The Pandemic is a Portal
Introduction
The Covid pandemic is a perfect example of how individuals are using social media in their day to day lives. Pandemics, for a long time, have been forcing humans to separate from the past and reimagine a new world. A case in point is the current pandemic. The pandemic has witnessed a significant shift to increased use of technology and subsequent frequent use of social media. Social media, in turn, is attempting to dictate how life should be lived. For instance, Simranpreet gives an example of the Instagramface that women all over the globe are trying to emulate. Therefore, the objective of this project is to offer a more specific focus on the work of the artist. The central insight is to relay the artist’s concerns regarding racial prejudice in the beauty industry, especially in the wake of social media. The artist, Simranpreet Anand, is concerned about racial discrimination in the beauty industry. Therefore, the paper below discusses in detail Anand’s views on racism during this pandemic. The article also expounds and lists other sources that present on this racial bias.
Theme and curatorial choices
First, the website is attempting to gather the public in a way that engages with the political and social environments as contemporary realities, historical inheritances, and speculative futures. The website seems to use these pandemic times to critically interrogate how society forms the community, whom they form with, and how they can improve. A case in point is the position by Arundhati Roy that the pandemic is a portal (Roy np). Thus, the current responses to this pandemic prepare the ground for community forms to emerge. These formations are more unsettles and just that the past community formations.
Analysis of the artist
It is crucial to renounce a return to normalcy and to shift towards a world that is rooted in care in this pandemic time. The author believes that the crisis was already an upheaval for many. Drawing from Arundhati Roy’s thinking, the pandemic deliberates on the aspects that are changing regarding the political and social realities. According to Roy, pandemics have forced humans to separate from the past and imagine the world from a new perspective. These perspectives are a gateway between one particular world and the next. Humans can choose to walk through and to drag their prejudices and biases (Mochizuki, np). Humans can also choose to imagine another universe and be ready to fight for it. Roy also asserts that humans have experiences pandemics previously.
Nonetheless, this pandemic is specifically crucial. Besides, human choices have become more vital. The society is currently facing a pandemic within the framework of new technology developments and surveillance that is compounded by various societal factors.
One artist that attempts to demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on the website is Simranpreet Anand.
Source: https://www.cindymochizuki.com/cindys-blog
The work by Simranpreet Anand is part of the Pandemic is a Portal work. The artist’s text includes a sequence of changed images and public selfies by the users of Instagram that had been suggested to the artist. These users highlight the Instagram Face phenomenon. The phenomenon refers to the trends of make-up and cosmetic procedures which contribute significantly to the racial prejudices of the algorithms and users of the platform. Anand quotes the assertions of an article by a New Yorker, which gives a detailed description of these biases. According to the article, beauty is described as an “an overly tan skin tone, a South Asian influence with the brows and eye shape, an African-American influence with the lips, a Caucasian influence with the nose, a cheek structure that is predominantly Native American and Middle Eastern.” According to Anand, in each of the portraits presented to him, a black overlay leaves only the subject’s eyes, mapping the images’ formulaic nature, which is ingrained in a unique digital performance of self-exoticization and gendered beauty.
As a result of these concerns, authors such as Bae (np) proposes evaluating the harms that can come up when a generation is trying to attain this ethically vague idea that certain celebrities are steering. As a result, women all over the world want to emulate this perceived ideal facial and body structure. Bae (np) is concerned that such biases are harmful. According to the author, this beauty standard is somewhat unattainable in the absence of cosmetic surgery. The author argues that celebrities that have gone through multiple cosmetic surgeries to attain this idea deny undergoing these procedures even though she does not disapprove of cosmetic surgery.
Consequently, women are led to believe that lacking the perceived Instagram face is a deficit they were born with to be tucked, nipped, and injected into such ambiguous ideals. Many women all over the globe are falling into this narrative that undergoing the cosmetic procedure is mostly being beautiful. Additionally, ethnic minorities that have dealt with discrimination and teasing as a result of particular features are presently learning that these features are a beauty. Nonetheless, society did not learn to find these features appealing to them but determined to see these features as appealing once they were manufactured onto the bodies and faces of others.
Even though the trend poses a significant challenge, it is here to stay. A case in point is the foxeyechallenge, one of the most recent problems. The challenge highlights one facet of Instagram’s face. The challenge has grown increasingly popular in the last decade to the extent that it cannot be avoided in the present day, especially with the top Instagram Influencers that appear as variants of the same individuals down to their waistlines. This is where the society has ended up in, with the social media advent opening up novel avenues for the individual to capitalize on their looks and the consequent objectification.
Source: (https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/foxeyechallenge-blackfishing-and-our-ethnically-ambiguous-standard-of-beauty-b9282f218a22)
Conclusion
This pandemic period provides individuals with organization opportunities. Many individuals are isolating at home and laid off from work. Thus, this is the perfect time to reflect on society and choose the ideal course of action. Many women have been subjected to many beauty standards, especially with the increased use of social media due to the current pandemic. The majority of women are being subjected to the judgment of their peers who uphold a particular perception of ideal beauty. As a result, many women are growing up continually questioning their appearances and wondering what physical appearance version is perceived to be beautiful due to the increased popularity of an ethically vague and manufactured beauty standard. It is time that the society begins questioning the dangers that emanate when a generation of women all over the world is attempting to attain this ethnical vague ideal appearance that social media, mainly Instagram sees as beautiful. Thus, it is recommended to advocate for self-confidence at this time. Social media users should be more mindful of the content that they are consuming. They should consider the choices on the Instagram celebrities they follow and the messages that they are attempting to promote. This might make women content with themselves and feel better about their bodies. Overall, every human being has a unique offering to the world, and they need each other during this pandemic.
Work Cited
Bae, Janice. #foxeyechallenge, ‘Blackfishing,’ and Our Ethnically Ambiguous Standard of Beauty. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/foxeyechallenge-blackfishing-and-our-ethnically-ambiguous-standard-of-beauty-b9282f218a22
Roy, Arundhati. (np). Arundhati Roy: ‘The Pandemic is a Portal’. Accessed from: https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca.