Nope NOT yOu

Beauty: Inclusively Exclusive

This generation is often praised for championing inclusivity, reshaping what beauty means by widening the frame to welcome more faces, bodies, and tones. It is, without doubt, a remarkable shift.

But has beauty truly been redefined—or has it simply expanded its categories while keeping exclusivity at its core?

A Broader, Yet Still Selective Ideal

Beauty has always mirrored society’s changing values. Centuries ago, a fuller belly symbolized wealth and desirability. Later, boyish silhouettes or exaggerated hourglass shapes defined allure. Today, diversity is celebrated in ways once unimaginable. Yet, behind the inclusivity lies a carefully curated standard—wider, but still selective.

For the past decade, slim bodies with minimal curves have dominated the mainstream ideal, despite increasing calls for representation. More are “invited in,” but not everyone truly belongs.

  

Dark-Skinned Women

The celebration of dark-skinned women, once thought impossible in mainstream beauty, is slowly gaining ground. Still, acceptance is often conditional. Only a certain kind of dark-skinned woman—typically with striking, “model-like” features—is embraced, while others face lingering colorism. Even within this progress, a narrow palette of acceptable shades and “exotic” traits dominates.

Thick Bodies

The rise of the “thick” body ideal—slim waist, wide hips, pronounced butt, moderate bust—was fueled by cultural icons and the body positivity movement. Yet this ideal excludes just as much as it includes. Step outside these exact proportions, and “thick” quickly becomes “fat.” Confidence alone does not shield women from these labels.

Plus-Size Representation

Plus-size representation has broken barriers in fashion, media, and business. But even here, rules exist. To be celebrated, plus-size women are expected to maintain a “proportionate” figure that mirrors the “thick” ideal. Those who fall outside the curve-friendly standard risk being deemed “too much.”

Media’s Grip

The media continues to shape, filter, and enforce beauty ideals. Today’s celebrated woman may be slim and tall, thick and curvy, or dark-skinned and radiant—but she must still embody perfection. This relentless pressure drives many toward surgery or extreme measures, while others wrestle with insecurity and inadequacy.

The Road Ahead

Inclusivity has undeniably expanded beauty’s definition, but exclusivity remains embedded in its DNA. True change lies not in endlessly adjusting the ideal, but in dismantling it—shifting the focus from conformity to authenticity.

The hope for the next generation is that beauty will no longer be a gatekeeping structure but a celebration of individuality, personality, and presence. That every person, exactly as they are, will be seen as enough.