Social media has a notorious history of manipulating natural faces and bodies and turning them into something unattainable. In today’s world, there are a multitude of trends that shove (typically) young girls into boxes, treating their beauty as something calculative or categorised. 

“Do you have ‘doe eyes’ or ‘siren eyes’?” Asks one trend, separating eye makeup into two parts. “Are you ‘girl pretty’ or ‘boy pretty’? Says another, breaking down women’s faces into physical traits apparently found 

attractive by men and women. “Are you ‘cat pretty’, ‘bunny pretty’, ‘fox pretty’ or ‘deer pretty’?” One even animalises women, comparing their facial features to those of other creatures, forcing girls’ beauty, which is meant to be unique, into boxes.

Social media loves to classify things. Whether it's niche aesthetics or women’s faces - it creates a false sense of belonging in a community that is only relevant for a certain amount of time before another trend takes over. 

“Human beings are wired to connect — and we have the most complex and interesting social behaviour out of all animals,” says Michael Platt, Ph.D., a biological anthropologist from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “Social connection is a really primary motivation [for following trends],” says Pamela B. Rutledge, a media psychologist.

Beauty has evolved into something hackable, something that can be achieved through the endless adjusting of facial features with filters and photo editing. People are constantly trying to conform the way they look to fit a trend or be included in a category to feel connection. Because of the constant scrutinising of human faces, people have lost touch with what beauty truly is. Beauty is difficult to define, but whether it's physical features that are pleasing to the eye or someone’s characteristics and personality, people are always trying to be anyone but themselves. 

Social media users are always being thrown new beauty standards everyday from all directions. There’s always a new way for their natural looks to be wrong, whether they are being convinced that their faces should be fixed, should live up to a standard, or be classified (e.g ‘bunny pretty’).

We should be reminded that the way we look is an amalgamation of all of our ancestor’s faces. There is a story behind the shape of our lips or the curve of our nose, all these features collected from centuries of love, pain and family. We should not bind ourselves to labels that squeeze all this history on our faces into a small box that ignores the uniqueness of every single person. Every face is beautiful and we should not let social media dictate otherwise. 

Sources:

1. https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/61762/1/the-real-problem-with-pretty-privilege-and-tiktok-category-trends

2. https://www.allure.com/story/bunny-pretty-tiktok-trend

3. https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/what-do-bunny-cat-deer-fox-mean-viral-tiktok-trend-explained-2120382/

4. https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/tiktok-siren-doe-fox-eye-shape-trend

5. https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/co-occurring-disorders/filters-mental-health/#:~:text=It's%20a%20natural%20impulse%20to,worse%20we%20feel%20about%20ourselves.

6. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-do-we-follow-trends-even-when-theyre-bad-for-us

Unless you’re currently living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Hailey Bieber. She’s quickly become the face of social media, with Hailey Bieber nails, makeup and outfits being the newest trend. Of course, she’s also known for being married to global superstar Justin Bieber, but Hailey has also been thrown into her own spotlight in the past couple of years with the creation of her beauty brand called Rhode. 

The way that Hailey Bieber has handled the situation has numerous advantages. First of all, by expanding her product range and making it more inclusive towards people of all skin tones, she has more people using her products, generating more revenue for the company. 

More importantly, she has set an example for what it means to be a responsible business owner; taking other people’s opinions into consideration, avoiding discrimination and apologizing for making mistakes. Making mistakes is natural, especially for a company that is relatively new. However, what other business owners can learn from Hailey and her team is that taking responsibility and actively making a change can help to make consumers feel more positively about the brand, ultimately making the industry a more inclusive space. 

As a makeup user with darker skin myself, I admire the way that Hailey handled the situation with maturity and responsibility, but I’m even more inspired by George’s bravery to continue to create her content in the face of online hate and adversity. Her story is a prime example of the value of standing up for yourself, and the change that even a single voice can have on an entire brand and industry.