Filters of Identity: AR Beauty and the Algorithmic Politics of the Digital Body

TL;DR

This paper critically examines AR beauty filters as tools of governance that reinforce societal beauty standards through algorithmic bias and platform policies, urging transparency and rethinking of digital aesthetics.

Contribution

It highlights the political implications of AR beauty filters and advocates for transparency and critical engagement with algorithmic aesthetics in HCI.

Findings

Filters reinforce racialized and gendered beauty norms

Algorithmic bias influences aesthetic standards

Transparency can mitigate normative pressures

Abstract

This position paper situates AR beauty filters within the broader debate on Body Politics in HCI. We argue that these filters are not neutral tools but technologies of governance that reinforce racialized, gendered, and ableist beauty standards. Through naming conventions, algorithmic bias, and platform governance, they impose aesthetic norms while concealing their influence. To address these challenges, we advocate for transparency-driven interventions and a critical rethinking of algorithmic aesthetics and digital embodiment.