Is acne-shaming the new fat-shaming?

This morning I went through my usual routine of trying to turn myself from sleepy zombie to wide awake writer. I put the kettle on, ate my porridge, scanned my favourite social media sites and read the news headlines. I'm slightly (massively) ashamed to admit that I love a bit of celebrity gossip and I usually get my daily fix of this from the Daily Mail showbiz section (please don't judge me). 

While I was scrolling down the stories, I saw the usual culprits - the TOWIE star showing off her bikini bod on a beach in Dubai, the Geordie Shore girls stumbling around outside a nightclub, an interview with the latest CBB evictee and so on. 

Then one story in particular caught my eye. And not in a good way. 

I'm well aware of the newspaper's usual antics - fat-shaming, the relentless publicity given to z-listers etc. But this one article seemed to go just that one step too far - even by the DM's standards. Take a look and see what you think:

At first glance, it was the headline which bothered me - the way it stated that Delta Goodrem was 'once again' caking on the make-up and 'drawing attention' to her skin. The poor girl was probably using make-up to do anything BUT draw attention to her skin! 

Now I have to be honest, I'm a bit biased about this issue. I suffered from bad acne throughout my teenage years. Then, when I was 17, it got so severe that I was referred to a dermatologist who prescribed the controversial drug, Roaccutane. 

If you are not familiar with Roaccutane, it's an incredibly strong acne treatment which has a bad reputation due to the possible serious side effects (such as depression) and it has even been linked to a number of suicides.

Roaccutane is generally a last resort for those who have been plagued with bad skin for years and you are carefully monitored while you are taking it. I had blood tests every month which was a nightmare for me as I'm very squeamish/wimpy! 

Apart from that, my experience with Roaccutane was mostly good. It did the job in the way that it cleared my skin up, but the main side effect I experienced was having extremely dry skin and lips. I remember buying masses and masses of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream because it was literally the only moisturiser strong enough to soothe my skin. Even then, my make-up would always look flaky and patchy and my lips were always chapped. However, in the end, it was a price worth paying because my acne hasn't returned since (touch wood). 

I think the reason why that article hit a nerve is because I can completely relate to the horrible feelings you experience when you're going through the acne nightmare. Feeling ugly, feeling self-conscious and feeling sad... to name just a few. It can be hard to understand if you're lucky enough to be blessed with good skin, but if you've ever had a massive spot then you'll know how annoying it is when you're talking to somebody and all they do is stare at it, instead of looking you in the eye. I very much doubt that the writer of the article knows how it feels to have troublesome skin, otherwise they wouldn't be so insensitive, or even run the story to begin with. 

I think, actually, I hope, that it was just a slow news day and not the start of a new trend similar to fat-shaming.