Date of Degree

8-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Program

Communication Arts

Advisor

Zazil Reyes García

Advisor

Trey Guinn

Advisor

Raymond Blanton

Abstract

The emergence of a single facial aesthetic among professionally beautiful women on Instagram has popularized and idealized a specific look (i.e., Instagram Face) within a generation of young women and has normalized nonsurgical interventions and the use of photo editing in order to achieve it. It is the face of Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, and many other women who are considered attractive and who have large followings on the social platform. Through data collected by a quantitative content analysis, this thesis investigates how these women all look astoundingly the same, with uniformly high and contoured cheekbones, uplifted “cat-like” eyes, high arched eyebrows, full lips, a strongly projected chin, a defined jawline, a flat platform beneath the chin, and completely smooth skin. This research argues that Instagram has perpetuated the desire for this standardized face through Kylie Jenner filler package promotions, celebrity call-out accounts, and a class of celebrity plastic surgeons on the app. This thesis builds upon Gill’s (2007) framework of postfeminism in order to argue that women viewing this content and internalizing the aforementioned beauty ideal may be susceptible to self-objectification, body surveillance, and altering their facial self-presentation in order to resemble Instagram Face.

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