SELF-LOVE AND SELF-ACCEPTANCE: REDEFINING IDEAL BEAUTY THROUGH ITS REPRESENTATION IN SCARS TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL Ida Rosida and Dinni Yulia Saputri Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta email: [email protected] Abstract The ideal beauty has a significant impact on social life. Those who feel that their body does not meet the idealized body view might have body dissatisfaction and low self- appreciation. This study is aimed at exploring a broader definition and understanding of beauty as it is represented in Scars to Your Beautiful, a song by Alessia Cara, from both its lyric and music video. Using content analysis and supported by the concept of the figures of speech, cinematography, and representation by Stuart Hall investigation on this beauty ideal is completed. Results show that Scars to Your Beautiful strives to redefine the term of beauty which cannot be determined only by certain criteria such as having a thin body, white skin, flawless and addressed to women only, but beauty also reaches a broader definition in all shapes size, color, and even gender. These findings highlight the importance of self-love and self-acceptance in the social context. Keywords: beauty ideal, representation of beauty, body dissatisfaction CINTA DAN PENERIMAAN DIRI: REDEFINISI KECANTIKAN IDEAL YANG DIREPRESENTASIKAN DALAM LIRIK LAGU SCARS TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL Abstrak Kecantikan ideal memiliki dampak penting dalam kehidupan sosial yakni adanya ketidakpuasan terhadap tubuh dan berkurangnya penghargaan terhadap diri sendiri. Kajian ini mengeksplorasi definisi dan pemahaman cantik yang lebih luas sebagaimana direpresentasikan dalam lirik lagu dan video musik Scar to Your Beautiful oleh Alessia Cara. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah konten analisis didukung dengan konsep figurative language, cinematography, dan konsep representasi Stuart Hall. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Scars To Your Beautiful mencoba mendefinisikan kembali kata cantik yang tidak hanya ditujukan bagi mereka yang memiliki tubuh langsing, kulit putih, tidak ada gores luka pada tubuh, dan hanya ditujukan pada perempuan, melainkan cantik ini memiliki definisi lebih luas yakni pada semua bentuk tubuh, semua ukuran tubuh, dan semua warna kulit, termasuk gender. Hasil penelitian ini menegaskan kembali pentingnya mencintai dan menerima diri dalam konteks kehidupan sosial. Kata Kunci: kecantikan ideal, representasi kecantikan, ketidakpuasan terhadap tubuh 395 INTRODUCTION 2014:194). The excessive of beauty ideal Beauty is a term that has a variety of emphasized on the media industry is not definitions and is very subjective. Beauty only a phenomenon found in western may initially be seen as the physical, such countries, but it has become a more as shape and form, but it also could equally global problem (Yan Yan & Kim Bissell be about its function and effects on people, 2014:195). Although often unrealistic and the environment one has inspired and unattainable, these beauty ideals (Yung 2017:5). However, most people transmitted through various socio- usually associate this term only with cultural channels and have been someone’s physical appearance when in internalized by women and even young fact, this term also applies to the nature or girls. (Rice et al. 2016:4). character within a person. The reason is In the past decade, research on body that beautiful physique enhances one’s image has increased and has generated social worth. Moreover, people with knowledge gathered about various attractive physique are more likely to be components and expressions (Tracy L. successful both socially and economically Tylka & Amy C. Iannantuono 2016:1). (Kuipers 2015:38). For people, particularly Until now, this topic is still one of the women, the perceptions of self-worth are most interesting topics to be discussed by based partly on their physical appearance, using different methods, theories, and including their body shape and body different social context. The current weight (Betz et al. 2019:100). A slim body research on beauty ideal was conducted is very desirable for most women in the by Diana E Betz, Sabik, and Ramsey world today. The women beauty ideals (2019) entitled Ideal Comparison: Body continue to glorify the thin ideal that Ideals Harms Women’s Body Image Through represents the female form as a slender, Social Comparison. This article discusses feminine physique with small waist and the beauty ideal using the theory of little body fat (Robinson et al 2017:65). psychology namely social comparison For these reasons, people continue to which is revealed that state and traits compete to have the ideal beauty. social comparison has a function in social A slender, small waist, feminine body relation. Next, the research of Robyn L. has predominated as the Western cultural Moffit, Neumann, and Williamson ideal for decades, and standardization of (2018) entitled Comparing the Efficacy of a this thin ideal is linked to body Brief Self-Esteem and Self Compassion dissatisfaction and self-objectification Intervention for State Body Dissatisfaction (Betz et al. 2019:100). One of the biggest and Self-Improvement. This research factors regarding is that people continue explored the efficacy of writing task for to be bombarded by information in the reducing body dissatisfaction using the mass media that transmits and strengthens psychological approach. These two values ​​and norms, fashion and beauty researches focus their study relate to body ideals through models, movie stars, and images seen from psychological female celebrities in various media approach. Then, research by Alan Robert formats (Yan Yan & Kim Bissell and Sena Muta (2017) entitled Self-Love and Self-Acceptance: Redefining Ideal Beauty Through Its Representation in ... 396 Representations of Female Body Weight in important as it is represented the broader the Media: An Update of Playboy Magazine definition of ideal beauty. Further, the from 2000 to 2014 that reviewed changes in song represents the real situation that women’s body size represented in Playboy happened in the world regarding body magazine from 2000 to 2014. This ideals that leads to body dissatisfaction. research shows that the representation of This occurs when the body’s weight and body image represented in Playboy shape are undesirable and beyond magazine is getting more real based on expectation (Moffitt et al. 2018:67). This the models’ body mass index. issue of body-dissatisfaction is known to Based on those three previous leads to depression, eating disorder, or researches, it is obvious that the discussion even suicidal thoughts as the effect of of beauty ideal seems never end. Further, beauty ideals, and it has become a real this research is aimed at exploring how matter and a global problem. Therefore, the beauty ideal is also represented in interventions to reduce body literary work such as song lyrics and dissatisfaction have long been considered music video. Apart from the rise of mass an important research priority (Moffitt media that describes the beauty ideals 2018:67). that are too unrealistic, there are also The used of representation theory by many artists and celebrities who try to Stuart Hall particularly constructionist criticize this beauty ideal through their approach, supported by figure of speech works or simply voice their opinions on and cinematography, it allows the social media and utilize their existence to researcher to reconstruct meaning of invite women to love their bodies. A beauty and finally could redefine the singer who voiced beauty ideals is Alessia meaning of beauty through its Cara in her song Scars to Your Beautiful. representation in lyric and music video. The song is talking about the current Further, this research will become a new situation in western society particularly view about beauty ideals as it is on how people especially women keep represented in Scars to your beautiful. glorifying the unrealistic beauty ideals. Additionally, Scars to Your Beautiful won The music video features people of all the MTV Music Video Award in the ages, genders, ethnicities, and United States in 2016, for the music video backgrounds simply show its models with the best social message. This award taking turn talking about their experience strengthens how important it is to analyze or personal struggle that they have had to the representation of beauty as it is overcome and share their thoughts presented in the song lyrics and its music regarding the beauty ideals. Each of them video. is representing themselves as the real definition of beauty in all shapes, sizes, METHOD and colors along with all their scars, This research utilizes qualitative flaws, imperfections, and differences. content analysis as the method of the Analyzing Alessia Cara’s Scars to Your research since this research relies on text Beautiful lyric and music video is and image data. Qualitative content 397 LITERA, Volume 18, Nomor 3, November 2019 analysis can be defined as an empirical represented in the music video using the approach, methodological controlled concept of cinematography. Both are analysis of texts within their context of analyzed based on the concept of communication, following content representation by Stuart Hall. Further, analytical rules and step-by-step models, how beauty is represented in the lyrics without rash quantification (Mayring and its music video then reveal the 2004). The instrument used in this broader definition of beauty ideal. research is the writers themselves as the subject of the study to collect the data, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION reading the lyric comprehensively, Results making notes, and analyze the corpus. The analysis shows three main results: The unit of analysis that will be used in First, beauty, based on Scars to Your this research is in the form of words, Beautiful, is defined as a quality within phrases, and sentences in the song lyric, every single human being that worth and in the form of physical depictions more than just physical attributes. The contained in audio-visual media, namely song is representing people in all range of the music video by Alessia Cara entitled ages, genders, shapes, sizes, and colors to Scars to Your Beautiful.