Reconceptualizing “Ugliness”:

A Genealogical Deconstruction of the Eurocentric Normative Concept of “Ugly”

Abstract

The socio-cultural construction of beauty simultaneously generates
a normative understanding of unattractiveness as well, since these
properties exist in binary within popular perceptions. However, since
beauty itself is a construct, its binary counterpart (unattractiveness)
must similarly be understood as a construct as well. While existing
studies have traced the origin and continual re/construction of
beauty, the current research seeks to conduct a genealogical study of
the concept of “ugliness.” By tracing the historical and socio-cultural
evolution of these concepts and perceptions through paintings and
visual oeuvre, the research endeavors to suggest that perceptions of
unattractiveness, though ingrained, are not natural and are instead
rooted in socio-cultural dynamics with a solid political foundation.
The research traces the origin of the Eurocentric normative concept
of beauty and examines the construction of “ugliness” pertaining to
the development of the notion of beauty to reveal the dimensions
embedded in this process from its inception to the present situation.
In this context, theoretical insights from scholarship on gaze, beauty,
and disability provide a conceptual framework to interpret the
political underpinnings of the construction of the notion of “ugliness.”
In capital-driven societies, those who defy beauty standards face

dehumanization, harassment, and systemic barriers, harming self-
worth, and limiting opportunities and relationships. By establishing

“ugliness” as a socio-cultural construct rather than a biological reality
through a genealogical deconstruction of the concept, this research
aims to normalize being “unattractive,” dismantling the aura that
contributes to its undesirable and stigmatized status, which often
results in psychological harm to individuals not aligning with the
normative beauty standards.