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TikTok uplifts a model who feels ‘undesired in a society of Eurocentric beauty standards’: ‘You are like 11/10’
One TikTok creator has garnered attention after posting a relatable video about her insecurities.
On April 27, Nestana Ulanbek (@nesmates), a Kyrgyz American model and content creator who’s openly documented her journey with alopecia, took to the digital platform to disclose the fact that she feels less than for presumably failing to live up to Eurocentric standards of beauty.
“Feeling undesired in a society of Eurocentric beauty standards,” she writes over a clip of her looking forlornly at the camera. “Sparks” by Coldplay plays in the background of the 12-second video.
“Your existence is a proof that generations of your face have been loved,” she then writes.
“My first thought was ‘you’re so pretty’ before I even read the caption”
With more than 1.6 million views and 368,600 likes in just five days of posting, it’s evident that Nestana’s video has reached a wide audience, many of whom have taken to the comments to send some positivity her way.
“I don’t know girl. You are like 11/10,” @kermit461 wrote.
“I feel you so hard it’s a struggle everyday, but just want to drop in and say you are SO beautiful and I hope you can see that !!!” @notesbyaeri said.
“You’ve got siren level beauty and that is the highest form of a compliment in my mind,” @alayna.hawthorne commented.
“If I saw you irl, I would stare at you for a good minute ngl,” @sapphicapples admitted.
“My first thought was ‘you’re so pretty’ before I even read the caption,” @lenymelony revealed.
According to Jennifer King and Derek Iwamoto, Asian women “may evaluate their appearance relative to some cultural standard or ideal and perceive their appearance comes up short, which can contribute to not only body shame but general feelings of powerlessness, especially when particular features are not easily changed.”
The inclination to judge oneself against cultural beauty standards is called self-objectification.
“According to objectification theory, when individuals internalize the cultural standards of beauty, they are preoccupied with worry over how well they look in the eyes of others and consider their bodies as an object that must be constantly monitored, which has been referred to as body surveillance,” Barbara L. Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts wrote via Boby Ho-Hong Ching and Jason Teng Xu.
The persisting idea that conventional attractiveness relates to how Eurocentric one looks is harmful. The hope, of course, is that self-objectification and the pressure to conform to Eurocentric standards of beauty will eventually loosen its hold. So long as “Western beauty standards celebrate whiteness,” those who fail to fit the mold will continue to feel an unfair, unwarranted sense of incompetence.
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