Conforming to the beauty ideal to look younger, thinner, firmer and smoother becomes the norm - research finds

Beauty practices and standards are higher than ever with the pressure to achieve the 'perfect' body now becoming a moral imperative, suggests research published by the University of Birmingham. Professor Heather Widdows , University of Birmingham argues in her new book Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal , published by Princeton University Press, that beauty ideals are becoming shared ethical ideals by which we judge ourselves and others as 'good' or 'bad'. The research found that previously beauty ideals may have had a moral edge, (such as failure in the appearance stakes may have indicated some vice, such as a lack of respect for the self or others if we 'let ourselves go' or failed to dress properly for an event), but now it is becoming dominant. Professor Widdows, University of Birmingham said: 'Beauty failure is becoming the most important failure for very many women and girls (and increasingly men and boys). 'Increasingly we believe that attaining some aspect of the beauty ideal - being thin or firm enough - will deliver the goods of the good life - relationship success, work success and happiness. 'In this brave new world to fail to attain a 'perfect', 'good enough' or 'normal' body is to fail across the board. It is to be a failure.' Professor Widdows book, Perfect Me, is a culmination of nearly 10 years of research in the philosophy of the body and beauty, where she argues that beauty standards have in that time become more unobtainable, and are changing our perception of the self.