(Here’s something I wrote recently, but have cut out from the piece….) Our Digital Self is a product not a person (Solon, 2011). Technological advances in media production over the past 20 years mean that everyone has become a marketing manager, a photographer, a filmmaker, a star, a brand. We have evolved from the postmodern consumer (Fromm, 2013) into the product to be consumed. We photograph our lives as social media marketing content to sell our brand. We even have our own AI photographic retoucher in our pocket- our phones automatically impose a skin smoothing filter on each selfie we take (Madrigal, 2018). We have become so used to seeing filtered versions of our Digital Selves that when we look in the mirror we are faced with unacceptable imperfection in our Real Self (Curran and Hill, 2019). Luckily for us along with technological advances, there have been advances in cosmetic surgery.
I was a perfectionist and made myself mentally exhausted and anxious before all this new perfectionism. It’s unsustainable. I’m becoming convinced society as we knew it to the end of the twentieth century is breaking down but have no idea what is going to replace it.
Interesting and pertinent we always have to be on the right side of whatever is deemed
perfection of body mind or speech .
We can’t ever satisfy our craving for acceptance, we are not good enough in
our own eyes how the hell can we expect
to be good enough for others using this
flawed measure.
It’s just all so bloody sad.
I enjoyed reading this article
Lots to ponder.
Love this - so clearly written. Thanks
I was a perfectionist and made myself mentally exhausted and anxious before all this new perfectionism. It’s unsustainable. I’m becoming convinced society as we knew it to the end of the twentieth century is breaking down but have no idea what is going to replace it.
Thank you for sharing 💜🦉