«Beauty Warriors»: Histórias de resistência entre antropologia e arte

Two anthropologists and an artist confront one another, forming a friendship and a collaboration to creatively reflect on art and anthropology as strategies for intervention, education, and change. This collaboration was born around the theme of beauty. Through different lenses and languages, we reflect on the hegemonic ideals of the female norm-body proposed by social media, fashion, and advertising; on the violence of aesthetic standards that express structures of inequality and differentiation; and on the practices and experiences of bodily modification, with their affective, moral, visceral, and political dimensions.

Interweaving the stories and images of the women who generously shared their experiences with us, we approach aesthetic alterations—as well as the idealized standards that inspire them—from a feminist, anti-racist, and anti-ableist perspective. How can we, through artistic intervention, question—and transform and decolonize—our perception of beauty and the ways we look at our bodies? How can we stop viewing our characteristics as ‘flaws’ that need to be corrected? What can we do so that future generations broaden the spectrum of what is celebrated as beautiful, promoting the diversity and uniqueness of individuals?