Facetune And My Endless Pursuit of Physical Perfection

A face-perfecting app that only widens the gap between my digital and real self. 

Myself before Facetune, left, and after. 

There's a tool in Facetune, the popular selfie editing app, that I use to make my teeth look white. There are others that I use to make my skin smooth, whiten the inside of my eyes, and adjust the lightning, and that is not the extent of my Facetune use. 

I always tell my "If I edit the little things it's fine, a little is a lot" this is to make me feel better about myself and it does help boost my confidence and self-esteem a little. I have never used the app before, but I see evidence of it constantly, on Instagram accounts of Influencers and celebrities. And I wanted to look like them. I wanted to have that perfect white teeth, that soft smooth looking skin. That perfectly shaped body. And to what extent? I guess to make me feel less ugly. 

I am part of the generation that has never known a world that isn't filled with digitally manipulated images. I have had access to modern technology and social media for much of my life, and I've also had the power to digitally manipulate those images myself. Facetune is the ultimate culmination of those two forces: A cheap, easy-to-use Photoshop alternative in the pocket of anyone with a smartphone, allowing them to smooth, slim, or skew any part of their face or body in an instant. 

It's hard to talk critically about this stuff - as a young man, my manipulated images has always had a very negative effect on my self-esteem. Because every time I add a filter, or smooth out my skin or just broaden my shoulders I am always reminded of how I will never look like the edited version. People have discussed the evils of Photoshop for decades, and airbrushing before that, because of the negative effect on body image, with general, agreed-upon takeaway being yes, It is bad to narrow already-thin models' waist or misrepresent their skin tones. As a media savvy young person I am well aware that many, if not most, of the advertisements and fashion shoots I see are altered. 

There is just too much pressure to fake it. 

But despite the thriving communities of self-acceptance and body positivity on my platforms, for many, including myself , Instagram is still a place where only the most aspirational content makes it to the timeline. And I feel like Facetune just heightens the requirements for what counts as aspirational: Users with the biggest eyes, lips, and butt, the smoothest skin, and the wispiest waist are rewarded with likes, which can then translate into cash. And believe me I want in on that pie, but I just do not meet the requirements. And it's given rise to an uncanny sameness in many influencers, a phenomenon known as "Instagram Face": large, smoldering eyes and puffy, pouty lips, radiantly contouring skin and, when extended to the rest of the body, tiny waists or a muscular body, the perfect abs, tiny waist that sit atop almost spherically perky butts. And some of these can also be achieved almost instantly with Facetune.

In conclusion its this paradox  -  that we expect ourselves and influencers (and celebrities) to look perfect but at the same time come across as human and authentic. After learning what goes into determining that an image was "magazine cover-ready" made me feel more self-conscious about my own photos, I guess that is one of the reason why I started using Facetune. 

I want this space to talk about it with others who feel the same way. 

Another one of my unpopular opinions is that it is just toxic especially for us young people who try to emulate influencers. Facetune has made editing accessible to everyone, and for someone like me with an untrained eye, I may not see the curvy walls or messed-up fence post. All I see is a body goal.