Becoming blind to uniqueness

It's interesting how, despite an increasing emphasis on being unique and standing out, there's also so much pressure to homogenise how we are and present ourselves.

Very conflicting.

I love TikTok. My fascination with it makes me spend more time on the app than I should. In the past month or so, I've seen this "blindness trend" in which people ask others what their "blindness" is. That means asking them to point out their supposed flaws so they can "fix" them and have a glow-up.

I saw it starting with makeup, with people replying that specific blush placements or brow shapes were too strong and overpowering and suggesting to tone them down. But from what I can gather, it has moved on to overall appearance and even character.

This trend, like many others, restricts individuality.

Under the premise of self-actualisation and improvement, the blindness trend reflects the heavy pressure to belong to a narrower beauty standard and, consequently, a specific lifestyle.

Inoffensive, generic, even bland. Forget your identity and forget your self-expression. Any sign of uniqueness or difference should be concealed to match the top trends and AI filters, even in real life. 

I see more faces than ever, yet it is more often than not the same face.

We know that trends come and go, but the world we live in seems to work hard to make us forget that our identities and bodies aren't trends. Please don't make them one.