A New Kind of Mask

For the past 2 years, our ability to see the faces of others has been limited by masks covering everything from the nose down. The cloth fabric has made it hard to recognize people, connect with others on a visual level, and even things as simple as sharing a laugh or expression. Now, as things are finally starting to take a turn for the better, we are seeing a rise in a new kind of facial covering: beauty filters. Filters have been a thing for years now, but prior to 2021 the simple smoothing or makeup addition to a person's features was enhancing, but not altering. However, recently, there has been an increase in the use of filters on platforms such as Tik Tok. These filters completely alter a person's facial structure, texture, and overall appearance. The use of these “beautifying” filters may seem harmless at first, but what cost does the normalization of perfection have on society's standards for beauty and guise.

We are all human meaning we all have imperfections. Whether that’s blemishes, acne scars or freckles, part of being human is sharing these flaws with others. Some of the most popular filters are completely smooth and rid your face of any little details, making people look doll-like. While they are fun to use on occasion, for younger, more impressionable generations, these masks are increasing their desire to look more and more like a perfect being. According to TRT World, “60 percent of girls feel upset when their real impression doesn’t match the online version of themselves.” Which makes complete sense considering you never have to see the “rougher” parts of yourself when you constantly have a filter on. Society has known for a long time that social media can be toxic and cause negative emotions to rise in young people, but if these sites curated space for people to share their authentic, true selves, maybe we wouldn’t feel this way.

I remember when filters first started to become a thing on Snapchat. They started with simple, funny ones such as face distorting and throwing up rainbows. There was no push to alter your facial features in a way that overly enhanced your beauty, it was just a joke. Of course, since then, millions of filters have been created and used for all sorts of different uses, but the most common one is the changing or adding of features to make someone “prettier” or more stereotypically beautiful. Whether that is sprinkling freckles here and there, shaping your jaw and cheekbones to be slimmer, or even going as far as altering your eye color and size. These filters all seem to follow a similar pattern - eurocentric beauty. These standards favor smaller noses, lighter skin, and slimmer facial features over those shared by other ethnicities. These filters promote the idea that there is only one type of beauty when that has never been the case. They are “a fusion of misogyny and racism. Simply look at the idea that women should have a small nose. The reason why such a feature is preferable is that modest size is associated with delicacy and femininity.” While society has grown and taken steps towards a more equal future, it is baffling how far we still have to go. The mindset that you have to look a certain way to be beautiful is harmful in countless ways, but the subtle way with which people still push white beauty standards on others is arguably even worst.

While I personally am not a big filter user, I decided to try some of them for the sake of science, and it was jarring to see myself wearing some of them. My cheeks were flattened, my nose shrunk, my eyes looked to be the size of saucers, and my skin didn't have an imperfection in sight. Overall, my head just seemed smaller and more dainty than before. While I would be lying if I said there weren’t some aspects of my masked self I didn’t completely hate, it was no longer me. I don’t look like that, simple as that. I can’t imagine what people following me on Instagram would think I looked like if I only posted filtered selfies of myself. It shows a completely different person than the one actually in front of them.

After the past few years, the last thing that should be circulating the internet is filters that show a perfect version of ourselves. We are all flawed. There is no need to show off a glamorized or modified you when no one else actually looks that way either. The harmful effects that filters like these can have on society are astounding, and the next time you think you are just posting a “quick” selfie or photo on social media, think about how what you are putting out into the world might be absorbed by others. Misogynistic, racist, and fatphobic are just a few ways these masks could be described, and I encourage you to stop the narrative that perfection is beautiful and instead push for a more authentic, maskless future.

Strike Out,

Writer: Haley Wolf

Editor: Jordan Ross

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