The chief executive officer of Coty, the company that owns Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics and a 20% stake in her older sister Kim Kardashian’s KKW brand, lambasted dictionary publishers for using ageist and sexist terminology to describe the word “beauty.”
“She was a great beauty in her youth” is a statement typically used in dictionaries to exemplify the word, while “I was struck by her beauty” is another, CEO Sue Nabi griped in a Monday letter to publishers.
“When viewed through the lens of contemporary culture and beliefs, the definition of beauty has not aged well. According to the letter, the underlying ageism and sexism in the instances were born in a different era.
The letter is addressed to “major English dictionary houses,” but no individual publishers are named. Additionally, the letter does not provide any specific alternative definitions for beauty; rather, it requests a “review” and “update” of the definition so that it is “more modern and inclusive, reflecting today’s society and values
Coty, a $8.3 billion French-American firm, also owns CoverGirl and Clairol, also launched a Change.org petition on Monday, pushing for a makeover to the publishers’ definitions. As of early Monday morning, 239 signatures had been gathered.
The letter continues, “Of course, not all individuals are affected by or feel excluded by these definitions.” “However, if, by changing the definition, more people feel included — feel beautiful,” there will be a ripple effect that affects all of us.
The letter is part of a recently launched marketing effort by Coty called #UndefineBeauty. Nabi’s letter is co-signed by the company’s board and top management, calling on the publishers to evaluate “the outdated nature of their definitions.”
»CEO of Coty accuses dictionary publishers of’sexism’ and ‘ageism’ in ‘beauty’ definitions«