As I scroll through my Facebook feed every morning, I find the next trending thing that's taking every social media platform by storm. What happened to come across my newsfeed a few days ago, was something really odd, as I can't believe that this was something people are actually doing. Teens everywhere are participating in "The Don't Judge Challenge" where they post a video of them looking "ugly" by having messy hair, drawing on thick eyebrows, fake acne, and darkening their teeth. They then hold their hand up to the camera and as they pull away, they reveal their "real, beautified" selves as they tag the photo with #TheDon'tJudgeChallenge. Believe it or not, this trend was sparked just after beauty blogger, Em Ford, posted a video of herself, which revealed her untouched and unrefined face, which surfaced some of her truly beautiful imperfections. This video, of course, took to the World Wide Web, and it instantly went viral, as she encouraged others to not be afraid of their blemishes and to be proud of the skin they live in.
This "campaign" so-to-speak, was to "combat body issues," and is supposed to put shame to people who immediately judge people by their looks, but the videos are receiving more backlash than praise. The challenge can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Vine as those are the predominant platforms that are being used to post on. The videos are more of a spoof rather than allowing teens to let their true colors shine through the surface, as the videos were first intended to do.
The challenge is redefining beauty standards, but not in a good way. Vine user, Boris Laursen, along with many others, are amongst many who took part in the #Don'tJudgeChallenge
There are even Vine accounts that are dedicated to making these videos, such as the one below.
Do these photos REALLY say don't judge me?
Teens everywhere are truthfully disgusted and find the challenge demeaning and downright hurtful as well as discouraging to teens around the country who are discovering these videos.
As any other teenager would do, they took to Twitter to tweet about their true thoughts and feelings on the subject matter. They spoke out on in anger and outrage as they set the bar for what these videos are really telling people, and why they need to be ended immediately.
People decided that if this was actually going to be done, they would make a strong rebuttal to really show people how this challenge should have actually gone down. Social Media users are now starting to post photos and videos using #BeautyInAllChallenge where they capture an all-bare essence of beauty in all its glory.
#TheBeautyChallenge should have been the epidemic that took to your Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feeds.
