Social media has helped us connect with friends and family. It also encourages us to share with others what is going on in our life. We share photos and videos of our children, dogs, cats, our trips, achievements, etc…Lately, I see a lot of people abusing social media,especially the women. They take way too many selfies. One reason for this may be snapchat. Snapchat offers their users a variety of filters to make their photos more fun, cute,pretty and exciting to share with others. Users can play with backgrounds and effects on their photos. These different filters, however, can also alter someone’s appearance. Snapchat has photoshop like features. For example, on snapchat there is a “pretty” filter or also called flower crown filter. This filter can alter skin, hair, nose, and eyes. In this image, you can see that the nose is skinnier. The photos are all lightened to produce a much paler result. Skin becomes a lot smoother, the face more flushed with a rosy tint, and the jaw is visibly thinner. The hair becomes shiny and lips become rosy. This filter covers blemishes, birthmarks,freckles. Also in this photo, you can see that the zipper on the after section is a little bit lower than previously. It is a very subtle discovery, but it is a significant find; showing a little more skin is part of sexualization culture. This speaks volume. Why do we have to show more skin than what we are comfortable with to appeal to men? The fact that this form of faux beautification is being considered the definition of “pretty” is problematic in itself, because nobody should have to look any particular way to feel pretty. It’s painting a picture of a very singular view of beauty to an immense platform of people, which can in turn result in a variety of self-esteem issues. The girls that use this filter stem from insecurity and feel that this filter makes them look prettier. These sort of filters encourage others to show what we think they want to see instead of who we truly are. The filter shows us, “this is what you should look like” and “you would look better if you looked like this”. Using these filters keeps telling girls that this is what is sexy and attractive; this is what guys like and what societal expectations of beauty are. I also noticed that using the flower crown filter on snapchat covers your part of your forehead. For example, if you have a big forehead or receding hairline they will cover it with a flower crown. This filter encourages girls to believe that their beauty is not good enough. By encouraging girls to use this filter, they are also letting girls lie about their appearances in fear that others will not accept the way they look like. It is a very superficial app. The point of being connected through social media is not to compete looks with other girls, but to have genuine connections with others. It is also not about accepting a cookie cutter image. Don’t hide your imperfections. That is what makes you real and truly sexy.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/stop-sexualization-snapchat-filters
http://verilymag.com/2016/06/snapchat-lenses-social-media-beauty-photoshop