Absolutely true. Children especially form abnormal standards for "normal" skin and become unnecessarily distressed by their own imperfections. Normal skin has probably not been shown in movies or television since the beginning of the technology. Now a model is decrying the use of filters on phones.
A recent survey, carried out by Girlguiding, found a third of girls and young women will not post selfies online without using a filter to change their appearance. Thirty-nine percent of the 1,473 respondents, aged 11-21, said they felt upset that they could not look the same in real life as they did online.
The survey results mirror the worries of make-up artist and curve model Sasha Pallari, who recently launched the hashtag #filterdrop in the hope of seeing "more real skin" on Instagram. "I just thought, 'does anybody realise how dangerous this is?'" she said, recounting the moment she spotted a global beauty brand had reposted filtered content from an influencer advertising its products. "I don't want children to grow up thinking they are not good enough because of what they see on social media."..
"Nearing the end of the lockdown period I received an email from a parent highlighting their worries of a change in their child's behaviours," Miss McGrath said. "The email went on to say that the child was having issues with their physical appearance. I was taken aback. This child is four, just four. "It then made me feel a deepening sense of sadness, that at such a young age our children are now becoming aware of their physical appearance." The four-year-old then asked Miss McGrath why she wore make-up every day - a question she couldn't answer...
Responding to the comments, Miss Pallari said: "It's a shame there's still not enough acknowledgement of how dangerous face-changing and face-morphing filters are, regardless of being shown in the Effects Gallery or not. They can still be found really easily just by tying in simple words like 'beautiful'. "Filters are most commonly used via the creators and the influencers with the largest platforms, which reach far more impressionable people from their stories than by searching for a filter. "I hope it's not long until responsibility is taken for how much slimming down a nose in less than five seconds is causing prolific damage to our confidence."
Old man raises stick and shouts: I never post a selfie. And when I don't, I never ever use a filter!
ReplyDeleteThis was the same in magazines when I was a teenage girl. I almost never saw people with spots or if they had them it was a problem to be gotten rid of. The same with body hair and I thought I was a freak for having what I now know is a natural amount i
ReplyDeleteOf body hair. It really affected my confidence and social interactions. I still remember the day my friend and I got so excited because we saw a model in a magazine who had a snail trail. These images should be the norm not the exception.