“Filters are not real life” says Seamus Duff in their article for The Sun titled “WHY SO SHY?
Melanie Sykes uploads incredible no-makeup selfie to Instagram… then deletes it moments later” a few days ago. But since Alicia Keys (Morosini & Capon 2016) stopped wearing makeup last year, it has become something of a trend to show the world that no makeup look. But the fact of the matter is that it is not completely bare-all when it comes to showing people on social media that no-makeup look. Because not only will appropriate lighting and angles be put into place but also the infamous Instagram filters – a trend of which has bled into most other photo-related social medias, snapchat for example. The Sun article failed to express why the celebrity at hand deleted said picture but it would not surprise anyone if it is because of backlash and hate about the legitimacy of her complexion, because reality is that followers usually do not deal well for some reason with no-makeup photos. Maybe it could be because of our makeup-obsessed society and the stigma that goes along with women not wearing makeup and how women are taught that they are not good enough or not worth the same without makeup as they do with – just like how wearing makeup is more ‘professional’ and are more likely to be hired for a job than if she is not wearing makeup, yet boys have to do nothing like this and is often shunned for doing the same thing although society is slowly accepting the idea that boys can wear makeup too.
Other instagram stars have had so much trouble with their no-makeup selfie that it got removed off their instagram for violating terms and had to reupload. That was Belle Lucia (belle_lucia) almost a week ago, people had flagged her photo until it got removed and she had to stand her ground to reupload it and try and convince her followers that she was definitely not wearing any makeup or violating instagram’s terms of service.
Another example by Huffington Post earlier this month that blew up with shares and likes is the article “This Fitness Guru Shows Us Exactly How Misleading Instagram Can Be” by Abigail Williams which shows fitness blogger Anna Victoria posing and looking fit and trim and then sat normally and having stomach rolls – of course despite the expected amount of hate and trolling there has been an overwhelming amount of support for her showing her natural body with people saying it will help those who have eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia be more comfortable with their natural weight and not try to starve themselves.
All in all, it is wonderful to see these instagram celebrities fighting back and showing the world something real, something genuine and most importantly something achievable. The fact that it is not all lavish cars and professionally-done makeup and hair it is finally nice to see something the public can relate to and is healthy and reasonable to aim towards. The hate that these people get for being their true selves is astounding and probably roots from jealousy (“They can not be that rich and popular and have perfect skin!”) The truth of the matter is that deep down they are people like everyone else and is it nice to see a sense of normalcy versus higher standing where other celebrities would not want to be seen in that certain light as it may affect how the public view them – you would never see Kim Kardashian making a post about her stomach rolls, although that would be something we can all agree, we would like to see very much indeed.
References:
Duff, S., 2017. WHY SO SHY? Melanie Sykes uploads incredible no-makeup selfie to Instagram… then deletes it moments later. The Sun, 21 January 2017, Available from: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2674369/melanie-sykes-uploads-incredible-no-makeup-selfie-to-instagram-then-deletes-it-moments-later/ [Accessed 22 January 2017].
Morosini, D. & Capon, L., 2016. Alicia Keys has stopped wearing makeup and is killing it. Cosmopolitan, 21 November 2016, Available from: http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/makeup/news/a43804/alicia-keys-stopped-wearing-makeup/ [Accessed 22 January 2017].
Williams, A., 2017. This Fitness Guru Shows Us Exactly How Misleading Instagram Can Be. Huffington Post, 18 January 2017, Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fitness-anna-victoria-instagram-tricks_us_587f8beae4b0c147f0bc1392 [Accessed 22 January 2017].
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