A new microtrend characterization has dropped, a fresh box to drop people in. Have you already been labeled; clean girl, downtown girl, vanilla girl, punk girl, goth girl. Now, for unusual looking people, there is “Renaissance girl.”
In the renaissance age (14th - 17th), monarchs and rich elites were the patrons of art and largely painted because they were powerful forces; the Medicis and the Habsburgs became the face of the era. In the ‘renaissance girl’ context, when a renaissance face is referred, is it the aesthetics of the paintings back then or the people? In scrutiny, influencers or social media figures are often said to have a renaissance face. To understand the implications and conclude its connotations, it is crucial to dissect the anatomy of this phenomenon.
Lorenzo de' Medici
In analysis, Social media is the plot device in this, to categorically understand facial features and be in terms with it people have labeled and boxed them. In their nuanced efforts to be inclusive, they often lean towards pulchritudinous ideals. Humans have subjective standards of beauty which are shaped by the unitary agreed bar. From a vocal standpoint, one might hesitate to outright speak in the flow of their conscious stream; they’ll dig and disfigure the words to sponsor an ambiguous environment but the technique discredits the receiving person's intelligence.
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
The receiving end of this label has concluded the “compliment” to be ill-intended or rather backhanded, as the face of that time (Medicis, Habsburg) were notoriously famous for incestuous practices and their physical as well as psychological repercussions. To designate this title to a person has malicious undertones, almost outright ableist and eugenic in its approach.Would you prefer to be the muse now?
The casual deterioration of a person being transitioned to a self minimizing compliment is the fall of humanity. The audacity of it all arises from the safe haven of a digital screen, a genuine lack of human decency and the disconnect between individuals. To rebel this way of thinking we must decenter ourselves from the idea of beauty and enforcing it onto people.
