When you get a fresh mani, the first thing you’ll probably want to do is show it off on Instagram.
But wait, what about those unsightly folds of skin gathering around the joints on our fingers? Knuckles? Gross!
Don’t worry – if you don’t want anyone to know that you have functioning fingers that actually bend (ew) you can take part in the latest Instagram trend of photoshopping the ‘perfect’ fingers.
Wave goodbye to your wrinkly digits and smooth out your fingers – because where Instagram is concerned, smooth is king.
We’re serious. This is an actual trend.
Spotted by Instagram expert Sara Tasker, she tweeted some of the photoshopped pictures she had spotted with the caption: ‘New in “instagram trends that quietly frighten me” we have airbrushing out your knuckles for that “hot dog” look…’
And she’s not wrong about the hot dog comparison. Turns out, fingers without knuckles are intensely horrifying.
— Sara Tasker (@meandorla) November 14, 2019
Hundreds jumped in to comment, with one woman joking that she was rushing out to buy knuckle cream out of shame.
‘I see knuckle serum in all of our futures,’ replied Sara. ‘(Just the women, obvs. Male knuckle wrinkles will be “distinguished”).’
But why are we ashamed of our knuckles? Have we been so conditioned to hate wrinkles that we can’t even stand the natural folds of skin that allow our bodies to bend?
We took a look at some of the most popular nail hashtags on Instagram to see just how widespread this unsettling trend is.
These fingers look suspiciously smooth to us…
It might be just the lighting, but we’re pretty sure these digits have been doctored.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B44JQzBI16p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The soft filter isn’t fooling anybody
This user has left the suggestion of knuckle lines, but the hand on the bottom looks unrealistically smooth around the top finger joint.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B44JX0RHFz4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The nails are great… but where are the knuckles?
We literally can’t see the knuckle. Can these fingers even bend?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B44EGsFACJO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Bright lighting or editing?
Again, this could be a trick of lighting – but these fingers look oddly wrinkle-free.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B44D8e_FqUM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Nope, nope, nope
These fingers are frankly terrifying and don’t really look human if we’re being honest.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B43-l8hAbjo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Nails are fab – why no knuckles?
We love the design of this mani, and we’re sure that leaving the knuckles alone wouldn’t have distracted from the beauty of the design.
‘I first spotted this trend on occasional images on my Instagram explore page, and then later it began to be picked up by the sub Reddit ‘Instagram reality’ (which is dedicated to exposing Instagram fakery and image manipulation),’ explains Sara.
‘As both a big Instagram advocate and a mother of a young daughter, I find these trends worrying.
‘It feels like women are getting the message that anything except perfectly smooth and blemishless skin is unacceptable – and that our bodies are problematic for conforming to anatomical reality.
‘That feels like an extra leap forward from using these editing apps as intended, to hide signs of ageing or acne etc. It’s clearly not about looking like everyone else any more, because nobody’s hands really look like that.’
‘My hope is that as people become more informed about the editing techniques being used, and more tired of seeing impossible perfection, that we’ll swing back around to seeing more natural and realistic representations of humans in instagram images.’
We’re not sure why this no-knuckles trend seems to be taking off on Instagram – but we do know that nobody needs to feel ashamed of having knuckles.
The odd wrinkle is surely better than these barely-human sausage fingers. It’s a no from us.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/15/people-photoshopping-knuckles-instagram-create-perfect-fingers-11149358/
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