Today, this came up onto Facebook. As usual, you can be just casually scrolling through the feed, and then there is an advert. In this case, it was an advert for digital make-up enhancements for videos. Immediately, this struck me as yet another image in the media and on our social platforms pushing that “perfect woman” imagery to our teens, and possibly younger if they happen to see it on their parent’s phones. There’s too much out there that’s not helpful to our kids in social media.
Aside from the fact that this advert is really rather creepy, as my good friend Helen Lindop quite rightly pointed out.
What kind of an image does this continue to pedal to our teens? Yet again we are pushing the idea that “perfection” is something to be aspire to….that photos and videos that we “put out there” on social media are to stick to the accepted “norms.”
Why are we telling them that one of the ways they can “enhance” their videos is to add “gorgeous” make-up to it, to make them look perfect and social media ready?
Have we learnt nothing from all of the controversy recently about body image, social media access to inappropriate material that promotes negative activity and thoughts in our teens, and the importance of producing tech with social responsibility in mind?
With the rise of stars like Saffron Barker, Zoe Sugg and her brother, Pewdie Pie, Jazzy B, Mollie Mae and many other social media stars; more and more teens are aspiring to become social media influencers and icons.
We SHOULD NOT be producing apps and technology that continue to promote the idea that to be social media ready, you need to have perfect make up, the perfect body, or indeed the perfect anything.
It is OK to want to be a social media influencer, but to be one, anything short of perfection is NOT a flaw.
What on earth is perfect anyway?
I’ll tell you what perfect SHOULD BE for our teens.
Perfect is you. Just the way YOU are. Whatever makes YOU happy.
And it shouldn’t be anything other than that.
Simple.
Our teens ARE good enough. WE are good enough.
We have shared on here about teenage eating disorders, and irresponsible advertising to teens previously. This advert seems to be just another way that social media is letting itself down.
There is so much good on social media – the ability to connect with other teens, and kids that have similar mindsets; but positive ones, such as those that promote a positive attitude to all body shapes and sizes, or that that are pushing the boundaries for disabled teens everywhere.
Why can’t social media focus on that, instead of trying to falsify its own environment so that teens end up aspiring to something that is total unattainable; something NOT EVEN REAL.
As we all know – you can pretty much make anything look smooth and sexy with a spot of photoshopping….
Yes … please.
— 975krock (@975krock) May 9, 2019
Smooth Yoda is Terrifying.#Filters #Selfies #Smooth pic.twitter.com/3QDu8B23pI
Even Yoda is looking good here 😂
Come on Apple and Facebook – let’s not approve these types of ads, or indeed apps, so that we can stop promoting the perfect anything to our next generation of women and our kids on social media.
They can be proud of who they are, whatever size, shade of make up (or indeed no make up), colour, creed, sexuality, or anything else you care to mention.
Can’t we just remember to teach them all that perfect is just them. Here. And now. And we love them all.
What do you think – let us know. And if you want to find something a little more constructive for the kids to do – why not check out some of our free printables?
- Take a look at all our colouring pages on the site – we’ve got over 100+ of them,
- We’ve even got some wonderful cat mindful colouring for both adults and kids, and finally
- Why not get the kids imagination going wild with some of our puppets and scenes for them to play with?
Thanks so much for checking us out, and we hope to see you again – maybe you can subscribe to us too?
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!