--- title: Don't Judge Challenge: Instagram Trend on Body Shaming Backfires description: A social media campaign calling for the end of body shaming has raised eyebrows. canonical: https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-08T01:18:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:21:52.143Z og:title: Here's How the 'Don't Judge Challenge' Totally Backfired og:description: The #DontJudgeChallenge was intended to be an anti-body shaming campaign. og:url: https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How the 'Don't Judge Challenge' Totally Backfired twitter:description: The #DontJudgeChallenge was intended to be an anti-body shaming campaign. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's How the 'Don't Judge Challenge' Totally Backfired > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Jul 8, 2015 1:18 AM UTC  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Jul 8, 2015 1:18 AM UTC A social media campaign calling for an end to body shaming may have made things worse. The hashtag #DontJudgeChallenge has taken off on Instagram, Twitter and Vine this month with users posting photos or videos of themselves with drawn-on unibrows, acne or other physical features often the targets of body shaming. Then, they wipe off their “flaws” to reveal what’s underneath: > [](https://twitter.com/Elisa%5F%5Fx333/status/617544716389883904) > [](https://twitter.com/jimmykid6/status/618090460779679744) You’re not alone if you’re totally confused. While the origin of the hashtag is somewhat unclear, the #DontJudgeChallenge began to trend around the time beauty blogger Em Ford posted a viral [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=173&v=WWTRwj9t-vU) of herself removing makeup from her face, revealing her acne, and encouraging viewers to accept themselves rather than to feel ashamed. Another recent viral video shows a South Korean fashion blogger [removing makeup from only half her face, revealing a dramatic difference.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpQS5i6nSH8) In contrast,#DontJudgeChallenge, to many observers, seems to be a parody, if not completely hypocritical: > [](https://twitter.com/aidanjalexander/status/618163277437104128) Users have instead begun flocking to the #BeautyInAllChallenge, posting images celebrating the parts of their bodies that others may criticize. And who knows? Maybe this will be the next Ice Bucket Challenge: > [](http://twitter.com/Blueisqueeraf/status/618086081662038016) > [](http://twitter.com/museturbation/status/618574037027942401) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/"},"headline":"Here's How the 'Don't Judge Challenge' Totally Backfired","datePublished":"2015-07-08T01:18:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:21:52.143Z","description":"The #DontJudgeChallenge was intended to be an anti-body shaming campaign","url":"https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","Social Media","Body Image"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3948968/dont-judge-challenge/","name":"Here's How the 'Don't Judge Challenge' Totally Backfired"}}]}] ```