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Question 1: Being socially constructed, beauty ideals ultimately come down to reinforcing gender expectations--and this goes for men too. The feminine beauty ideal reinforces passivity for women. For example, women's clothing has historically restricted movement, emphasizing a particular look over functionality. As you read in the chapter by bell hooks, simply being allowed to wear pants to work was revolutionary in allowing women to do their jobs comfortably, and this practice wasn't widespread until the 1970s! Get affordable and professional assignment help now!

Question 2: As for male beauty ideals, they, too, are socially constructed and ultimately tend toward enforcing the masculine gender expectation of active agency. Men are expected to be big and strong, and exhibit whatever traits represent dominance in the time period. In an era of Marvel movies and social media "health" influencers, the current male beauty ideal is exemplified by an extreme emphasis on large muscles. And just as women have historically been expected to aspire to body types that the majority of women can never actually achieve without major surgical interventions, the male ideal has evolved to inhuman expectations of chiseled muscles and jawlines with no room for softness or weakness.