A fitness influencer has been relentlessly bullied online for looking “super old” at age 25.
Social media star Summer Vennewitz is known on TikTok for always being open and honest about how she looks.
Instead of hiding any insecurities with filters, the 25-year-old instead decides to show them off in an attempt to help normalize what “real faces” look like.
In a recent video, which has since racked up almost 8 million views, Summer highlighted what she looks like as a “female who has never gotten Botox, filler or lips.”
“Just thought maybe someone needed to see this today,” she captioned the clip.
While it was meant to be a positive video, many in the comments were quick to shame her for “looking old” and sharing how scared they were to “get wrinkles like that.”
Others claimed she looked “at least 20 years old” and pleaded with her to “start using sunscreen.”
“I have 0 crows feet and im (sic) 27 … please wear sunscreen” one said.
“You look 45.”
“I’m 36 and I don’t look like this,” another said.
“I’m so sorry girl.”
“This is not normal,” one user wrote.
“If this were me I’d cry. Please use retinol girl and spf.”
Others rushed to praise her for being “real” and called out the flurry of backhanded compliments and blatant insults she received.
“This girl is trying to do a nice thing and show people that you don’t have to be ashamed of aging,” one wrote.
“And yet here people are, shaming her.”
“Women in the comments being mean for no reason?” another asked.
“Y’all have serious problems.”
Speaking to news.com.au, psychologist Carly Dober explained this type of reaction has likely occurred due to both the rise of people using editing apps and filters before posting online, as well as the popularity of anti-aging treatments such as Botox.
She explained this has heavily skewed the perception of what people truly look like out in the world.
“I think the popularity of wrinkle reduction and anti-aging treatments mean that many people are engaging in beauty treatments that minimize wrinkles, so seeing them on social media is uncommon,” she said.
“I think people forget what normal aging looks like. It’s actually expected for people to have wrinkles when they move their faces, and for older people to have more of these wrinkles.
“But we have been conditioned by the beauty and beauty modification industry to see this as a negative or shameful thing.”
She said that the concept of aging is considered quite “taboo,” and there is a huge focus on staying youthful instead of embracing getting older.
“Normal aging is often shrouded in secrecy and very taboo in the West, and not many people, especially women, would show this due to feeling the need to perform staying ‘youthful,’” she said.
“Sometimes this will also be performed with the aid of social media filters.
“People age differently due to a variety of reasons including genetics and lifestyle factors, and so when people show the diversity in visible ageing signs, many people think about the limited examples of ageing they see.
“Much of which comes from the entertainment and beauty industry, which is skewed.”
Dober also called out bullies who left mean comments on the video and added that it was important for people to see what real ageing looks like, without any procedures.
“Many people will share their unkind opinions without thinking about the potential impact this has on the person who created the content,” she said.
“I think it’s important for people to expose themselves to images of ageing without intervention, because our views can be unrealistic.”
