Nicole Kidman’s niece, Lucia Hawley, is sharing her thoughts on a social media beauty trend that “needs to go” as well as “problematic” beauty standards that are impacting young people online.
Hawley’s Thoughts On Social Media Filters
In a recent essay for Honey Nine, Hawley discussed a new component of TikTok: filters. These filters can make you look like you’re wearing glasses, have a different hair color, or have someone else standing in the frame with you.
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The filter Hawley is concerned with? The “Bella Hadid” filter. She tried it out, noting that the filter contoured her face and nose while lightening and enlarging her eyes. However, once Hawley took the filter off and was left looking at her actual appearance, she found she couldn’t stop thinking about the “Bella Hadid” filter.
“Beauty standards have always been problematic, but in the age of the selfie it’s a whole different ballpark, because we are now competing with a CGI-enhanced version of ourselves,” Hawley wrote.
She continued, “In order to keep up with impossible beauty standards, many women have turned to editing apps and filters to constantly present the best version of themselves. Consequently, this has created a slippery slope, with many people now wanting to replicate the edited version of themselves in real life.”
Hawley: ‘One Of The Greatest Things About Being Human Is Being Imperfect’
Hawley also discussed “Snapchat dysmorphia,” which can lead to people asking cosmetic surgeons to make them look more like the filtered and edited versions of themselves they see online. According to Hawley’s essay, 72% of plastic surgeons had received requests to make a patient look better for social media.
“I should point out that cosmetic surgery is not the ‘devil’ and people should be able to choose what they want to do to their appearance,” Hawley wrote. “But is it truly an authentic choice if the reason you are altering yourself is so you can adhere to unattainable beauty standards?”
Hawley also shared comments from Hadid, the subject of the TikTok filter, where she shared that she regretted the nose job she got at 14. “I wish I had kept the nose of my ancestors,” she told Vogue.
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“The pressure to manufacture our appearance to fit into some warped, Eurocentric idea of beauty is so incredibly detrimental to mental health and sense of belonging,” Hawley concluded. “It sounds cliché, but one of the greatest things about being human is being imperfect.” Hawley’s assertion that imperfection is a beautiful part of life is encouraging to many who struggle with today’s near-impossible beauty standards.
