PHYSICAL APPEAL
No one can deny that Beyoncé is one of the most beautiful people in the world. Named by PEOPLE magazine as the most beautiful women in the world in 2012, she is consistently topping the charts of the hottest celebrities, therefore one may wonder how Beyoncé consistently maintains her status as a beauty icon as she ages?
Though one may presume that the answer to this question is simple - good genetics- there is much more to the Beyoncé attraction than meets the eye. Beyoncé’s image has transformed into a representation of beauty in which a wide diversity of her fans can relate to. In her True Match L’Oreal commercial, Beyoncé identifies her skin tone and heritage as comprising of African American, Native American, and French. Further, she describes her skin tone as “a mosaic of all the faces before her” (Being Humans Ads Show, 2014), emphasizing her multicultural background and her identification with each. A mosaic comprises individual pieces brought together to create a united whole, much like Beyoncé’s portrayal of multiculturalism, which attracts a multicultural fanbase.
Her diverse cultural composition allows for her to identify with a variety of her fans which can allow for her to better promote brands and thus reach out to a wider demographic of consumers. For example, it is typical for young girls to identify with celebrities with a similar ethnic background (Read, 2011). In turn, companies are more likely to contract her to endorse their product, which only contributes to her fame and idol status. Her position as an African-American female with physical features of other cultures can identify with, make her an ideal candidate for consumers to relate with and builds a para-social relationship between the fan, and the celebrity, in this case Beyonce. A para-social relationship is a one-sided relationships in which the fan, invests time and emotional resources into the relationship, while the celebrity is unaware of the existence of the fan (“Para-social Relationship: Nature of Celebrity Fascinations”, 2014). The cultural identification of the fan with Beyoncé strengthens the fans perceived connection with Beyoncé in the para-social relationship and creates a basis for admiration and the idol status Beyonce encompasses.
So, if people can identify with Beyoncé and feel as though they can connect with her on a deeper level, how is that related to her status as one of the music industry’s greatest icons? As mentioned above, Beyoncé’s diversity is the key to her appeal as each individual fan has a common ground with the artist. Beyoncé’s appeal speaks to the power of similarity. Research has found that similarity is a valuable component of attraction (Lundy et al., 2013). An article by Montoya, Horton and Kirchner (2008) found that perceived similarity predicted attraction in interpersonal relationships. These findings could be applied between the relationship of a celebrity and a fan. Shared cultural features between the fans and Beyoncé, presumably automatically create a sense of undoubtable similarity. The fact that Beyoncé’s appearance is very versatile allows for a wide variety of fans to identify with her, and therefore becoming attracted to her, creating her massive appeal. Her adaptable appearance can also strongly identify her with a African American consumer but also a Caucasian consumer. Her physical appearance identifies her with having strong ‘black’ features yet she has also dyed her hair blonde which can identify her with a lighter demographic.
Overtime Beyoncé has appeared to embody the idea of universality with her physical representation of different cultural identities. Beyoncé has a very dynamic physical appearance, changing day-by-day from different looks which represent specific ethnic groups and identities. For example the following photos demonstrate Beyoncé with a lighter complexion and hair color and texture typical of a Caucasian women, straight and blonde.
An article by The Daily Mail (2008) discusses how Beyonce’s skin has been lightened for advertisements, and how her blonde hairstyle betrays Black and Asian women from embracing their natural physical features and beauty. She has been accused of portraying the “assimilated woman”, a woman who rejects connections to other black women and demand special treatments for themselves.
Although these accusations have been made which emphasize Beyoncé’s caucasian “look”, it is important to note the changing physical appearance of Beyoncé alternates to accentuate her more African American features at times, as shown in the photos below.
