Instagram Face: What The F*ck is Going On

By Livvy Gunn

Image sourced from: @mariejorja on Pinterest

Female beauty standards have been around since the dawn of time. In the 2000s, it was impossible not to notice the insane magazine headlines on Mum's weekly buy, critiquing this week's mid-sized celebrity for (God forbid) wearing a bikini! “Female Celebrity Who Just Gave Birth Has Loose Skin Around Stomach!” – Ew, remember those? But that isn’t what I’m writing about today. 

Our topic concerns the current mould women are asked to fit into, a new epidemic named “Instagram Face”. If you don’t know what Instagram Face is, yes, you do. With the help of Wikipedia, some characteristics of Instagram Face include “catlike eyes, long lashes, a small nose, high cheekbones, full lips, and a blank expression”. I speculate that Angelina Jolie was the blueprint for Instagram face, but regardless of its origin, thousands of women all over the world have followed suit in recent years. If you’re a visual reader, celebrities like Farrah Abraham, Alix Earle, Mikayla Nogueira, and Tana Mongeau have all fallen victim. Don’t get me wrong, these women are undoubtedly beautiful, but I believe it’s morally corrupt for them and other female celebrities and influencers to set this boring beauty standard.

A key part of Instagram Face is perfect symmetry, a look that is only obtainable through some form of filler or surgery, since only a whopping 2% of the world's population has a “perfectly symmetrical face” (it’s true, ask Google). So, you have to pay to play. That’s fine, though, right? Most things these days cost a fortune. Well, no, because we are building a culture of constant modification. The consumerist approach that modern society is taking to women's bodies and faces is unheard of throughout history. As I previously stated, beauty standards have always existed. I mean, look at the influence Marilyn Monroe had on trends in her time. But a key difference is that she empowered women to embrace their imperfections, instead of telling them how to fix their insecurities to fit the mould that will inevitably go out of fashion. 

My main concern is how this marketing tactic affects teen girls. Social media is a wonderful thing, I love stalking people I went to school with as much as the next person, what’s concerning is how it can affect self-esteem, body image issues and confidence in all kids and young adults. Everyone now has 24/7 access to the best parts of a person's life, influencers, and everyday people modify, photoshop, and carefully choose what they post. We can choose how to be perceived. If I were a shut-in and no one knew my life outside of social media, if I wanted to, I’d be able to craft a wonderful narrative to fit how I wanted to be perceived. People can fake anything, and I fear that young girls won’t realise that until they’ve saved up all their pocket money to get 0.5ml of lip filler because their favourite influencer showed how easy it is to look like them. 

The most frightening part is the way every woman will end up looking the same. This goes beyond a micro-trend. This isn’t Mob Wife or Brat summer, this is face-altering surgeries and injectables that come with complications and consequences. Yes, to some degree, young girls are responsible for the content they consume and how frequently it’s consumed, but influencers market themselves to children and teenagers because they are impressionable. Realistically, influencers have the right to post whatever they want to, it's their account, freedom of speech, so on, so on. But don’t you agree it’s morally corrupt to feed your audience this belief that if you’re insecure, change yourself? 

Ladies, girls, non-binary folk who feel the message I’m conveying, individuality is what’s beautiful, not conformity. Try styling your hair that way, wear that outfit you’re not sure about, be different! Because who literally cares. If someone is miserable enough to comment on what’s wrong with you, they have internal work to do. Remember, your quirks are what’s beautiful, be brave. 

Gentlemen (if any are reading this), it’s a difficult world for us women. Every day, we are faced with so many reasons as to why we aren’t good enough. Be kind to the ladies in your life, be patient, and tell a woman you love that she is beautiful. 

All in all, Instagram Face is an epidemic only we as a society can stop romanticising. The 2000s were appalling for body image, but wow, we saw beautiful, imperfectly asymmetrical faces on magazine covers. Bring back loving the faces that capitalism can’t profit from, with the imperfect eyebrows and thin lips. Don’t think I’ve written this to say “Oh look at me, I’m better than you for not falling for this”, because I have. Of course, I wanted to look like those girls, but then I realised the disservice changing myself would do to society. If I change myself, my little cousins who look up to me might think, “Okay, if Livvy changed herself, I can one day too,” when really, they are beautiful, even if their path in life means it may take them a while to see that for themselves. Take a break from doom scrolling, touch grass and de-influence yourself. Help your younger cousins, sisters, nieces, de-influence. Bring back imperfection as the beauty standard.