Beauty pageants, a familiar part of post-war diasporic Vietnamese culture, help participants and viewers forge new identities amid forces of globalization.

A stunningly popular form of entertainment, baby pageants promoted the cult of domesticity, showcased maternal pride, and opened a path to fame and wealth.

The popularity of tanning rose in the early twentieth century, when bronzed skin signaled a life of leisure, not labor.

How Black-owned charm schools and modeling agencies challenged stereotypes of African American women after World War II.

The photographic pressure to curate our faces is inextricable from the online pressure to curate our lives; to present and perform.

Makeup has become a huge industry. Is it possible to enjoy the practice of beautification and be feminist at the same time?

For many people, memories of maths lessons at school are anything but pretty. Yet “beautiful” is a word ...