Both men and women are exposed to an extremely vicious cycle of body shaming on a daily basis.
We flip through the pages of magazines, scroll through celebrity Instagram profiles, and tune into the latest reality television show (which we all know aren't realistic whatsoever) and get lost in our thoughts of how badly we want to look like our idols.
People of all generations have taken to Vine, Twitter, and Instagram in an attempt to put an end to body shaming with the hashtag #dontjudgeme.
The “Don’t Judge Me” challenge involves posting a video with a before and after shot of the user. The before shot includes fake acne, drawn-on unibrows, blackened teeth, and other fake features. The after shot then shows the same user without the fake facial features, exposing what they truly look like (with flattering makeup, hair, lighting, and good angles, of course).
The supposed point of the challenge is that underneath every person, no matter what you look like, lies beauty. In other words, don't judge a book by its cover -- but the plan may have backfired.
The challenge has been receiving backlash on a global scale. Social media users are arguing that those who participate in the challenge are in fact ridiculing those who have acne, glasses, or other features that don't meet today's standards of exceptional beauty.
Others are calling the challenge hypocritical, because the after shots aren't actually revealing what they really look like, but rather what they look like with their hair and makeup fully done. This is why people who are against the challenge are posting their own versions by showing a before shot of them with their hair and makeup done, then an after shot of just them -- no makeup, messy hair, just plain them.
Many Twitter users shared this photo which captures the hypocrisy and irony of the "Don't Judge Me" challenge to a tee.
Regardless of our opinions on the challenge, we all have a common goal: putting an end to body shaming. Our uniqueness is what makes us all fascinating and beautiful, and if we want to put an end to body shaming, we need to band together and be as supportive and kind to one another as we possibly can.