'It elevates beauty as most desirable trait and something they are defined by, ultimately increasing body anxiety.' 'Counter-intuitively, praising girls on their appearance doesn’t inoculate them against body shame, it does the very opposite,' she said. But Sarah argued that it's not the best approach. So how do you counter that? A reflex might be to tell a girl bombarded with those messages that she is beautiful, too. And of course, that creates a confirmation bias, so that wherever they look there's evidence to prove and substantiate that the beautiful people are the ones that have positive outcomes, get opportunities and are seen as being good and seen as being more liked.' 'It's something that's almost brainwashing children before they have a chance to actually see the world from a different perspective. 'And so it's an ironic juxtaposition, because it creates an impossibility for young people and older people.' But at the same time, in a lot of the images, she's adultified, in that she's dressed up as an adult,' she said. 'Adults are comparing themselves to, which highlights just how much beauty is infantilised. But ultimately, it does pit children against each other, because if someone is 'the most beautiful' then it illustrates the fact that children exist in a hierarchy, that there's a hierarchy around beauty that they can't escape from,' she said.īut beneath that, also because these girls exist in a strange in-between cultural space.

At the surface level, simply by virtue of being the most, the best: 'It's something that's presented as a compliment. 'It really is a reiteration of a very homogenised beauty ideal, because it highlights the fact that there is a very clearly defined perspective on what is beautiful,' she told Mamamia.īut as Sarah notes, they also represent a beauty standard that's wholly unattainable. It's no accident that Thylane, Kristina, Anna and Alina look similar. Sarah McMahon, psychologist and director of Body Matters Australasia, noted just how much a superlative like 'the most beautiful girl in the world' encapsulates our culture's distorted take on beauty.

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