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After attending the recent Golden Globe Awards, 22-year-old Kendall Jenner received tons of hate from Twitter trolls over her chin acne. Covered with makeup, her breakout was still visible as she strutted down the red carpet, posing for pictures.
Stylecaster notes that Jenner has always been honest about her struggles with acne and breakouts, saying that it has hugely affected her self-esteem ever since she was 13. Now in her early twenties and a world famous model, it’s almost (literally) impossible for her to hide from the spotlight.
But Jenner didn’t take the negativity lying down. Nylon reported that Jenner tweeted “never let that shit stop you!” in response to one supporter who praised her for strutting so proudly at the awards.
Ok but @KendallJenner showing up and strutting her acne while looking like a gorgeous star is what every girl needs to understand https://t.co/2ufMe2T1Zq
— daisy (@yellowcustards) January 8, 2018
Research Gate notes that acne is very common past teen years, especially when it comes to women. And in the last few years, adult acne has been addressed more than even, especially after several cases of online skin shaming and bullying came to light in the media.
Last year we heard about makeup guru Kadeeja Khan receiving hate for her vlog on how to cover up acne with makeup. She responded with an Instagram captioned: “YES I HAVE ACNE GET THE F*CK OVER IT!!! PEOPLE WITH ACNE CAN WEAR MAKEUP TOO!!”
And in 2015 Em Ford, a former model and makeup vlogger fought back against skin shaming bullies who bashed her for her adult acne on YouTube, posting this video titled, ‘You Look Disgusting’, as a response:
Celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling and Katy Perry have also been very vocal on social media about the struggles they've had with acne.
But how can we address skin shaming IRL?
In the much anticipated film Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan plays a teen with visible acne scars. A rather normal teen issue, skin problems, bumps and pimples are still left out of mainstream films featuring teens – and especially when the characters are beautiful, young women.
And because we are used to seeing our world through a screen - a screen that shows us Instagram filtered people - our reality is shaped more by this ‘perfect’ reality, rather than by what is actually real. As a result we measure and define ourselves in terms of a discourse that knows the ‘perfect’ better than the ‘imperfect’. And this is what we have to battle. This is what we have to change.
