You Are Beautiful and Perfectly Imperfect Just the Way You Are
I am pretty sure everyone wants to feel beautiful, look good and be presentable, be it offline or online. We want to create a good impression of ourselves that reflects our appearance and personality. It is especially evident in our current generation, where we will take great pictures and post them on social media. This consists of our day-to-day activities, outfits of the day (#OOTD), unforgettable moments and so on. It has become a trend of romanticizing mundane daily hustle and bustle. One of the ways we do this is by applying filters to our photos.
What is Filter?
A filter is a process where something is added or removed to distort or alter texts or photos. It has become a significant tool in the social media world (Rettberg 2014 p. 21). It allows us to edit the photos into something more aesthetically pleasing. However, it can also use as a way to entertain us and our friends. For instance, TikTok is known for its interactive filters, such as ‘Which Disney Characters Are You?’. There are so many types of filters, varying from beauty filters to mini-games, and try-on products.
Filters have come a long way, and we use them daily. It has a couple of benefits to it, especially for brands! It creates a high engagement, which in turn provides a highly memorable experience. Filters are very interactive, and it requires the user’s full attention. Hence, it is wonderful for advertising a product or service, as it proves to have 70% memory recall, as compared to traditional advertising (Hamilton 2022).
Plus, it also enhances the purchasing journey of customers. People do not need to go to physical stores anymore. We can merely try on makeup products through this technology, which can influence spontaneous buying (Hamilton 2022). On top of that, filters are such a pleasure to experiment with, especially the ones that highlight your greatest features and make you feel cute (Belle 2018). I mean, who does not like that, right?
But there are a few cons to Filters...
Unfortunately, it can distort our perception of reality, especially beauty filters. It becomes even worse with the beauty representation depicted through media and society. Society tends to pressure both men and women on a specific beauty standard needed to accomplish to be more socially desirable. This could create a person to have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Those with this disorder are concerned with some aspects of their appearance that they find unattractive (Coy-Dibley 2016 p. 2). It can become serious when one starts experiencing anxiety and obsession over their appearance through compulsive habits and routines, such as non-stop grooming and hiding certain ‘unattractive’ body areas (Coy-Dibley 2016 p. 3).
Hence, numerous images portrayed by the media have a massive impact on those with BDD or those who are highly insecure. According to Orbach, we can see that many industries play on people’s body insecurities, highlighting them and all their supposed physical faults. They emphasize how these can be modified to look ‘better’, shaping the idealized concept of beauty. I believe we can all agree that the media and society sometimes have a ridiculous beauty standard that is unceasingly narrow and unrealistic (Coy-Dibley 2016 p. 3).
According to a survey in 2017 by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), cosmetic surgeons first recognized a pattern of patients seeking surgery to better mimic how they appear using filters. In line with the results of that survey, 55% of surgeons reported seeing patients who wanted surgery primarily to enhance their appearance in selfies. In agreement with the previous point, in a 2015 study that looked at the impact of edited selfies on young girls' body dissatisfaction, people who regularly edit their photos are more concerned about their bodies and are more inclined to develop a distorted view of how they actually look.
“I just see a lot of images that are just really unrealistic, and it sets up unrealistic expectations for patients because they’re trying to look like a fantasized version of themselves,” - Dr Vashi
Body Positivity Movement
In recent years, there has been a monumental shift in how bodies are represented in the media. Now you can see multiple plus-size celebrities on the screen, from fashion advertising to television shows. Big influential brands, such as H&M, have extended their clothing line to cater to those who are plus size (Yeboah 2020).
Other than that, makeup brands start expanding their shade range to provide for various skin colours. I am sure you would have heard of Fenty Beauty, a cosmetic brand that became one of the first makeup brands to launch 50 shades, which include albinos and dark-skinned people.
Now people are starting to accept that people come in different shapes, sizes and colours. Everyone deserves to be celebrated, and everyone is beautiful just the way they are.
Although of course that this movement still has a long way to go. We can still see many nasty and insensitive comments due to the deep-rooted beauty standards in our society. Despite it, we must all uplift one another and create awareness, and with this, it can dismantle the toxic and hazardous narratives about unrealistic beauty standards by the media (Yeboah 2020). Together, we can create a safe space for every person to accept and love themselves.
References:
Belle, E 2018, Young People Are Reportedly Seeking Plastic Surgery to Look More Like They Do in Snapchat Filters, Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, viewed 2 June 2023, <https://www.teenvogue.com/story/young-people-plastic-surgery-snapchat-filters>.
Coy-Dibley, I 2016, ‘“Digitized Dysmorphia” of the female body: the re/disfigurement of the image’, Palgrave communications, vol. 2, no. 1, Palgrave Macmillan, London, p. 16040–.
Hamilton, J 2022, AR Filters – Everything You Need to Know! | Eon Visual Media, Eon Visual Media - App, Web, Design, Animation & Video, viewed 2 June 2023, <https://eon-media.com/insights/ar-filters/>.
Rettberg, JW 2014, Seeing Ourselves Through Technology: How We Use Selfies, Blogs and Wearable Devices To See and Shape Ourselves, Springer Open, Basingstoke, pp. 20–32.
Yeboah, S 2020, The body positivity movement still has a long way to go—here’s why, Vogue India, Vogue India, viewed 2 June 2023, <https://www.vogue.in/wellness/content/body-positivity-fat-acceptance-movement-still-has-a-long-way-to-go>.
