Instagram face

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Instagram face is a beauty standard based on the filters and influencers popular on Instagram.[1] An "Instagram face" has catlike eyes, long lashes, a small nose, high cheekbones, full lips, and a blank expression.[2] Digital filters manipulate photographs and video to create an idealized image that, according to critics, has resulted in an unrealistic and homogeneous beauty standard.[3] According to Jia Tolentino, the face is "distinctly white but ambiguously ethnic".[4] The face has been described as a racial composite of different peoples.[4]

While based on digital filters, the look is achieved in person using heavy applications of makeup or cosmetic surgery.[2] Plastic surgery, Botox injections, and injectable filler have significantly increased in popularity since the rise of digital filters.[5] In 2018, Americans underwent 7 million neurotoxin injections and 2.5 million filler injections and spent $16.5 billion on cosmetic surgery. 92% of the latter was performed on women.[4] In 2024, cosmetic surgeon Paul Banwell said, "People used to come to see me asking to look like a particular celebrity, but many patients come to me now wanting to look like the filtered version of themselves."[5] The increasing popularity of cosmetic surgeries towards a homogeneous ideal has resulted in the emergence of the goopcore sub-genre of body horror.[6] Allie Rowbottom's goopcore novel Aesthetica (novel) centers around an influencer attempting to undo years of plastic surgery with a new experimental procedure.[6] Influencers market makeup products designed to recreate the look.[2]

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References[edit]

  1. ^ Ryan-Mosley, Tate (19 August 2022). "The fight for "Instagram face"". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Jones, Alexandra (15 August 2018). "'I tried 'Instagram face' for a week and here's what happened...'". BBC Three. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  3. ^ Hunter, Tatum (20 September 2023). "Should women use beauty filters online? We all have opinions". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Tolentino, Jia (12 December 2019). "The Age of Instagram Face". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b Petter, Olivia (28 April 2024). "Instagram face: Are we all going to end up looking the same?". The Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b Knibbs, Kate (12 April 2023). "Body Horror in the Age of Instagram Face". Wired. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.