Women and beauty within the cultural context: "A consideration of the understanding of beauty as a power domain of elites and of the issue of woman's turning into consumption object in Turkey"

In today?s industrialized societies, beauty industry is constantly expanding, especially for the middle and upper socio-economic class ?women? and her body. Beauty industry lives on and develops with the capitalist cultural dynamics. As a result of this development, through various economic and political statements and mass media women?s turning into some consumption object, the contradiction between their look and personality, their being pushed into an understanding of beauty outside of themselves are the main topics of this study. While discussing the above mentioned areas, ?the theory of elite? has been used. Although those who are qualified as elites are a minority within the society, because they own a corporate power and ?cultural, symbolic and economic capital? and because within this context they have the ability to affect the potency about the formation of the concept of beauty and its internalization by the society, the study has been conducted upon this group. This study began by questioning the origins of the concept of beauty and the association between beauty and women has been discussed within an historical cronology which covers a timeline beginning from the first years of the Republic and lasting till the age of consumption. In this study, the focus is on the changes that come about within the Republican period and the reason for this is that the concept of ?elite? which has started to rise within social sciences on 1939, has been institutionalized in Turkey on this period. The progress of the identity of woman on the Republican period and the effect of the capitalist and patriarchal ideologies collaboration with the beauty industry on this coarse has been analysed and the feminist theories have been used as regards to the social gender topic. Within this context, the first one of the interview questions of the fieldwork begins with the social status of the women and the effect of the hierarchy of beauty upon this matter and its association with the problem of women?s becoming a consumption object has been investigated. Between March 2011 and February 2012, face to face meetings have been held with 50 individual consisting of 37 women and 13 men and the results of this qualitative field study have been evaluated. According to the results, when compared to the first years of the Republic, today the status of women showed a ?u-turn? which will be exemplified later. The people with whom the interviews have been held have defined a concept of beauty which appeared as a result of the cultural and economic transformation and a xvii?different? but common ?problem of women? which is under the influence of the tools and methods of the industry of beauty: ?Woman turning into a consumption object?. The participants have defended that beauty gives a short termed and interlocutory power to the woman but that there should be an integral beauty concept which includes intelligence and personality characteristics. Besides, the common claim of these people is that there lies a ?fear of woman? under the masculine dominance. Lastly, as a response to the problem of woman turning into a consumption object, the concept of ?femininity consciousness? has been proposed. Key Words: Beauty, woman, the body of woman, culture, elite, power, hierarchy, hegemony, media, fashion, model, beauty industry, consumption, health, cosmetic/esthetic surgery, feminism, social murder, beauty premium, holistic beauty, ?femininity consciousness?, ?fear of woman?.