The role of AI in beauty standards and the commodification of the female body in fashion

Abstract

This presentation critically examines the pervasive role of Artificial Intelligence in shaping contemporary beauty standards and the resulting commodification of the female body within fashion and beauty industries. AI systems do not merely reflect existing beauty norms but actively codify and reinforce a narrow, often Eurocentric, ideal (young, thin, white, symmetrical).

Through an analysis of biased datasets, model training, platform outputs (filters, avatars, virtual tryons), and their psychosocial impacts, the presentation illustrates how AI transforms the female body into a measurable, optimizable, and commercially exchangeable digital asset. The presentation highlights the gendered feedback loops of the visibility economy, the intensification of bias, and the potential for coercive harms such as deepfakes.

Ultimately, the presentation proposes a framework for ethical AI governance, advocating for transparency, inclusive design, and critical digital literacy as essential feminist interventions to reclaim bodily autonomy and dignity in the algorithmic age.