Kendall Jenner’s Acne “Nightmare”
On the 15th of January, the Daily Mail featured an article on Snapchat about Kendall Jenner’s skin. It included photos of Kendall Jenner, who only had a few spots on her cheek, claiming that she was having an acne “nightmare.” Although she has skin that most of us can only envy, Kendall has opened up about the problems she has had with acne in the past. In October 2015, she wrote a personal blog, talking honestly about her skin. She said: “Where it really impacted me was how self-conscious I became about it.” She continued: “It completely ruined my self-esteem. I would not even look at people when I talked to them. I felt like such an outcast; when I spoke, it was with my hand covering my face.” Despite commenting positively on the rest of her appearance, it was unfair of the Daily Mail to pick on Kendall for something, which she has clearly battled with. She had three spots on her face; give the poor girl a break!
Articles like this can damage not just Kendall’s own self-esteem. If Kendall is being criticised for having awful skin, what hope do the rest of us normal people have? The British Skin Foundation revealed that 8 in 10 people between the ages of 11 and 30 have suffered from acne at some point in their lives, with the majority of cases affecting teenagers under the age of 17. Rather than slating someone with spots, popular media outlets such as the Daily Mail should be normalising acne, instead of acting as though hormones are laughable and newsworthy. Many Twitter users expressed their disbelief over the feature. One user sarcastically tweeted: “omg Kendall Jenner has acne; she’s a human with an overproduction of sebum on her face… No way could that ever happen.” (plurn3ctar) Others, however, found it reassuring that even supermodels get acne: “Seeing Kendall Jenner with acne makes me feel better about myself lol.” (mikomendozaa) Although many people compared their own acne to Kendall’s, others wondered what the Daily Mail would have to say about their skin: “If they are calling Kendall Jenner’s acne a “nightmare” then idek what they’d call my face.” (_livhart) The Daily Mail really need to think about the effect that their articles can have on readers and the lasting impact they have on people’s self-esteem.
PS: Was there really NOTHING better to write about than a couple of perfectly normal spots?
Pictures: Daily Mail