In recent months, Kylie Jenner has been one of the most criticized celebrities for her appearance. From a very young age, both she and her sister Kendall Jenner became hyper-aware of their image and physical appearance, which was bound to have emotional and psychological consequences eventually.
This cycle never ends. If she wears too much makeup, she’s criticized for being “excessive”; if she opts for a natural look, she’s also attacked. This endless cycle became evident in the latest episode of The Kardashians, where Kylie cried while confessing that the comments after her participation in Paris Fashion Week deeply affected her. Her decision to show herself with less makeup and fewer touch-ups was met with a wave of cruel remarks like “she looks old” or “she ruined her face.”
Kylie Jenner is Not Alone: What Is Aesthetic Dissonance and Why Do We Find It So Unsettling to Look ‘Bad’ in Real Life?
What Kylie Jenner is experiencing is not an isolated case. It’s a reflection of something much larger and more common than we realize: digital aesthetic dissonance. This term describes the emotional clash we feel when our real image doesn’t align with the one we project on social media. Psychologically, this can be understood through the Self-Discrepancy Theory, which suggests that we all have different versions of ourselves:
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Real Self: who we really are.
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Ideal Self: how we want to be seen or how we think we should be.
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Perceived Self by Others: how we believe others see us.
When these versions don’t align, frustration, anxiety, and in extreme cases, depression arise. In the context of social media, this is intensified because we constantly view ourselves through filters, flattering angles, and edits that create an “ideal self” that is nearly impossible to achieve.
So, when we see ourselves in spontaneous photos, interviews, or mirrors, we can feel a deep disconnection: we don’t recognize ourselves and, in many cases, we judge ourselves harshly. While most of us don’t live with the pressure of millions of followers, what Kylie Jenner experiences is a reflection of what we go through on a smaller scale. Every time we take a selfie and then compare it to an unfiltered photo, or when we post content that doesn’t get the expected likes, we are participating in this same dynamic.
Kylie Jenner has resources, fame, and access to mental health professionals, but that doesn’t make her immune to aesthetic anxiety. If she, with all that support, can feel devastated by public perception, imagine the impact on those who don’t have the same tools.
The key is to remember that the digital image will never be the full picture of who we are. Validating our real self, with imperfections and changes, is essential to protect our mental health.
