Recently, it seems like popular culture has been engrossed in discussing and dismantling traditional structures of beauty. We’ve all seen discourse on the harmful effects of heavy photoshop in media and the ills of the 2000s’ intense diet culture. Now we’ve stripped back heavy layers of foundation to reveal our true skin and spend more time on self care. Brands, social media, and peers alike seem to be shouting from the rooftops—love yourself! But is anyone truly caring less about appearance?

The contemporary woman seems to have abundant aesthetic choices when it comes to her look and an even more abundant amount of things to hate about herself. Instagram feeds and fast fashion pages are full of glamorous women with nearly identical faces full of high cheekbones, plush lips, and upturned cat-eyes, and even more numerous are those trying to imitate the look with makeup or even surgery. Achieving this look comes with great social reward, but avoid trying too hard or you’ll end up with a face full of tacky filler or god forbid birthday makeup!

Okay, we’re trying to love ourselves, right? Let’s strip all the heavy contour, eyeshadow and foundation back, and go for a much more natural, clean girl look. Don’t try to think about how the existence of a clean girl implies there also is a dirty girl. Of course we all want to be clean, and it’s way too much pressure to have to look so made up every day anyway. But wait, did you ever think your normal face was enough? Now without all that makeup to hide behind, you need to focus on your skin and achieve that healthy, natural, radiant glow! Good thing there are so many products out there to solve your flaws! To find what works, you just need to try them all! Now, though you’ve spent all this time and money, don’t be surprised when you don’t magically morph into one of the gorgeous girls of social media. They’ve spent hundreds and thousands on surgeries and treatments you’ve never even heard of!

Forget all that! This beauty monoculture is too soul-sucking anyway! It’s time to embrace your personal look. But it’s so important to find a timeless style, I mean just look at all those outdated photos of you from five years ago – so ugly! Now, how do you find what is timeless? It’s easy! Just listen to the advice of every influencer on the internet and relentlessly copy every past fashion icon. Then, you too can break free from the trends and become an authentic, unique you!

Well.. where do we go now?

The pendulum has swung from exaggerated to minimal to everything in between, but can we say we’ve made it any further? Caught between loving one feature and hating it the next day, I too have felt this taxing push and pull. I look back on old photos and cringe, and I still pick apart my looks, and then try to chastise myself for feeling insecure. But is being a bit fickle so wrong? In a world where whole industries are built off our insecurities and lasting relationships are built first on outward appearance, is it so bad to cave to this pressure? It’s not a moral failing to be a part of the culture and have our perspective shaped by the world around us. Beauty is an ever-evolving standard, because if we all could be beautiful, it would lose its value. As hard as it is, I think we should all try to divest our sense of self-worth from our beauty, because as time has shown, perfect beauty is a bar we’re never meant to reach.

Reach column writer Helen Burt at musemediauw@gmail.com
Instagram @helen_b.b

Reach photographer Arshia Batra at musemediauw@gmail.com
Instagram @arshiabatra_