Session 469: The Problem with Pretty

When Dr. Allycin Powell-Hicks wanted to write her dissertation on Black women and beauty, her graduate program told her the topic wasn't serious. Her research went on to reveal something the field didn't expect: Black women reported a stronger sense of control over their bodies than white women, and the more connected a Black woman felt to her culture, the stronger that sense of control became. More than a decade later, that "unserious" research has become The Problem with Pretty (Hachette), a book about how beauty standards get wired into the brain — and how to get free of them.

Dr. Joy sits down with Dr. Ally — psychofuturist, beauty and perception expert, and founder of Doux Consulting — to unpack what's happening to self-image in the social media era. They cover the looksmaxxing phenomenon pulling in Gen Z, how "Instagram face" is flattening the diversity of faces we see, why the confidence boost after a cosmetic procedure tends to fade within months, and the difference between beauty and glamour. Dr. Ally also shares her own story, from scrubbing her skin with Comet as a kid to falling in love with her complexion at an HBCU, and makes the case for beauty as ritual, resistance, and a tool for self-definition rather than a performance for everyone else.

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