I understand what you’re saying about the “whitening” effect of some of the beautification filters — but are you aware of any cultures where skin covered in blemishes is attractive? From a photography standpoint, raising the exposure of a photo is one of the easiest ways to make skin appear more clear, so to me, Snapchat doing this makes perfect sense. When was the last time you took a selfie and decided to decrease the brightness to improve your appearance? It doesn’t really work that way.

Besides that — “white people” and Caucasians do not own “whiteness” or light skin, and they are not the only culture that possesses these traits. In fact, many of the techniques employed by Snapchat in their “beauty” filters actually originated from Asian beauty apps that slim the face, enlarge the eyes, and clear the skin. Particularly the newest filter, with the yellow butterflies. It adds highlights, the same way you’d highlight your face with makeup — which, again, is not something that white people, or any other race, has ownership over — which is a trick Asian beauty apps used to be famous for.

Sounds to me like you have more problems with beauty standards than anything else. Have you ever thought about why that is?