upworthy

beauty standards

Photo Credit: Canva

Dad gets emotional listening to the lyrics at an Olivia Rodrigo concert with his daughters.

Viral moments at concerts have become all the talk this year. But, unlike the unfortunate (alleged) "gotcha" clip at the Coldplay show, this new one is much more wholesome.

When Christian Lopez accompanied his two young daughters to see Olivia Rodrigo, who was part of this year's Lollapalooza fest in Chicago, he didn't expect to get swept up in his feels. It was so pure and beautiful to see a man genuinely moved by lyrics that have the potential to shape his children—and the Internet took notice.

@taitum_alex

This is so sweet,his such a girldad😭🥹🩷 #girldad #oliviarodrigo #prettyisntpretty #foryou #concert CR@Lesvinsindy


Rodrigo's song, in this case, was "Pretty isn't Pretty," and it resonates with so many young girls and women as well. There's something about Lopez's face that seems to suggest that he is well aware that self-doubt can creep into a young girl's psyche and set up shop there for years.

Bought a bunch of makeup, tryna cover up my face
I started to skip lunch, stopped eating cake on birthdays
Bought a new prescription to try and stay calm
'Cause there's always something missing
There's always something in the mirror that I think looks wrong
When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?

And everybody's keeping it up, so you think it's you
I could change up my body and change up my face
I could try every lipstick in every shade
But I'd always feel the same
'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway
You can win the battle, but you'll never win the war
You fix the things you hated, and you'd still feel so insecure
And I try to ignore it, but it's everything I see
It's on the poster on the wall, it's in the shitty magazines
It's in my phone, it's in my head, it's in the boys I bring to bed
It's all around, it's all the time, I don't know why I even try

As the girls sing loudly along with the song, their emotions jump through the camera. Every word seems to be a gut punch from the commentary of societal-inflicted beauty standards. Visibly seeing Lopez relate to and understand this was a spark of hope for future generations.

In a Zoom interview with NBC Chicago, Lopez shares, "I wanted to say to all of you - you are so enough. This is unbelievable. Feel this moment. And they all felt like they weren't (enough.)"

@nbcchicago

The internet has found its new favorite “girl dad.” Christian Lopez was standing in a crowd with his two daughters at Olivia Rodrigo's Lollapalooza performance in Chicago, when something unexpected happened during the song "Pretty Isn't Pretty" -- and it was all caught on camera. #oliviarodrigo #prettyisntpretty #lollapalooza #viralmoment #chicago


We hear a news reporter's voiceover who says, "A Dad who got emotional listening to Olivia Rodrigo's concert is explaining this viral moment." Another newscaster adds, "So Christian Lopez took his daughters to the opening night of Lollapalooza. And a TikTok captured his reaction as Rodrigo sang her hit song, Pretty isn't Pretty."

We cut back to Lopez explaining, "And then my 12-year-old is just screaming and I listen to the words. She talks about 'looking at the mirror and not feeling good. I became 12 again. I was 12. And then I was a dad. I had my daughters and I realized that the words were resonating with not only them - but with every single kid around me. And so when I was looking around, I'm looking at them, going 'Wow. Every single person here is just feeling this. We all felt it the same way. Like, even though I'm so much older than my daughters, we all felt it."

He adds, "I think that's why all these artists are amazing. Like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo. Young female artists who are just writing and composing stuff that this generation gets and that I get, as well. And if I translated this song to my dad, who only speaks Spanish, he would get it too."

Olivia Rodrigo performs the song "Pretty isn't Pretty." www.youtube.com, Olivia Rodrigo

The viral TikTok has millions of likes already and thousands of comments. One top comment is from Olivia Rodrigo herself who just writes, "I'm crying."

Culture

'Bridgerton' star Nicola Coughlan's pleas for fans to stop commenting on her body

Many celebrities have been taking a stand on receiving fan commentary about their weight. Nicola's hits a bit differently.

Bridgerton actor Nicola Coughlan in 2021.

The internet, for all its many wondrous things, can also be a cesspool of body-shaming, both outright and insidious. We see this most persistently perhaps with celebrities, who take on the role of dissection subjects regarding their weight. Whether being deemed “too thin” or “too fat,” comments about a public figure’s weight seems acceptable to some, simply because they signed up to be in the spotlight. But our better judgment knows this is not the case.

Nicola Coughlan, who plays the plot pivotal role of Penelope Featherington on the hit Netflix show “Bridgerton,” is no stranger to being inundated with this type of harmful, completely unnecessary feedback from fans.

So much so, that she recently posted her own truly heartfelt plea to her Instagram, asking for people to stop commenting on her body. Though we've seen multiple celebrities justifiably speak out against this, it’s hard not to be moved by her words in a whole new way.

Coughlan began her post with both civility and directness. “Hello! So just a thing- if you have an opinion about my body please, please don’t share it with me.”

This was apparently after receiving messages every single day following her breakout role.

She continued:

“Most people are being nice and not trying to be offensive but I am just one real life human being and it’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day.”

Her approach reminds us of the very real people we are often damaging through projections of outdated beauty standards and downright unfounded opinions.

Yellowjackets” star Melanie Lynskey had also recently been invaded by an influx of supposedly well-intentioned spectators since the hugely successful Showtime series premiered.


“Most egregious are the ‘I care about her health!!’ people,” Lynskey tweeted. “You don’t see me on my Peleton! You don’t see me running through the park with my child. Skinny does not always equal healthy.”

And of course, she’s not wrong. Despite our general assumptions, being thin is no real indication of a person’s health. And in some cases, it can reveal a risk for certain diseases. Even the formerly gold standard of measuring a healthy weight, the BMI, aka body mass index, is considered flawed today by experts.

Clearly, the only weight needing to be shed is our truly unhealthy relationship with outdated body expectations.

Coughlan knows that being a public figure often invites a public examination. “If you have an opinion about me that’s ok, I understand I’m on TV and that people will have things to think and say,” she wrote, with the caveat, “but I beg you not to send it to me directly.”

Certainly, Coughlan shouldn’t have to resort to begging. But here we are. And maybe this is how the message needs to be heard. When it’s so easy to leave thoughtless or downright toxic messages on social media, we need to be reminded how it affects the hearts of real people on the receiving end. Empathy online is just as important as it is IRL.

That’s what makes her plea a masterclass in grace. She speaks out without anger or accusation, though she could. Instead she comes from a place of compassion.

Coughlan ended her post by saying, “anyways here’s a pic of me in my hotel in NY about to go to SNL, it’s unrelated to this post but delighted with my hair in it.”


Even in a battle for boundaries, Coughlan’s never one to refrain from having a sense of humor (she did also star in the hilarious “Derry Girls”, after all). And, she wasn’t wrong about the hair.

Reading Coughlan’s post, I can’t help but wonder, if she was able to treat perfect strangers with so much respect and kindness, can we not return the favor?


This article originally appeared on 1.31.22

Woman taking a selfie at the beach

Social media has made it very easy to alter your appearance using filters. They may come in handy when you need to record a video but look a bit under the weather—just turn on a soft glow or a makeup filter, and boom, you're camera-ready in less than two seconds. But there has been a lot of talk around the use of filters and teen girls' self-esteem and unrealistic expectations seemingly placed on women.

One woman has taken it upon herself to strip away the filters to prove that, while she is beautiful, her face doesn't actually look the way it does with the filter on. The most interesting thing about these filters is that they're so good, you can't tell they're filters. Gone are the days of filters that made everyone look like a Glamour Shot from the 90s. These filters move with you and even have pores so no one can tell it isn't actually your face.

Well, it is your face—kinda.


Mimi Webb starts off the 20-second clip using the infamous Bold Glamour filter. It's the filter that has people questioning their perception of their own faces because the contrast is so jarring. But Webb doesn't stop with one filter. She puts on another and makes sure she emphasizes her use of a ring light. After turning the ring light off and taking all the filters off as the video is ending, the woman removes her makeup, revealing an inflamed, irritated and blemished face.

People flocked to the comments to thank her for exposing the truth behind filters.

"You're beautiful & this message is SO important thanks for the reminder," one person wrote.

"You are beautiful. In real life, we all have imperfections. As a mature woman, I appreciate your honesty. Thank you," another said.

"Thank you so much. You did not know how much this was needed," a woman commented.

Social media can really do a number on people's self esteem, especially when they're comparing themselves to something that's not real. Messages like the one Webb shared can help pull back the curtain on the reality of social media. Watch her video below.

@missmimiwebb

#greenscreenvideo

This article originally appeared on 6.9.23

@tallulah.roseb/TikTok

Maybe she's born with it. But maybe it just modern day cosmetics.

A woman named Tallulah Rose recently went viral after sharing a well-intentioned, but oh-so misinformed compliment men tend to give her. It left a lot of other women nodding in agreement, because it revealed what still seems to be a common beauty myth.

"I actually just, like, don't understand men and how their brain works sometimes because today I was just minding my own business when this guy comes up to me and is like ‘you are so elegant, you are such a natural beauty,'" she said in the clip.

Of course, Rose is positive any other woman would instantly know that the beauty men are responding to is anything but natural.


“I think a woman can take one look at me and be like … this is fake,” she said before breaking down the costs of enhancements she’s made.

“My jawline cost $10,000, okay? My lips are clearly done. My hair is $2000, my lashes are $200 every two weeks.”

jawline cosmetic surgery, natural cosmetic procedures

"My jawline costs $10,000, okay?"

@tallulah.roseb/TikTok

She then lifted her bangs to show a wrinkle-less forehead and immovable eyebrows, thanks to Botox or some other kind of anti-wrinkle injection. Plus, she has “enough makeup on to season a f***ing wok.”

Still, men will wistfully tell her “ 'they don't make them like you do these days.” to which Rose quipped, “yes they do with a needle and a scalpel!”

plastic surgery, cosmetic procedures

"They don't make 'em like you these days…yes they do! With a needle and a scalpel!"

@tallulah.roseb/TikTok

Since sharing this hot take, Rose’s video has garnered over 12 million views on TikTok and has been shared across several platforms. Most of the comments came from women who have had their own fair share of this experience.

Some were just as hilarious as the original video.

"My husband was like 'please never get Botox' If I could raise my eyebrows at him I would have,” one person wrote.

Another added, ““I’ve had male friends remark how I don’t wear heavy makeup like other girls. I spend at least 30 mins a day putting my face on.”

Over on X, people were just refreshed by Rose’s honesty.

Rose told news.com.au that many men “genuinely can’t tell the difference between a natural woman and a woman that has had cosmetic surgery,” primarily due to seeing celebrities who have had work done and assuming that’s the standard. She’ll often ask male friends to name a celebrity crush, and “they’ll name someone that has clearly had work done but they are just quite clueless to it.”

And that is really where the important conversation comes in. Unrealistic beauty standards aren’t necessarily a new issue. But now the paradox of cosmetic procedures being stigmatized while at the same time not even acknowledged in much of what is touted as natural beauty puts women in an impossible position. They can’t naturally live up to these expectations, and then are labeled as fake if they do make efforts to look enhanced (which is the new normal…make it make sense).

Point is: Praising a woman for her “natural beauty” might be intended as a compliment. But for many, it’s neither true, nor a compliment.