Tijuana's unique position as a major tourist hotspot, particularly for medical tourism and those seeking more affordable options across the border from the United States, introduces a complex dynamic to its beauty standards and the experiences of its native population.
While the city thrives on the influx of visitors, this contributes to the marginalisation and displacement of local and traditional practices/ aesthetics in favor of those catering to the tourist gaze.
The demand created by the predominantly western tourist demographic pressures individuals to conform to certain beauty ideals that align with those expectations.
This might manifest in the promotion of lighter skin tones (as historically favored in western cultures), or specific body types often associated with globalised beauty standards - and which many tourists come to the region to surgically alter due to financial liberty - again taking advantge of mexican status on the world stage.
On this wise, natives might feel subtle or overt pressure to alter their appearance to better cater to or assimilate with the dominant tourist aesthetic, leading to a devaluation or erasure of indigenous features and traditional beauty practices.
