Pinning beauty: standards promoted and behaviors encouraged within pinterest’s healthy makeup content

Abstract

This qualitative study builds upon previous quantitative new media studies using Bandura’s social cognitive theory of mass communication (SCT) to understand health and beauty content on Pinterest. The thematic analysis investigated Pinterest search results for “healthy” makeup products to contextualize Pinterest’s influence on social perceptions of health, beauty, and consumption among women. Pins were analyzed through the SCT constructs of a) standards promoted and b) behaviors encouraged to users searching for healthy makeup products as conveyed through social modeling, messages, and social rewards in “healthy” makeup pins. Additionally, pins were analyzed for their articulation within Pinterest as a postfeminist media culture and their embodiment of medicalization. Results indicate that pins for healthy makeup products largely encouraged appearance-related standards and behaviors, rather than health-related ones. Pins also enacted a postfeminist media culture to perform “health” through the disciplined application of specific makeup products.

Keywords

• pinterest
• social cognitive theory
• beauty
• makeup
• postfeminism
• medicalization