Dare to leave behind the filters

Dare+to+leave+behind+the+filters

Meredith Comas, Staff Writer

As a typical 21st-century teen, I am no stranger to the effects of Photoshop and “filtering.” I personally spent time in the toxic friendship that is Instagram and Snapchat filters, which seem harmless at first, as well as the addicting but scarring retouching apps you can download. These all offer one thing to their already self-conscious victims: the ability to “beautify” your looks as if you weren’t beautiful already.

The use of filters and Photoshop in pop culture has given society the idea that there are certain standards of beauty each person should live up to, and if you fall short of these unreasonable standards, you are pegged an outcast.

I first discovered the “correcting” power of filtering and retouching at the vulnerable age of 13. I was new to being a teenager, and due to bullying in the past for my “unappealing” looks, I was the most insecure about myself and my body I had ever been in my life. This lead to the fateful day when an ad popped up on my tiny smartphone screen for “BeautyPlus – Selfie Camera for a Beautiful Image,” and I, persuaded very quickly by the thought of finally being considered pretty, rushed to install the app.

At the time of its download, I was unaware of the long-lasting emotional and mental damage this three-year-reign of picture-editing terror would cause me, and soon found the pressure to fit society’s definition of “pretty” controlling my life.

I began to use Photoshopping and filtering like a drug, and in a way, I was addicted. Somehow even though I did not need it, I felt so reliant on these apps that if I did post a picture without retouching, I would immediately panic and delete the picture. I had to have retouching to get rid of my acne, which is normal for teens. I had to make sure my smile and lashes were perfect, and that I was what society defines as “beautiful.”

This is something that not only affected me, but many of my friends as well.

Seeing one of your best friends afraid to take a picture of herself because she won’t look like the people in magazines or clothing ads is painful. Being terrified of school picture days and hiding in the school bathroom in fear of other kids seeing you and realizing you don’t look like your selfie on Instagram is torture.

This happens to be a torment I managed to escape from by finally realizing my real looks, with and without make up (which is a personal choice many people make and should not be judged for) were my strongest aspects. However, so many girls, and some boys, still suffer from the effects of Photoshopping.

From the time we are young, we are fed the idea that we must be what others define as beautiful, rather than be ourselves. As children we watch cartoons where every character on screen is picture-perfect, swimsuit-ready and model material. As teens, we flip through magazines where almost every model, who is already beautiful, has been retouched and molded by a computer to appear “skinny” or “unblemished,” generating in ourselves these unachievable standards of beauty.  

This thoroughly sickens me.

It sickens me that society is now targeting 11-year-olds whose only thought should be about which house the sleepover should be at, not about whether or not they look like models such as Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner. It sickens me that kids I see everyday are unrecognizable on their Instagram and Snapchat accounts due to the fact that they retouched their photos so much that their face no longer truly belongs to them. It sickens me that, when I scroll through my Instagram feed, I see kids I used to watch play on the playground starting up their social media accounts with heavily-filtered photos and slimmed-down pictures of themselves in a mirror.

Society has instilled the idea in not only adults but now our children that in order to be likeable as a person, you must first fit its unrealistic ideas of perfection. Rather than being defined and judged by simply who you are, you are labeled ugly, and therefor must change yourself completely in order to be acceptable to society, and the world.

And I’ll tell you now, society doesn’t know what it’s talking about.

“Perfection,” that is if there is such a thing, is not in how you look. If it exists, it is in how you live your life. Live kindly, but proudly. Be confident and real with yourself as well as others.

Challenge society’s idea of “perfection” and let’s make our own, better version that will accept everyone… real.  End Photoshop’s reign of terror, and dare to be perfectly imperfect and flawed. Dare to leave behind the filters, and just be you. Be real.