Most twenty somethings, even high schoolers or younger at this point, have some experience with FaceTune. Whether you’ve busted someone for a bad edit job or even edit your own pics with it, you can’t really miss it on Instagram these days. As someone who smooths my skin, whitens my teeth, and occasionally shaves off a few inches from my waist in my posts, I get it. It even starts to seem like that’s what I reallylook like, and pictures of me aren’t truly pictures of me until my edits are completed. I’ve gotten so good at it that I even have a few friends who have me fix their photos up before they post. It seems sooo normal. To look at pictures of friends that I love and then happily make their arms skinnier or lips bigger—happily “fix” their insecurities without realizing that I am then, in turn, perpetuating the system of pointing them out. Perpetuating a system that tells us we need to change these things about ourselves because, God forbid, we like them enough to post them naturally. God forbid we like OURSELVES enough to post OURSELVES naturally.
We have normalized FaceTune with comments from Tana Mongeau and James Charles (no shade I love them/him, hi sisters) about their frequent use, and other influencers posting “How I Edit My Pictures” videos on YouTube. I can spend hours scrolling through the “exposing celebs” Instagram account showing differences in influencers looks online vs. irl. It has become just known that what is posted on Instagram isn’t real, yet we still compare ourselves to the photos we see. These popular Instagram girls and guys are called influencers for a reason—because we are influenced by them! Because they can edit their abs and still sell flat tummy tea. Or fake whiten their teeth but advertise white kits. We are a society easily influenced by people we think are pretty or perfect or have better lives than us. Even though none of it is real.
I’m not saying to stop using FaceTune, or even that I’m going to stop. If you wanna make that booty bigger (without curving the background, of course) then go for it. Kill it! I support whatever makes you feel confident on your insta. But we have to keep in mind that we are slowly separating ourselves from reality—from what we really look like. FaceTune boosts body dysmorphia-the true disconnect from seeing what we really look like- and makes us think we look like these edits which… is scary. I’ve been on tinder dates only to get ghosted when I thought it well and, unfortunately, the common thing I wonder is if it’s because of my pictures. Am I accidentally catfishing since I’ve lost touch with what I really look like? Is that really such a bad thing? If I think I’m closer to society’s standard of beauty than I really am?
Moral of the story is—FaceTune has become normalized. It probably will continue to be for younger and younger kids. So therefore looking however we want online is possible… but so is picking out every little flaw to identify it as negative and then fix it. But those fixes are only on our screens. We are slowly becoming different people online than in person without realizing.
Thanks for reading babes, and again—do you! Just think about what you post and what it may be perpetuating. Let me know if you have comments or opinions on this!
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