Why Can't I Look Like Her?: A Despicable Truth of Beauty Filters

 

“Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder because the sense of beauty is itself transient in nature”- a well known proverb by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. How far this proverb justifies today’s mindset?

Beauty is something which is not fixed - what is beautiful for one can be the ugliest and atrocious thing for other. It can only be skin deep with no fixed pattern of characteristics. In today's world, people have set extremely negative stereotypes for both men and women when it comes to beauty standards. The glamour industry has tried to confine "beauty" into the box of definition and has created an artificial and most unattainable view of beauty. The 21st century has embraced the most unrealistic perception of "Beauty"- something with fixed features which are blemish and wrinkle free skin, perfect symmetrical face, toned body etc. So, in order to be part of that nonexistent world we have unconsciously jumped into another domain (social media) which portrays an unrealistic portrayal of ourselves.

Social media is easily available to everyone and so we are free to construct an online persona which may or may not match who we are in real life. There are limitless options of filters and photo editing features which helps in crafting an image which is above and beyond who we actually are.

What we project our image online matters more than who we’re actually in real life.

We live in a time where we love to document our personal lives (better version) and the social media has played a vital role in helping its users achieve that in a most unrealistic manner. Social media platforms like Snapchat, instagram and tiktok have many perfection filters that can drastically alter your appearance and helps to create an imagined image of yourself. These apps have given an unasked gift to its users which they never knew they needed: selfie booster filter. This selfie culture is too addictive that on an average one person spends nearly 3 hours in a day in clicking a society approved selfie using a perfect filter which sadly doesn't even compliment their natural beauty.

Study has proved that around 90% of people edit their pictures by changing their skin tones, reshaping their jaw lines, altering their eye color etc before posting them on social media. These filters initially appeared as a gimmick where one could use facial recognition technology to place cat’s ears over a user's face. Nowadays, it is no longer used as a fun activity; rather it has added so much pressure on teenagers to look the way the filters make them look.

These platforms have started a wave which is globally affecting the psyches of the users. Youngsters are spending excessive time in creating their "filtered version looks" and then giving it a suitable caption to grab immediate validation and feedback in the form of likes and comments on social media. This can be so nerve-racking and exhausting. Even those who are not ardent users can still feel the ramification of these filters. The pressure of achieving the unrealistic beauty standards has made teenagers suffer from low self- esteem and complex problems like depression, eating and sleeping disorder and prompt suicidal thoughts among youngsters. Further, it has even lead to what cosmetic surgeons have termed as "Snapchat dysmorphia". As per Surgeons, it has become so worse that patients are looking to improve their body's anatomy or appearances as per the filtered versions. This includes implantation of foreign objects, cosmetic surgeries (eye widening, liposuction and rib removal), prosthetics, tattooing, body piercings and genital surgeries. Gone are the days when people wanted to look like celebrities, they now get the surgeries done just to look like their own altered self.

I personally feel that with advancing technological development, the newer apps are surfacing online which has an immediate effect on beauty. I have no objection if someone gets involved in these apps for fun sake because this can act as an eye- opener to the detrimental effects that living through filters can have. It is mindless to spend so much of your precious time in scrolling other's reels which have nothing real but are edited and filtered to grab number of followers. As we scroll in to isolation, we remove ourselves from in- person relationships and support. This addicted world aggravates in us the feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out on what others are experiencing) as we start comparing ourselves with the edited images of others.

The ultimate desire of any person is to have internal peace. Ironically, we believe the source of internal peace lies in the external world. In reality, true peace lies "within". In this “attention economy” we need to stop relying on strangers for validation because this social media misuses this human fixation on validation and ratchets it up to a new level. Your selfie is not less beautiful because you didn't apply any photo filters; rather it will be appreciated for its own individual uniqueness which God has bestowed upon you. We are on the journey of self- admiration and the first step towards achieving eternal happiness and peace is to know your self-worth and learn to accept and appreciate yourself for the way you are.

We should realize the true meaning of being “beautiful”. Being externally beautiful is great but it is not the correct parameter to judge beauty of a person. Beauty is something that lasts and not something which is perishable and short lived. Instead of celebrating the uniqueness with which every individual is born, we are masking them with a veil of standardized facial filters to meet the beauty standards of societal acceptance.

It is high time that we should learn how to consume social media in a healthier way and should acknowledge that we are beautiful in our own ways and we don’t need any filter to enhance our beauty.

Dr. Ranbir Kaur

29th March, 2022