Negotiating Representation: Ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences of Beauty on Instagram

Abstract

Social media plays a key role in young women’s conceptualisations of beauty and their negotiations of femininity and identity. However, previous research on social media and beauty largely centres on White women’s experiences. Functioning as a subset of a larger study on the perceptions of beauty of ethnic minority women aged 18-25, this paper presents an intersectional exploration of these women’s experiences navigating beauty discourse on Instagram. Using in-depth, focus group discussions among Black, Asian, Arab and mixed-race women from various geographical contexts, the interdisciplinary research demonstrates a strong relationship between Instagram and ethnic minority women’s perceptions of beauty, emphasising the influence of Eurocentric ideals. The findings also reveal ethnic minority women’s unique criteria for beauty, which are significantly affected by cultural values such as religion, health, and socioeconomic status. The research concludes that more diverse representation of ethnic minority beauty on Instagram is needed and offers further avenues for research on the culture-specific experiences of ethnic minority women.