When Ideal Beauty Turns Into a Nightmare in Ling Ling Huang’s Natural Beauty (2023)

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

المؤلف

كلية الألسن - جامعة المنيا

10.21608/maks.2024.316793.1065

المستخلص

Abstract
To embrace the natural beauty within you is often a rare goal people seek to achieve. A large number of people fail to appreciate the natural beauty of their self, appearance, and quality. It is better to let your fabulous natural beauty shine instead of pursuing fake claims that lead to endless destructive outcomes. This paper examines the theory of consumerism through the lenses of Herbert Marcuse’s concept of false needs and Thorstein Veblen’s notion of conspicuous consumption using Ling Ling Huang’s novel Natural Beauty as an example of the dark reality and exploitative policy hiding behind beauty culture. The study provides a rich examination of the consumerism ideology and its role in shaping human behavior and societal norms. Huang uses this literary piece of writing as an awakening call for those obsessed with ideal natural beauty appearance to consider the decisive reality of the beauty industry and realize the fact of selling this lie of a healthy natural look concealing its consuming objective of fulfilling an outstanding economic profit. Natural Beauty serves as a mirror of modern contemporary society which reveals the ghost of our consumer-driven world. The study underscores the importance of one’s realization that reaching perfection is unattainable and the ideal natural beauty is that of authenticity.

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