dye their hair. These colors can be any color that society finds different and assertive (pink, purple, orange).
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