Humans have always sought to change and alter their own appearance. With the invention of makeup, tools have emerged that made masking and altering one’s face and body much easier. However, all these tools could not compare with the power that... selfie and beauty filters present modern humans.
Beauty filters can do seemingly magical things. It can filter away complexions, reshape faces into whatever the user desires, even make a person look more attractive in a certain way. While a lot of people love the freedom and new looks that come with Beauty filters, more people needs to be aware of its side effects as using such powerful beautifying tools can really harm someone's mental health.
Let’s take an example: A young user spends hours on end trying to get the "perfect" look with the help of beauty filters. It starts off just for fun but eventually it turns into an obsession. As they edit their image to the point where it falls close to the unrealistic ideal that the social media platforms create, they find themselves becoming consumed by their own appearance. Since this doesn’t match with what’s really reflected in their mirror, they start to lose confidence in themselves and their self-esteem begins to plummet. They’ll seek validation from other users on the platform and if they don’t receive enough likes or comments, their self-doubt and low self-esteem further increase.
The illusion of perfection created by beauty filters can also harm relationships. If a user is constantly editing photos of themselves and makes them look ‘perfect” when compared to their real selves, it’s misleading. Friends, family, partners and even acquaintances may feel deceived when they see the real person. This can lead to distrust and break the bond that was formed with them.
It's not just our mental health that can be harmed by such addictive use of beauty filters. With every flawless edited photo posted, followers could also develop a false sense of reality and it may stop them from living in the moment and focusing on truly meaningful experiences outside our filters. Worse, overusing beauty filters can be damaging to physical health. Comparing oneself to edited images can be discouraging, cause eating disorders and can even lead to skin issues.
That said, there’s still a positive side to beauty filters. Havingoptions to choose from gives us freedom and Space to experiment with our appearance. Our skin colour, body shape or facial features don’t necessarily define us and having the ability to explore and play around helps us to realize that we don’t have to fit in any particular standard. It gives us an opportunity to unlearn toxic beauty standards that have been perpetuated for years.
To strike a balance, it is important to focus on loving ourselves as we are and going beyond the surface level. Even if we focus on ourselves more that doesn’t mean vanity is the answer. We must still be mindful about how much time we spend consumed by this. We need to understand the power of beauty filters and the potential to damage mental health.
Beauty filters can be used non-problematically – it only becomes problematic when it becomes an obsession and addiction. To really be happy and authentic, we must take care to not let editing our looks become our entirety as it will do more harm than good. Let’s make sure that joy is real, sustainable and not filtered away.
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