Beauty Mandates and the Appearance Obsession

ABSTRACT

This article examines the effects of appearance norms within lesbian communities, drawing both on the research literature and on direct interviews with lesbian and bisexual women. In particular, the authors assess the impact of heterosexual beauty mandates on women's communities and ask whether lesbian and bisexual women are affected by the dominant culture's beauty mandates to a similar or lesser degree than heterosexual women. In addition, the authors examine appearance mandates developed by women within lesbian subculture. The positive and negative effects of these various “styles” on members of different lesbian subcultures are discussed.