Perhaps a single “filter” can destroy contentment and confidence in one’s external appearance within moments, and perhaps forever. This is called filter distortion syndrome, in which doctors notice the desire of reviewers to reach the same result for their photos modified with filters. With the push of a button, facial features change within seconds. The problem here lies in the unrealistic image of facial features, with skin without pores, a sharp lift of the face, and unnaturally wide eyes, which when applied to the real human face leads to distortion or loss of personal identity.
Nour Al-Huda, an Iraqi who lives in Nasiriyah, says: “There is a strong trend and demand for cosmetic surgery and surgeries, because everyone loves to make modifications and changes, and this is not considered a mistake in itself, but rather exaggerating it is what is considered a mistake in my view.” This is what I noticed as a young woman who follows celebrity news and sees the community of girls and women agree to follow the “trends”, even if they do not have enough money for cosmetic procedures.
One of the women who had a tummy and chest lift mentioned that she had to undergo this operation due to repeated births and a harsh diet that led to sagging in these areas. She says: “There is no harm in some changes that improve the appearance and increase the beauty of the body,” stressing that she is not influenced by celebrities and social networking sites, because in her view they are unrealistic and give an ideal appearance that cannot be applied to all faces.
Queens of Assyria and "feminine beauty"
Since ancient times, the people of the Mesopotamian region have been known for their interest in makeup products and their manufacture of various tools for facial and body care. The male sex of women at that time was associated with adornments, eyeliner, and even perfumes, as was published in an academic research by researcher Amy Rebecca Gansel, in which she wrote about the concept of “ideal feminine” beauty in Assyrian society, and their interest in eyes, eyeliner, and hairstyles, based on archaeological evidence and Assyrian texts. In her research, she also refers to tools for applying eyeliner and cosmetics found in the tombs of Assyrian queens in Nimrud.
Over time, interest in adornment, appearance, and the feminine concept took different stages and several changes, but it did not disappear through the ages, and even in the Abbasid era, adornment and attention to the face, hair, and body became an important part of social life in Baghdad.
But in our current era, the concept of beauty has become linked to “trends” and a radical change in the face, far from the past that relied on natural materials, jewelry, and hairstyles.
In our time, “Botox” and “fillers” have become the masters of the situation. With one needle, the features of aging can be changed, or with one cosmetic procedure, the body can be made slim and perfect with just sculpting and liposuction.
Here a question arises: Are we facing an ancient tradition in facial and body care? Or has the influence of social media, imitation of celebrities, and running after “trends” changed the nature of this desire and brought it to an unprecedented extent?
The dominance of social networking sites and the trap of “filters”
In a study published in the G-Pac Medical Association, which included more than a thousand women in Baghdad, it was confirmed that a third of the participants had previously undergone a cosmetic procedure. Here it can be said that beautification has become an integral part of contemporary life in Iraq.
But beauty standards today have changed from before. They are no longer shaped within the family and society, but rather are influenced daily by images of modified faces and filters that appear on phone screens. This is what the beauty journey in Iraq looks like, from eyeliner and perfumes to a world where you can change your facial features within a few seconds via phone, and at the same time a medical procedure can make this change real.
One may think that constantly staring at dozens of videos, clips, and pictures on social media is just a normal part of the day, but perhaps one does not understand the extent of its impact on our understanding and awareness of reality. In this context, the Kirkuk Journal of Medical Sciences published a study it conducted on 137 people in a cross-sectional survey at Al-Kindi Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, in the Department of Dermatology, that 67.9 percent of women, between the ages of 18 and 35, who were looking for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, had social media as their main source of information, which constituted a fundamental subjective desire to change their external appearance.
In a similar study published in the Iraqi Academic Scientific Journal on the role of social networking sites in promoting beauty products for Iraqi women, it was concluded that constant exposure to beauty content creates unrealistic aesthetic standards, which increases psychological pressure and lack of self-confidence.
"Jealousy" and blind imitation
Mrs. Hanaa from Baghdad mentions that cosmetic surgeries and procedures have increased due to women’s “jealousy” of each other, so they have become as if they were clones, and even her young son and his friends who are about to get married have begun to complain about women’s unnatural appearance. But she stresses that she is not against such procedures, but that they have limits to highlight natural beauty.
From within the beauty sector, Dr. Hossam Al-Janabi, responsible for medical training programs in the field of beauty in Baghdad, in an exclusive interview with DW Arabia, describes the increased interest in beauty in Iraq as “jealousy” resulting from blind imitation of celebrities and content makers on social media sites, which in turn affects the taste of Iraqi women and their choice of plastic surgery or appearance improvement. More often than not, there is no strong and pressing need for cosmetic procedures or body surgeries. Dr. Al-Janabi adds that the matter has become so exaggerated that some women do not have enough money to do anything related to cosmetic operations or procedures, yet they do them by paying the costs through installments.
Even exaggerating lip injections and facelifts have become an integral part of some Iraqi women, and this is due to the strong desire to imitate “influencers” on social media, as Dr. Al-Janabi describes.
On the other hand, plastic surgeon Maryam Al-Jubouri says that Iraqi women have become more aware and better at choosing the necessary cosmetic procedures. She says: “Previously, demand was based on obvious and exaggerated change, but today there is a large segment that is looking for a very natural result that does not go beyond improving features and restoring freshness, without changing shape or identity.”
The high demand for cosmetic procedures, according to her opinion, is due to Iraqis traveling and learning about the experiences of other countries, such as Europe, Iran and Türkiye.
Dr. Hossam Al-Janabi adds that recently, Iraqi men have also increased their interest in undergoing some cosmetic procedures to improve their appearance, from skin cleansing to cheek injections and rhinoplasty. This is due to their search for a more youthful and younger appearance.
On the other hand, Dr. Maryam Al-Jubouri believes that this great demand for cosmetic surgery must be matched by an increase in awareness, and not blindly following a “trend” or an image we see on social networking sites, especially since it requires a correct evaluation from a qualified doctor who determines the importance of the need for the cosmetic procedure and knows when to say “no” to the reviewer.
Dr. Al-Jubouri states that the current stage in Iraq will be more mature in the field of cosmetics, because, according to her long experience in this field, clients are now asking about the safety of the material used and the natural result, regardless of the high price, and this in itself is a “positive development,” as she described it.
Edited by: A.J.M
