The Ugly Truth About Beauty Bullying

Being judged on your looks feels as original as yet another episode of Take Me Out. But as a new breed of online haters gets nastier than ever, we investigate how to keep smiling when its your face vs the internet.

- Gemma Askham

Bullying someone for their looks feels like something we should have probably outgrown in primary school. Yet almost one in four women has experienced the sharp claws of social media comments. Though it’s easy to assume those in the spotlight 24/7 aren’t affected, such hate can still hurt. “It does affect me,” said Kylie Jenner in an interview. “But there’s never been a bad rumour, comment or story that I haven’t gotten through.”

In June, actress Kelly Marie Tran – the first female Asian lead in Star Wars – went offline after months of racist social-media abuse. And Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown left Twitter when the hashtag # Take Down Millie Bobby Brown – which was used alongside fake homophobic encounters with fans – got too much. It’s cruel taunting by any standards, but particularly for a 14-year-old.

While cyber-bullying research in adults is limited, a study found that 66% of adults have witnessed someone being harassed online, be that via name-calling or physical threats. In one workplace study, 46% of trainee doctors were bullied to an extent that it impacted their mental health. The surprising correlation between this study and online beauty bullying is the culprit. Among the doctors, the bullies were people at a similar level and of a similar age. “On social platforms, you think it’s the classic image of sad old men behind keyboards – but it’s women your own age, too,” says beauty and lifestyle blogger Louise Pentland, 33. She has been abused for being plus-size and for having a gap between her front teeth. “Women have said things like, ‘Why are you telling us about that when you’re so fat?’ and ‘You really need to see a dentist for your teeth.’ I see something negative daily. It’s not really nice.”