A continuous issue just in modern society is the unrealistic beauty standards of looking older and almost perfect with the use of heavy makeup, which is projected onto young adults and teenagers, mainly girls. This has caused these teenagers to adultify themselves by dressing a certain way, getting plastic surgeries, and changing their appearance and youthly look with makeup to look older and more mature than they are. This issue continues to progress more and more as time goes on, and more time is spent on social media with exposure to “perfect” edited photos, robbing them of their childhoods and the beauty of being young.
One of the many factors and causes of this standard is the slang term “baddie,” which originated within the past decade on many social media platforms. According to Urban Dictionary, the definition of a “baddie” is “A baddie is a super attractive girl. She slays whether she’s wearing a tight dress or sweatpants. She has curves in all the right places. They have self-respect and like having fun.” This definition, written by an online user, says a lot about this issue. This term has held a high standard for teenagers and even children as it typically is the most appealing style on social media. It usually includes a full-beat makeup routine with long, voluminous false lashes, revealing clothing, unrecognizable plastic surgeries, and excessive or sleek, almost-perfect hair.
Another thing is this culture is often associated with women who have extremely curvy bodies or had the Brazilian Butt-Lift (BBL) procedure. This creates unrealistic beauty standards that girls feel they need to fit into, which becomes a toxic matter. One of the main influences of this effect is celebrity Kylie Jenner, who was in her peak era between 2016 and 2019. This started with her previous iconic Instagram username, “King Kylie,” which many girls obsessed over the style of her pictures, makeup, and outfits. Her persona often included full faces of makeup with dark lipstick, full eyebrows, and long false lashes. This describes the term “baddie” pretty accurately, and this mainly relates to this topic as Kylie was about 18 in this era and was praised for the fact that she looked so much older than her age.
Some public examples of this “baddie effect” are Alabama Barker and Jodie Woods. These girls are either under or barely over 18 years old, yet many say they look like they are in their mid-20s or even 30s. This is a key result of this effect amongst young girls. Many adults are shocked to see these girls, knowing their age. Both girls have gone from average-looking teens to suddenly changing their appearance to look older. This is a serious matter because the overexposure of themselves at such a young age can sometimes bring in the wrong audience without realizing it, damaging their young and naive minds.
Alabama Barker (18)
Why do these girls seem so heavily influenced by the “baddie effect”? Alabama Barker and Jodie Woods have connections with Kylie Jenner- so you could almost call this the Kylie Jenner Effect. Alabama Barker is the daughter of Blink-182’s drummer, Travis Barker, who is now since 2022 married to Jenner’s sister, Kourtney Kardashian. Jodie Woods is also the sister of Kylie Jenner’s best friend, Jordan Woods. As you can see, there is a strong possibility that having these connections to Jenner has caused their styles to change drastically, given the praise and popularity Kylie received when she was their age.
Jodie Woods (17)
This issue has been going on for quite some time now because back in 2017, there were Malu Trevejo and Danielle Bregoli (also known as Bhad Bhabie), who were both minors at the time and were acting out and presenting themselves in ways that the media thinks are not suitable for the ages they were. Danielle Bregoli became famous from her episode on the show Dr. Phil, where she was seen lashing out at her mom and acting aggressively at just 14 years old. From there, she made a “career” for herself, continuing to post on social media and even creating rap songs in which she used mounds of profanity. Many people online thought this behavior inappropriate, especially for her age, and completely took away from her innocence. Malu Trevejo, who blew up on Musical.ly around 2017, again dressed herself in ways you wouldn’t expect someone her age to dress. This included shorts with short tops, fishnets, or even sometimes solely wearing a bathing suit and dancing in various music videos at 16 years old.
Both the toxic beauty standards and adultification that have resulted from social media are damaging the current childhoods of teens today. It is taking away from their innocence to grow up faster. Kids are so heavily exposed to all types of posts on social media, and seeing people their age looking older in specific ways can influence them to want to “fit in” and do the same. The child and teenage brain are not fully developed, making them more naive and susceptible to societal influence. We all hope this will die down and kids can return to being kids.
