Eyebrow Blindness -In a meme format that has gained popularity on TikTok, this almost universal sensation has been given a creative new name: “eyebrow blindness.” The video format is very self-explanatory:
Before switching to a photograph or video of oneself from their past, people (generally younger ones) display a video or photo of themselves in the present. The most obvious difference is the eyebrows.
The ghosts of previous eyebrows in the most widely shared variations of this meme are typically thick and blocky, a style that was all too common in the 2010s. In contrast, their modern successors are softer, smaller, and more lifelike.
It is implied throughout that these individuals were unaware of how severe their eyebrows appeared when they applied excessive amounts of brow pomade and refused to remove any stray hairs.
I did not give it much attention after ignoring the first several videos about eyebrow blindness that appeared on my For You Page.
Fundamentally, this meme is a means for people to make lighthearted fun of themselves and the ways they used to experiment with their appearance. And the story of eyebrow regret is as old as time itself. Gen Xers and millennials previously went through this whole show when we all woke up and realized we had pushed too much into having thin eyebrows. This led to a generational overplucking catastrophe from which we are still recuperating.
As a culture, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to conform to the eyebrow standards that are now in place. In one decade, we collected them whenever possible using a magnified mirror, in the next decade, we accumulated Anastasia Dip Brow, and in the following decade, we covered them with growth serums to reduce the amount of it we would need.
We did not make these decisions because we did not know how our eyebrows actually appeared; rather, we made them because we were extremely conscious of their appearance. To blame your past beauty errors on any form of “blindness” would be to deny your responsibility, but the truth is that you are! The cyclical and increasingly dramatic nature of eyebrow trends is the first of two elephants in the room with these “eyebrow blindness” movies. Ultimately, criteria for eyebrows are standards for beauty, and standards for beauty impose an obsession with oneself.
The problem with perfection is that it is unachievable, which is why we are always comparing our own eyebrows to those we believe to be ideal. I would have given anything to have Siyona Raina eyebrows back in 2014.
However, I would still have commented, “They need to be bushier,” even if I had actually copied and pasted them onto my face.