Snog, Marry, Avoid? raises questions about beauty

BBC Three makeover show Snog, Marry, Avoid? transforms men and women from their not so socially acceptable selves to cookie-cutter images of what society prefers.

Take Mel, for example. She sported a hardcore, punk rock look complete with a leather jacket, ripped pants, piercings, pink mohawk. You name it. She had it.

Throughout the episode, parents and friends were interviewed for their opinions on Mel's tough punk look. By the end of the episode, she wore her hair long and curled and a red dress with a lacy top exposing her cleavage.

With her new look, the show host interviewed men on the street and asked them if they would snog, marry or avoid her. Most said snog. One said he would marry her.

Here's the beef I and other viewers have with this. Is Mel's decision based on what she wanted to do to make herself happy? Or was it based on the pressure she received from her parents and friends' criticism?

 I haven't been able to watch other episodes from the website, but from what I've read in the synopses, most of the makeover subjects are dressed in ways that society finds unacceptable. By the end of these episodes, they come out more aesthetically pleasing to the their loved ones and strange men they've never met and probably will never meet.

As commenter atenonaisekai posted in the Gizmodo article,

FUCK THIS SHIT. Punk is about not caring what your lot finds attractive. When the sort of men who prefer cookie-cutter cheerleader types find you unattractive, you are doing something right. 

At the same time, some think that people who dress in punk rock make themselves cookie-cutter images of each other. Gizmodo commenter Organized Chaos writes in response,

A lot of youth who do the punk thing (or the goth thing, or emo thing, etc.) do it to hide the fact that they do care about what others think. They hide their insecurities behind a new facade. In their attempt to set themselves apart from one group, to be different, all they end up doing is becoming a cookie-cutter image of another group.

Presented with these opposing viewpoints, one must ask why these people decide to be on Snog, Marry, Avoid? to begin with. Do they truly want a drastic change in their appearances, or are they feeling pressured to make their loved ones happy? Is it a little of both? Does it even matter? Am I just over thinking this? You decide, readers.