Don’t Despise, But Don’t Idolize Mormon Beauty Bloggers

First things first: I don’t have a problem with the LDS beauty blogging community, Mormon mommy bloggers, or any Instagram-famous woman who profits off her carefully cultivated aesthetic appeal.

I commend all women who wakeup in the morning and take the time to do their hair, put on a face of makeup, and somehow also manage to fashionably dress their babies and/or toddlers — power to you if you figured out how to do all this and make the big bucks in the process. (Also power to you if your kid’s hair is never done and you live makeup-less, sweat pant-filled life — both are equally glamorous.

“But aren’t these women perpetuating unattainable ideals of beauty/motherhood/etc. and reducing women to their appearances?,” you may ask in the form of countless articles and Facebook hate-posts.

Maybe, possibly, definitely — but isn’t all of social media (Instagram especially) just one big sin of omission? We eat it up because it’s pretty; no one ever said it had to be real.

“Fillerup Clark, who has 1.3 million Instagram followers, just about perfectly embodies LDS church doctrine: She married young, had children soon afterward, has a job that keeps her at home, and — perhaps most importantly — makes Mormonism look not just normal but enviable.”

“In my religion you’re not just talking about having to look good now,” says Kendrick. “You’re also talking about your eternal salvation. Ultimately these beauty standards are connected to what gets us into heaven.”