Whether or not we want to admit it, so much of our life now takes place virtually. Instead of getting ready to go spend time with people in real life, many of us photograph ourselves “living” instead. Society places so much emphasis on how we appear that we can become disconnected from reality.
If the internet exposes you to enough staged and filtered images, it’s hard to see life any other way. You forget what real skin looks like. Instead, you’ll compare everything in your real life to everything in an influencer’s perceived life, making you feel inadequate in comparison.
Too many times, I logged into Instagram and felt ugly because of the images social media bombarded. Growing up, social media was just beginning, which made it easier to avoid those societal pressures. I’d turn off the TV if a show ridiculed women’s appearances too much, or put down a magazine down that made me feel bad about myself.
I still struggled with body image, but the pressure was nothing compared to what it is now.
With today’s social media, it feels impossible to avoid the crushing weight of the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries. Everywhere you turn, another beautiful influencer tells you that you can be beautiful just like them – if you follow their diet and exercise routine, get lip fillers, or tape your mouth shut at night. And every time you think you’ve finally achieved “beauty,” they move the goal posts.
The internet tells you that you are inferior because you do not look like the filtered images you see. With AI technology now dominating social media feeds, we’re inundated with images of people who are literally not real. Yet, we’re told and that we need to look like them to be beautiful.
We are living in the age of filters, and it is getting scarier every day.
So how do we combat these AI-generated beauty robots who plague our feeds? Real skin. Sadly, showing your real skin without filters is considered an act of bravery these days. We’re so used to seeing filters and fake human beings that we have forgotten what real skin looks like. Real skin has pores and blemishes. Real skin has hair, dimples, and stretch marks. More importantly, real skin is normal and human.
Finally, people are breaking free from the filters to deliver that message to the masses. Beauty influencers now show how their make-up looks in different lighting and without filters – an unexpected gift to the internet. We can’t forget how real skin and real human beings look. We cannot raise children to believe that filtered faces and AI “models” are what real people look like. If we do that, we are setting them up to fail. The truth is, we can never be as beautiful as a filter or as AI – because they aren’t real.
Beauty standards have reached a literally unreal level, and it sickens me. Children now create influencer accounts, so focused on the beauty industry already that it breaks my heart. What kind of examples are we setting for them when we won’t post a photo without perfect lighting or filtering? What message do we send when the internet tells us all the things we shouldn’t like about ourselves? We are teaching them to hate themselves.
Just like magazine spreads of supermodels taught me to hate myself, our phones teach kids the same.
Had I seen positive images of real skin and real bodies growing up, my life may have been different. Maybe I never would have had an eating disorder; maybe I wouldn’t feel so terrified of aging. And maybe I would have seen that it’s okay to get older and to look different. You don’t have to be an airbrushed, filtered AI model. It’s okay to look exactly as you look; you are a human being, and that is all you have to be.
The rise of real skin in the age of filters could save ourselves and the younger generations from more years of eating disorders and body dysmorphia. If we can no longer escape social media, then we have to do everything we can to make it as authentic as possible. If you can’t do this for yourself, then do it for the child who might see your filtered photo and aesthetically perfect, staged life. That person may think that is who they have to be.
Is that the future you want to be a part of?
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Too often we chase perfection online and forget that life and beauty are textured, imperfect and human – exactly what the article argues we need to bring back in our feeds. Funny enough, it got me thinking about how we present ourselves in real life too – like when you step out of social media and walk into a place like Great Style Barbershop NYC. They focus on craftsmanship and helping people feel confident in their own skin and hair, no filters needed – just real conversations, real grooming, and real style. It’s a great reminder that confidence doesn’t come from a smooth skinned filter but from taking care of yourself in ways that matter https://greatstylebarbershopnyc.com/
As a hobby photographer, I’ve been thinking about why “real skin” matters today with all the filters. Sometimes editing hides what makes a person special. I found this guide https://aperty.ai/blog/the-rule-of-thirds-in-portrait and it really helped me see how to take portraits that look natural. And now, I only work in this style.
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