Nothing ruins a good period piece more than an actor or actress with lip filler, buccal fat removal, Botox, or any number of other 21st-century beauty operations.

This look has been coined “smartphone face” or “iPhone face,” a term that refers to the idea that the audience can tell the actor has seen and knows what a smartphone is — that their face conforms to modern-day beauty standards and is too modern to fit realistically into the time period they’re supposed to depict.

Although the term applies to both actors and actresses, it feels like there is more common criticism of the “iPhone face” in women than in men. Is it because we as a society have always tended to be more critical of women? Or perhaps the result of such scrutiny is that more women than men adopt more modern, trendy approaches to beauty?

The media constantly bombards us with every manner of label and judgment, leading women to alter and exchange their natural beauty for fabricated beauty that is more accepted and commended by society — and yet we then complain that they look too modern or “fake.”

Notable and recent instances of “iPhone face” include Millie Bobby Brown in “Damsel,” Dakota Johnson in the film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” and the entire cast of “Daisy Jones and the Six.” They’re compared with stars such as Keira Knightly, Emma Thompson, and Kate Winslet, who seem to have the “proper” period piece look.

The usage of makeup and costuming can also have a major impact on the believability of period pieces. As was pointed out after the release of “Bridgerton” season three, regency-era women were not wearing highlighter or pulling off smoky eyes like the actresses in the television show.

Regardless of how suitable a performer’s face may be for a period piece, or if it’s merely dependent on their makeup and context, “iPhone face” appears to be yet another label used to manipulate beauty standards. These labels suggest the deeper and more harmful effects of the beauty industry.

There are hundreds of classifications and terms coined to categorize and organize every aspect of ourselves until we are no longer our own. 

Are you girl pretty or boy pretty? Deer pretty, bunny pretty, or cat pretty? Do you have legging legs or jean legs — or legs that are better covered up? Do you have American Girl doll teeth, gapped teeth, or veneers? Do you have good facial harmony? Is your nose button, bulbous, Roman, or Grecian — and if it’s any of the latter three, you should really consider shaving off a bit.

Modern-day beauty standards are impossible — especially for women, of whose lives they seem to infiltrate and impact every facet.

But not to worry! Just buy yourself some hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, face wash, moisturizer — one for the morning and one for the night — toner, face masks, hair masks, and every other product that is a “must-have” to become beautiful. Don’t forget to get your facelift, lip filler, and buccal fat removal. Get a BBL, but be sure to have it removed when it’s no longer the fashion.

When it comes to outward appearance, the choice is the individual’s. Whether she feels more confident with a cosmetic procedure, likes to enhance her features with makeup, or prefers to keep it au naturale, it is not up to us to condemn and judge her one way or another. Women should be free to present themselves as they feel comfortable, not as beauty standards demand.

We as a society need to take a step back and reevaluate our beauty standards and expectations. There’s a reason more and more people are choosing to alter their natural appearances — a reason some actresses no longer resemble the regency or flapper-era characters they play.

There exists a vicious, self-fueling cycle between the people, media, and the companies that stand to profit. People express ideas or preferences toward beauty, the media magnifies and picks apart such expressions, and the capitalist system finds a way to further manipulate and promote them for capital gain.

And when we are constantly surrounded by celebrities in advertisements, on social media, and on television who all look the same — who don’t look much like us — we, too, feel the need to change.

Although we seem to be progressing in so many ways of life and have amassed a great amount of knowledge about ourselves and our inner workings, beauty standards continue to move in contrary ways.

We know that genetics encodes some women to be more curvy and others more thin, to give some defined cheek and brow bones while others have fuller, softer faces. We know it is unrealistic to expect all women to conform to preferred expectations, yet we continue to do so.

In the inherent case that there will always be actors and actresses who perhaps look a bit more modern, either naturally or by their own beauty preferences and alterations, we need to look to those who may be overlooked but present a more honest portrayal of the period — those who are representative of the varieties of beauty that exist.

And before you judge an actress in a movie or a woman on the street, take the time to consider how your own perceptions of beauty affect such judgments.

We must continue to remember who we are as individual women and build one another up together.