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In pursuit of ‘Instagram face,’ are we losing the imperfections that make us human?
The article, an NPR interview with New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino, examines how a filtered, algorithm-driven beauty aesthetic she dubbed "Instagram face" seven years ago has spread from celebrities and influencers to the wider public, driving a rise in cosmetic procedures among increasingly young people. Tolentino argues this matters because it reshapes not just appearances but our relationship with reality itself, as faces once seen as evidence of individual, lived experience become homogenised into a narrow, artificial ideal.
She describes the look as featuring lifted cheeks, plumped lips, enlarged eyes and heart-shaped chins, popularised by figures such as Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, and notes that procedures once linked to middle age are now common among teenagers. Tolentino also highlights how AI-generated images of "beautiful" women, trained on Instagram data, skew almost exclusively white, thin and young despite blending mixed racial features, reinforcing existing racial hierarchies within beauty standards. She cites troubling examples of this trend reaching younger audiences, including a 12-year-old's viral anti-ageing TikTok routine and teenagers asking whether they should begin Botox at 18.
In short
- Jia Tolentino discusses spread of "Instagram face" beauty standard
- Cosmetic procedures now popular among teens, not just adults
- AI beauty images skew white, thin, young, erasing diversity
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those concerned about 'Instagram face' contend this represents not merely individual preference but a systemic reshaping of beauty ideals through algorithmic curation, concentrated in an increasingly narrow, artificial aesthetic reinforced by AI systems trained on skewed data. They worry particularly about young people—some pursuing anti-ageing routines at 12 or considering Botox at 18—suggesting this reflects algorithmic pressure rather than autonomous choice, reshaping not just how people look but their relationship with authenticity and reality itself.
The case against
Those sceptical of these concerns argue that human aesthetic innovation has always occurred and people have long used available tools—makeup, fashion, cosmetic procedures—to achieve contemporary looks; this represents cultural evolution rather than crisis. They contend that granting people autonomy over their appearance doesn't require the appearance to look 'natural' or unique, and that the moral panic about homogenised beauty echoes recurrent historical anxieties which often overstate harms whilst underestimating people's genuine capacity to resist or ignore trends.
Explained simply
"Instagram face" is a specific filtered beauty aesthetic that emerged from photos shared on the social media platform Instagram. It is characterised by lifted cheeks, plumped lips, enlarged eyes and a heart-shaped chin, and was popularised by celebrities and influencers such as Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner. Though the term describes something once limited to celebrity culture, this particular look has increasingly become a wider beauty ideal that people try to achieve in real life.
What began as a trend among high-profile figures has expanded to influence how ordinary people view their appearance, prompting more cosmetic procedures among increasingly younger populations. Teenagers and even younger adolescents are now seeking treatments such as Botox and lip fillers that were once considered procedures for middle age. This matters because it represents a shift in how people relate to their own faces, replacing individual variation and the marks of lived experience with a narrow, standardised ideal.
The spread of this aesthetic also raises questions about digital culture and diversity. Artificial intelligence systems trained on Instagram images to generate examples of "beautiful" women tend to produce results that are predominantly white, thin and young, despite blending different racial features. This reinforces existing hierarchies within beauty standards and means that younger people growing up with these images may see a distorted view of what beauty encompasses.