On its own, the phrase “don’t judge me” is great—we’re all about the “you do you” lifestyle, and it’s the OG method of throwing norms to the wind. But the #DontJudgeMe challenge that’s become wildly popular on social media in the past week isn’t really about forgetting the haters and living a carefree lifestyle.
As part of the challenge, people upload videos that follow a similar format: They open with someone made up in a stereotypically “unattractive” way (unibrows, garish lipstick, acne, unkempt hair, etc.). Then the person covers the camera with their hand and takes it away to reveal their “beautiful” made-over self. The message seems to be that you shouldn’t judge anyone by their appearance because you never know who might turn out to be hot.
Most classic makeover movies (ahem, The Devil Wears Prada and Mean Girls) follow the same plot line, but that doesn’t make it any less problematic—and luckily some people are seeing through the BS and calling it out, like the responses below.
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Plus, a number of people have started using the hashtag #BeautyInAllChallenge to combat the hurtful stereotypes used in many #DontJudgeMe posts and celebrate people of all shapes and sizes. The Internet can perpetuate some rough stuff, but at least there’s a way for people to point out problematic trends before they get too out of hand, and hopefully everyone’s better for it.
