How to Deal With the Technological Gaze

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I try to just opt out and not beautify myself as much as possible. This is so easy for me to talk about but very hard to practice because we live in a beauty culture. What I'm trying to do though is be very intentional in breaking those scripts that I'm so used to saying to myself. It could be the project of more of our lives and that we can talk about it and feel less alone in this struggle. We have to remember that trans people are victims of violence and violent crime at a rate far higher than non-trans people. In many cases gender affirming appearance was really about safety and security and being able to show up without threat of violence.

Humans have always been captivated by beauty, and for almost as long, we’ve been marketed products and new technologies to help us achieve certain beauty standards. Elise Hu is a journalist and the author of “Flawless: Lessons in looks and culture from the K-beauty industry.” In this episode, she shares the fascinating insights she’s learned from years of studying the $10 billion K-beauty industry and the cutting-edge skincare, niche makeup products, and technology that promise to optimize our appearance. Elise and Chris talk about the real stakes of placing a premium on our looks, why a more inclusive version of “beauty” is worth pursuing, and how we can both enjoy and push back against the very human desire to feel beautiful. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts