glow-up (plural glow-ups)
- The complete transformation of a person’s appearance for the better.
It is fairly obvious that looks are everything. Even children, blissfully ignorant, can discriminate, observe discrimination, and even be subject of discrimination–all stupidly appearance based. This is something familiar from centuries past, and is a learned trait that we can’t seem to shake off.
Take a look at this Chicago law from 19th century America, “Any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting subject . . . shall not . . . expose himself to public view, under the penalty of a fine of $1 for each offense.” Imagine getting a fine for the way you look!
Lately, the societal pressures of looking good have begun affecting the younger generations more and more. (Not to say adults don’t feel it too, they definitely do).
Scroll through tiktok and you’ll see that the beautiful people will of course get more likes than an ugly or even average person. (This doesn’t mean every social media influencer will be unconditionally beautiful, and this doesn’t mean a non-influencer will be ugly or average–but generally this is what we see). Heck, instagram models are called instagram models because they’re beautiful and not because the title is a “more inclusive version of runway where everyone has a shot.” Wrong… (RULE #1: Be good looking….Either achieved naturally or artificially….)
#glowup #dontjudgechallenge etc…
As you can see, this glow-up culture is super widespread on social media.
And we see the beautiful teenagers, adults, idols, celebrities, models, actors & actresses, singers all maintaining a beautiful image, and it’s all on our feed. We see it everyday, and we want that for ourselves. We want puberty to take its magic wand and make us into those gorgeous people that shower the front page of literally everything.
And what gives us the most hope is when we see someone go from what we consider “average or ugly” to what we consider “beautiful.”
And now, we are in quarantine which means everyone is staying at home and away from other people. So?
Glow-up time…
Type ‘glow up quarantine’ on YouTube and look what you get~
There are literal channels dedicated to glowing up. Channels with over 1M subscribers. After watching these videos, it’s evident that the people on these journeys of self-improvement learn that this process of changing into the butterfly is most profound on the mind. Which is why its you mentally ‘glow-up’ too. If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. But it’s not.
So I think we can agree that there is a bit of an obsession with glowing up. But is this taking it all too far?
Ariana Grande
Josh Peck
Kylie Jenner
These celebrities changed, right? They had a “glow-up.” So, does that mean they went from ugly to beautiful? Does that mean that their childlike selves are ugly? No. It doesn’t.
It’s often thought that the moment you become beautiful, all your problems simply melt away.
“A lot of people focus on their outward appearance as if changing it to be more beautiful will solve all their problems. In reality, if you have self-esteem issues or generally feel unattractive no glow up will ever feel enough.” – YouTube comment
Money can’t buy happiness and neither can beauty. It’s all about the inner growth within. It’s cliche but true. Once you begin to find peace with yourself as you are right now, you can achieve anything. Change or no change.
Dying your hair or getting lip injections will not make a difference in a month or so if you don’t have the money to get them done again, and if your mindset stays the same. There’s nothing wrong with either, but it’s not good for a person’s health to do these things solely for societal beauty standards. This will only stunt your real growth.
The moment you begin to accept who you are is the moment when you are able to move on and actually grow.
So don’t worry too much about this glow-up fad, and only change for yourself and not because others are doing it.
