We often believe that cultural watershed moments are something that is grand and happens overnight. Sure – there is Obama becoming the first African-American to become the POTUS or the 9/11 attacks can be considered seismic events, but there is also Beyonce’s Lemonade, or the new iPhone launch. And no matter whether we find it to our liking or not, there are thousands of smaller undercurrents that keep our culture ticking forward (or backward). You can think of the dog filter on Snapchat or Bella Hadid’s nose plastic surgery.
And interestingly, it is something that is at the crossroads of these two specific phenomena that are creating a very weird trend: Photoshop communities on Instagram that are solely dedicated to just ‘fixing’ celeb photos and making them look perfect – digitally. Instagram channels such as @fixedyou, @goddess.women, and @beauty.kingdome are some of the few accounts that have created a huge following amongst fans and publish edits of popular Gen Z celebs like Billie Eilish, Hadids, and Selena Gomez on a regular basis.
If you look at some of these edits, you would find them really eerie and uncanny, and strangely, it is not something too different from what Instagram users already do through the (mis)use of filters and Facetune. However, the real question is – what does the rising use of such digital cosmetic surgery have to say about how we perceive ourselves and our relationship with our bodies? And more importantly, how will these impact the mostly young and highly engaged audience consisting of mainly females?
Photoshop community ‘fixing’ celebrities’ faces on Instagram – yay or nay? 