Since the beginning of time, there has never been a moment where the way a woman looks hasn’t been controlled. It’s always been the patriarchy. They built a society full of industries whose sole purpose is to maintain the beauty of women to their standards, the standards based on Eurocentric features that overlook women of colour, women over a size 6, women with disabilities as well as non-binary people. But now, these standards are reaching us in a new way, not through misogynistic makeup adverts and diet pill posters, but through the ever-loved TikTok.

It began as a short-form video app made for entertainment and comedy. Still, TikTok has since evolved into an addictive, pushy shopping, trend-controlling nightmare.

It started with the infamous “Clean girl aesthetic”. While there are many facets to the ‘clean girl aesthetic,’ the look commonly involves wearing gold hoops (or gold jewellery in general), slicking your hair back into a low bun and smoothing down your edges. At the forefront of the trend, white women with clear skin who are promoting overpriced products to achieve a look women of colour have been doing for decades. Blackness was never included in part of the look this time around.

Latinx and black women have utilised this “look” but instead, they were called ghetto, trashy and dirty. Gold jewellery, hoops in particular, have been a staple in black and Latina culture. They represented womanhood, culture and pride dating back to ancient Egyptian royalty like Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Latina girls are often given their first pair of gold hoop earrings before they can even speak. In the 1960s and 1970s, hoop earrings became popular with black women embracing Afro-centric styles during the Black Power movement. Hoops were very popular among black female activists, artists, and celebrities.

This long history of the connection between BIPOC women and the “Clean girl aesthetic” does not mean they have exclusive ownership of this look but it does mean, once again, BIPOC women have been stolen from and rebranded by white women in an attempt to control the standard of beauty.

But that’s just the beginning. TikTok is overrun with videos titled “How to fix…” followed by a completely normal feature of being a woman. How to fix your hip dips, how to fix your smile lines, how to fix your entire appearance so you can appeal more to men. It’s an epidemic and it’s seeping into the minds of generations of girls who have nothing wrong with them but, the echoing of these phrases has assured them they have something to fix.

If it’s not “how to fix” it’s “how to manifest that boy” or “how to make him like you” or a fake tarot card reader telling you “A love from the past is coming back and you just have to (like, comment and follow me) then wait”. We’ve all fallen for one of those. These videos are damaging and exist solely for engagement and followers. You are not seeing these videos because it is meant for you, you are seeing them because your feed is customised through the systems. Unfortunately, the universe is not sending you signs through “readings” on TikTok, the algorithm is feeding on your insecurities and spitting out the vilest content to keep you passive.

Before you let a TikTok trend convince you there’s something wrong with the way you look, ask yourself, who benefits from my insecurities?