There’s something about someone getting a glow up that draws people’s attention, even if it plays into societal pressure to look a certain way. It’s probably why the TikTok “glow down challenge” has gone viral because rather than highlight the glow up they’ve gotten, users are going in the opposite direction by showing how how the ravages of time have affected them.
Speaking of challenges, the GOAT team talk about Earth Day 2020 and the things being done to celebrate it on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
The glow down challenge was started by TikTok user @gabslife99, who went viral for a video encouraging people to share their reverse glow ups after saying how she “physically peaked in high school” and was “the hottest [she’s] ever been when [she] was 18” but looks “nothing like that now.”
It’s actually an interesting subversive take on glow up culture and the glow down challenge quickly went viral on TikTok as #GlowDownChallenge quickly spread like wildfire and many people decided to jump on the bandwagon.
Let’s get this trend started ?##glowdownchallange
♬ original sound – gabslifejournal
There’s certainly something to be gleaned from this glow down challenge on TikTok about the pressure society puts on people to look good 24/7, especially women.
People are going to all kinds of lengths to keep their looks tight during iso. Have a listen to the violently funny mistakes people are making when it comes to updating their ‘do at home.
If anything, what this challenge showed is that it’s perfectly fine to not wear make up and to have gained some weight after high school (or whenever you were at your peak hottest). That’s just how life and time works, and everyone who participated in the challenge look perfectly fine as they are now.
But all the humble-bragging aside from how hot you used to be compared to what you look like now, the glow down challenge does wander a little close to nightmare territory by taking you for a trip down memory lane that you may not necessarily want.
Think about it. If high school was your best look, you don’t look like that now. And let’s say if you didn’t look great during high school, well it’s just not flattering now.
Maybe we’re reading too much into this. It’s a TikTok challenge after all and those can get ridiculous at the best of times. But if this glow down challenge can get society to rethink all the attention given to glow up culture, then perhaps some actual good can come out of this beyond video views and thousands of photos of people looking older.
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