Weird2 min(s) read
On the third anniversary of the start of the "beautiful mid" trend, the story of the original girl behind the photo that started the entire meme has been revealed.
Of course, the phrase itself is completely oxymoronic - it seems impossible that something can be at once both beautiful and "mid" - but it has been shortcut internet slang to describe what some deem to be an ideal attraction.
That men want a woman who can be considered beautiful and approachable, but is not considered "hot," or out of their league.
The phrase caught traction on social media, specifically X (formerly known as Twitter), where male users would use a picture of a woman to declare "all a man wants is a beautiful mid woman."
As the trend of "beautiful mid" was catching fire on X - originating as a post to engagement farm but then causing widespread discourse throughout the site - the term was, for many, typified when an account shared a restaurant selfie taken by Evelyn Smith, a user on the photo-editing app VSCO.
The selfie then began to be used in more and more posts, until for a time it was a standard picture to use in memes posted on X and shared throughout countless other social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
The use of Smith's photo and the very concept of "beautiful mid" became a debate and discussion on attraction throughout social media.
Because it resonated with so many people, it seemed to suggest that people are more attracted to someone who they can deem as relatable and approachable, rather than someone that they may deem unattainable.
It just so happened that Smith's selfie, whether she knew it or not, became the unifying symbol of this train of thought.
What started as engagement farming slowly transformed into a genuine cultural conversation about attraction across the world.
Evelyn Smith has not made any public comments about her selfie being used in the growth and discussion of the "beautiful mid" meme.
Her account on VSCO is still active, however, and does show that she has dyed her hair from brown to platinum blonde.
It appears that her Instagram account, however, has been made private, possibly as a result of the increased attention following the meme trend.
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The internet can typically be a cruel place, but it turns out that there are some parts of it that are actually uplifting as one woman found out recently.
Sophie Mair, better known by her TikTok username @sophiemairevans, was praised by social media users after she participated in the 'transformation' trend that has been sweeping the video-sharing platform.
The trend sees users, mainly women, share old pictures of themselves and compare them to more recent images to give people an insight into just how much they've changed in such a short period of time.
And Sophie did just that.
In her first photo, she could be seen wearing her hair blonde in a short, sleek style. Her makeup look was bold, with a matte base, thick eyebrows, heavy face contouring with a vibrant lip shade - a classic 2016 glam look.
However, in the second picture, things were a lot more stripped back.
Embracing her natural ginger tone, the influencer showed off her long locks paired with a softer makeup combination. She has a dewy base with warmer tones as well as a nice pink blush and a light lip stain to complete the look.
Though she looks great with both styles, it's definitely a major transformation.
The video, which has since been watched over 7.8 million times, attracted thousands of comments, with many commending the marketing manager for embracing her natural beauty.
"100% improvement," wrote one user, while another was shocked at the fact that she was naturally ginger.
A third described her as the "embodiment of 2016 vs 2021."
Literal facts.
And the shock didn't stop there as many questioned whether the first photo was actually her or not.
One user asked: "Is the first one really you?" This prompted Sophie to confirm that it was.
"My jaw dropped," this person wrote.
Similarly, another stated that she was "NOT ready" for such dramatic results.
Alongside the seven-second clip, Sophie added the caption: "Me one random day deciding to stop bleaching my hair and wearing too much makeup."
Others influencers also received a similar response when they participated in the trend.
Venus Turner, an Australian fashion influencer, stated that her transformation came when she realized that "thick lashes and heavy make up" wasn't for her anymore.
Her video had the same premise as Sophie's, showing an old photo wearing a bold glam look and comparing it to a more recent, natural one.
The clip has been watched a whopping 17 million times and also received praise in the comment section.
"Less is more," one user said and another doubled down on the view, referring to the influencer as a "natural beauty."
We love to see it!
Us voyeuristic souls are always ready to pounce on any piece of tabloid gossip that comes our way, regardless of whether it's about a celebrity we admire, or one whose lip fillers are to blame for months of us disastrously overdrawing our own.
In the majority of cases, however, the truth is left by the wayside in favour of a story which is sure to tick the important boxes - entertainment and controversy. Case in point: Paris Jackson has slammed the media for the way they covered her "coming out" story.
The 20-year-old daughter of the late pop-icon, Michael Jackson, took to her Instagram Stories last weekend to remind people that she doesn't want her sexuality labelled.
When a fan asked Paris whether she was bisexual, the model and activist confirmed that she is, indeed, attracted to more than one gender. "That’s what you guys call it so i guess but who needs labels," she wrote. "I came out when i was 14. I’ve referred to the community as ‘my fellow LGBTQ+’ on stage before. I’ve talked about having a crush on girls when I was 8 in my Rolling Stone article. There are pictures of me kissing girls online. Why are people just now saying this is news?"
But Paris didn't just finish there, she took to her Instagram Stories once more to elaborate on how she perceives her sexuality. "And I'm not "bisexual" I just love people for people. I don't label myself so please don't label me. Thank you!" she stated.
Naturally, the people of the internet were all for Paris's transparency. "Slow news day? I keep seeing headlines about @ParisJackson’s sexuality. However, if you followed her or just did any research this isn’t new. She’s been open about it for years & has been photographed with men and women. Outlets need to do some quick research before posting," one Twitter user wrote, while another addressed Paris directly, sayng: "You do not need to clarify anything, we know that you are transparent, true to yourself, and we admire you for that, you have a heart like your father's."
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Paris has previously been linked to British model and actress, Cara Delevingne. The pair have shared photos of themselves together in bed, and according to a source, "They’re both really into their music and have been spending nights singing and jamming on the guitar."
"It’s early days, and Cara doesn’t really have time for a proper relationship due to her non-stop filming commitments with Carnival Row, but there’s no denying there’s a spark," the insider continued.
Cara has been open about the fact that her sexuality is fluid, and ever-evolving. Speaking to British Vogue back in 2016, she disclosed "As a child I used gay as a bad word, as in, 'That's so gay.' All my friends did. [My parents] have been so, so supportive. I'm obviously in love, so if people want to say I'm gay, that's great. But we're all liquid - we change, we grow."
Well, good on Paris for refusing to allow the press to define her sexuality!
While we've all succumbed to editing our pictures from time to time - you know, by adding that filter which makes your eyes pop, and makes it look like you haven't spent the weekend living off a diet of wine and takeaway food - in the online age that we live in, it's imperative to remain conscious of the fact that our favourite celebrities and influencers are never not Photoshopped.
Certainly, paragons of perfection such as Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian have been known to use editing software to slim down their figures, and to create thigh gaps - and if such beings are feeling the pressure to conform to society's beauty ideals, then you can bet that the heat is on for us mere mortals.
With this in mind, dietician Lyndi Cohen decided to conduct an anthropological experiment by posting photos of herself to Instagram, and asking her followers to "Photoshop her beautiful".
As you could expect, the results were far from heartening.
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To the 28-year-old's disappointment, in almost every Photoshop edit, her slender size 10 figure was made to look slimmer.
"I did a social experiment. I asked a bunch of strangers to photoshop images of me," Lyndi wrote on the social media platform. "And without me asking, they all made me slimmer. They removed my birthmark from my shoulder. They even made my bone structure smaller. They created an image of what they thought was beautiful and healthy - and the result worries me."
"When all we see is photoshopped images of already slim people - it’s difficult to think of beauty or health as anything else. I tell you my friends... there’s nothing wrong with my bone structure or my birthmark or my stomach or my natural body shape. The problem is that every photo we see is photoshopped, causing us to question whether the girl in this picture, with the stomach rolls is actually healthy. My stomach rolls are not the problem. Our cultures obsession with the thin ideal and photoshop is. It’s no longer radical for magazines to include a photoshop free cover or shoot in their magazines. I’d love to live in a world where our media does more and where photoshop is the exception, not the rule."
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"Seeing the before and after photos side by side, you can see how much has been changed," she continued.
"Problem is - in real life - you only ever see the ‘after’ photos. And it’s easy to forget that almost EVERY photo you see in the media is photoshopped. This conditions you to believe you’re never good, pretty or thin enough - so you literally waste your life lying in bed feeling guilty for eating more than you wanted and hating yourself on holidays because you can’t stand how you look in photos. We have to stop chasing a goal that DOESN’T EVEN EXIST."
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So, the next time you go to smooth over any wrinkles or stomach rolls, remember that we, unlike society, should be championing our bodies, warts and all.
A woman has exposed a man who made an uncalled-for remark about her weight - despite matching with her on dating app Bumble.
Taking to TikTok, Emma, who uses the handle @dilemma.rec, shared the unfortunate encounter with her followers.
Shaming the man, she initially included a link to his Facebook and LinkedIn profiles in the comments, before deleting them when the video began to blow up.
This is the moment she exposes him for cruelly fat-shaming her despite matching with her on Bumble:In the video, Emma shared screenshots of the man's account on Bumble as well as his other online profiles.
She also included screengrabs of their short and not-so-sweet message exchange on the dating app.
On Bumble, only women can initiate an exchange after an initial match so Emma sent the man a cute reference to a detail he had mentioned in his bio. (He had mentioned that he was looking for a plus one for a wedding he'd been invited to.)
So, Emma kicked off the conversation by saying: "So when are we going to the wedding?"
The man responded: "Nah, only chicks that weigh less than me."
Not one to take insults lying down, Emma replied: "Dude ur a gem. Whoever ends up [with] you is so lucky."
He then said to her: "Thanks fam hit the gym and use the weight watchers app."
Emma hit back again: "Actually I do hit the gym fam every day lmao. But thx for the advice king. Maybe get the d*** out of your a** and be nicer to people, sorry your life sucks."
Unsurprisingly, the video garnered thousands of comments and nearly 700k views at the time of writing.
Many of the commenters were confused by the man's willingness to match with her on Bumble - only to insult her appearance afterward.
One wrote: "But HE MATCHED WITH YOU??? I don't understand."
Others admitted to having matched with him on the app themselves.
A TikTok commenter shared: "Byeeee he's been on bumble for years I saw him on there like 2 years ago."
Another chimed in: "OMG I've matched him on Bumble. Whoever is 'lucky' enough to go with him to that wedding will NEED the open bar."
All in all, with the exception of a few, Emma had the backing of the commenters after sharing the unpleasant encounter.
