Selena Gomez recently caused a stir online with a selfie she shared promoting her makeup line. Fans were quick to comment that something seemed “off” about her appearance in the photo compared to how she usually looks.
As someone who’s been in the public eye since her teenage years, Gomez is no stranger to having her looks dissected. Like many celebs, even the smallest changes can be blown out of proportion. In this particular photo, many commented that her chin and cheeks appeared slimmed in a way that made her face shape look quite different. Naturally this sparked debate among her huge social media following of over 100 million whether it may have been altered slightly.
Interestingly, Gomez has dealt with body image issues stemming from the medication she takes for her chronic illness, lupus. Earlier this year, she opened up about experiencing water retention that fluctuates her weight at times. You’d think this would encourage more compassion, but unfortunately cruel body shaming is still all too common even for A-listers.
Gomez gets candid about struggling with the constant scrutiny and needing to appear “perfect” to hostile online critics. Though she’d insist comments don’t faze her publicly, privately it was a different story of emotional pain. No one deserves to have their appearance ruthlessly picked apart, especially for health reasons beyond their control.
It’s a reminder that what you see on social media isn’t always an accurate representation of reality. And we’d all benefit from keeping in mind we rarely know the full story of somebody’s journey before casting judgement on their looks.
