Kylie Rancor
Social media has pushed beauty standards to a whole new level, especially for women. After decades of being fed images of celebrities and airbrushed models in movies and magazines, similar levels of perfection suddenly began popping up in our Instagram feeds alongside everyday, normal photos of average people, claiming to be exactly that.
In reality, with the help of apps like FaceTune, distorting reality to give the impression of conforming to unrealistic beauty standards has never been easier. At the very least, it’s easy to learn angles to hide features you don’t want the world to see, but it’s just as easy to brush them away with a swipe and a pinch on your phone.
Everyone knows by now that a constant bombardment of images like those can wear down someone’s self-esteem if they don’t naturally come close to matching those impossible standards. But one of the best ways to combat that phenomenon is to see photos of people celebrating their features exactly the way they are, eschewing unrealistic expectations for a beautiful reality.
Twitter user @hollyhopkins_ took that idea to heart when she decided to share a photo showing the side profile of her nose, something she said made her feel insecure about her appearance for too long.
“It’s okay if your nose looks like all the ‘before’ pictures,” she wrote. “I hated my nose sm much for the longest time and felt so insecure about it but I am learning to [like] my side profile even if it doesn’t look like the ‘ideal’ beauty standard.”
People were eager to compliment Holly, as well as praise her decision to talk about her insecurities publicly.
And it wasn’t long before others were sharing photos of the noses they’ve learned — or are still learning — to love, too.
Some folks are already confident in features Hollywood and social media might tell them need to change, while others are feeling inspired by Holly’s openness to begin that journey towards embracing their “imperfections” as the unique and wonderful things that are exactly perfect for them.