From 1920-2022 our beauty standards have changed drastically. Most of our standards blossom through pop culture; movies, shows, music, books or any kind of media has and always will be our setting stone for what we deem as “beauty.”  Even when technology advances, we find new ways to compare ourselves to others.

Each year, Randall’s broadcast students compete in UIL’s film competition where students create and submit short films in a variety of categories. One category is documentary, and it is this category that I plan to compete in.

My UIL documentary film is going to unravel what “beauty” has truly meant throughout the century.  No matter the decade, standards on women have always been high; it has been a spotlight and pressure to feel “perfect” and appeal to others. My goal in the documentary is to shed light on how harmful this culture is to women’s physical and mental health. This culture has always been and will always be surrounded by the male gaze, and what the other gender believes a perfect woman looks like depends on what is trending in the media. This film will also showcase the different standards throughout each decade from the 1920s to today in 2022.

Broadcast students are currently working on the films which are due to UIL in January. Once submitted, the films go through three rounds of judging where films are eliminated from the contest each round. The select few that make the finals are invited to a movie premiere type event in Austin in March. It is at this event where student film makers and their advisers learn if their film is among the top three in the state.