A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Beauty as Gendered Inequality
Authors: Sarpila, Outi; Brans, Luuc; Kuipers, Giselinde
Editors: Kuipers, Giselinde; Sarpila, Outi
Publication year: 2026
Book title : Handbook of Beauty and Inequality
Series title: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research
First page : 77
Last page: 90
ISBN: 978-3-032-08034-9
eISBN: 978-3-032-08035-6
ISSN: 1389-6903
eISSN: 2542-839X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08035-6_6
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08035-6_6
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/515698878
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Gender is one of the most common perspectives through which the relation between beauty and inequality is studied. Recently, as our academic understanding of gender and gender systems in society shifts, academics are rethinking the triangular relation between beauty, inequality, and gender. Against this backdrop, this chapter discusses how beauty and appearance are gendered, and how this is related to inequalities of gender and beyond. We examine the gendered nature of beauty, highlighting beauty standards, beauty practices, and the social norms surrounding them. After, we discuss unequal gender outcomes of beauty/appearance, and the mechanisms suggested to explain them. Finally, we ask what might be lost or overlooked in current approaches that often take on a binary gender perspective. We suggest that future research can break new ground by paying more explicit and critical attention to the shifting gender systems (and the resistance this sparks), by analyzing beauty and gender in intersectional terms, and by going beyond the gender binary.
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