“Nose job, filler, botox, buccal fat removal….”. At first glance this may simply read as a list of cosmetic procedures but there’s a new trend on social media that has given this a new and much darker meaning.
Women, most notably in the entertainment industry, are placed under a microscope and when it comes to their physical appearance, this is often amplified. There is so much pressure to look a certain way and conform to society’s “beauty standards”. You can’t age gracefully, but if you try to combat it with anti-ageing, you’re wrong for not embracing it. So truly, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
“It is literally impossible to be a woman.” – the unrealistic expectations and the pressures of womanhood were perfectly articulated in America Ferrera’s iconic monologue from the blockbuster film Barbie.
While cosmetic procedures aren’t a new innovation, the influence of social media has put them on a global billboard and now they are easily accessible for those wanting to make tweaks and changes. It’s often misconceived that they seek procedures for the gaze of others but that is simply not true. For most, it’s a confidence boost, something that is life-changing and has been highly considered.
While scrolling on TikTok you may have been unlucky enough to come across videos of professionals and some not so professionals, analyzing before and after photos of some of your favorite celebs including Hailey Bieber and Madison Beer. In these videos, they compare two photos, brazenly speculating work they have undertaken to achieve this look, all assumptions from their “expert opinion” as these aren’t always things those individuals have chosen to disclose.
But it isn’t just exclusive to TikTok, there are dozens of Instagram accounts, Facebook groups and Reddit forums where before and after photos or untouched paparazzi photos are used to “expose” celebrities, treating them like animals in a zoo, forgetting that these people are human and that their words can have a damaging impact.
Khloe Kardashian, Bella Hadid, Chrissy Teigen, Cardi B are just a handful of celebrities who have been open about their experiences. From lip fillers to anti wrinkle injections, laser treatments to rhinoplasty, going ‘under the needle or knife’ has become less taboo in recent times, but that shouldn’t give people an open forum to speculate about work people have undergone that they haven’t openly disclosed.
Someone who has recently received an unwarranted amount of harassment and abuse from social media was actress Erin Moriarty, who is most known for playing Starlight on Amazon Prime’s The Boys. A photo posted on the actress’s social media soon went viral sparking many allegations of plastic surgery. It reached new heights when news anchors aired their opinions on their national platform resulting in Erin firing back, issuing a statement and ultimately quitting social media.
She wrote: “I am horrified by the reaction, the reductive assumption. It’s broken my heart. You’ve broken my heart.”
To reduce someone’s appearance down to two photos, where factors including the age in the photo, makeup and personal circumstances are disregarded is disrespectful. At the end of the day, the only thing we’re guilty of is being female, because no one ever talks about a man’s change in appearance unless you’re Zac Efron and millions of girls stop crushing on you.
Well-known women are always being criticized in their social media comments, no matter how good they look, how great they’re doing and how kind and genuine they are. Someone will always have something hateful to say about their appearance, not even thinking about it twice. If someone looks “unhealthy” to you because they lost or gained weight, it’s not your job to point it out. If someone posted a photo that makes them look different, your negative opinion is not needed in the comments. Remind yourselves that there is an actual human being on the other side of the screen and you never know what they’re going through, so be kind and respectful.
We should be actively uplifting one another, especially in the name of womanhood and remind ourselves that social media doesn’t define us. Anyone’s negative commentary is only a reflection of someone’s own insecurities and inner struggles and thus holds no value at all. As the saying goes: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
ROARA Magazine 