Demi Lovato is constantly inspiring us to love ourselves, and we love that about her. Case in point: She posted a video of herself on both Instagram Reels and TikTok using a filter that makes her look pretty much flawless, and the she broke down all the ways in which that filter actually distorts the reality of what she actually looks like. The thing is that Demi Lovato is stunning without the use of filters, and it’s crazy that a filter takes away her “realness” because that supposedly makes her look better.
More from MamásLatinas: Times Demi Lovato has inspired us to love ourselves
Demi is undeniably beautiful, but she is also undeniable real, which means that if you were to see her in real life, she would not look like the video she posted of herself with a filter that makes pores disappear and alters aspects of her face that don’t need to be altered. Sure, filters on social media apps can be fun to use, but what Demi Lovato wants to know is “How are teens supposed to learn to accept themselves w this [expletive]?” It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves and discussing with our children. Check out Demi’s take. It might be just the conversation starter you need to help you bring up the topic with your kids.
Demi posted a video of herself to Instagram Reels using a filter.
It’s the same video that she posted to TikTok. In the video, she looks at the camera and kind of moves her head around. Right in the center of the video she wrote: “Unrealistic Beauty Expectations W These Filters Got Me Like.”
Then she breaks it down with text.
“These aren’t my real eyes,” she writes. “My skin is not this smooth,” she continues. The truth is that no one’s skin is that smooth. “What do I need a smaller nose?!” she asks. “But can I always look like this?” she questions. Of course not. None of us can look like that without filters or photo editing.
She even apologizes.
“Thank God I’m realizing this now and I’m sorry for using them w/o realizing how dangerous they were before,” she wrote. The thing is we’ve all used them, but most of us don’t stop to think about how truly dangerous they are to our self-esteem and even more so to the self-esteem of young teens who have grown up always seeing this kind of unnatural “perfection” posted on social media.
Her takeaway is what we need to remember.
“Thank God these weren’t around when I was 13 but also,” Demi continues. “How are teens supposed to learn to accept themselves w this [expletive]?” That right there is Demi hitting the nail on the head. How are teens supposed to learn to accept themselves when what they see all around them isn't even real and what they see in the mirror looks all too real? What they internalize is that cellulite is ugly and something to be hidden, that freckles are flaws, and it's really heartbreaking.
We need to normalize reality.
How crazy is it that what's normal so rarely gets shown or celebrated in the public sphere? That needs to change because it’s one thing to tell teens that they are beautiful just as they are, but when the majority of what they see are unrealistic beauty ideals there is a huge disconnect. We appreciate that Demi uses her platform to call attention to how damaging these “fun” filters can be and we think it’s beyond important that we remind our kids and ourselves that filtered beauty is NOT real and not something to strive for.
