You’re not being too sensitive when you notice how beauty filters lighten your skin.
You’re not imagining things when your face gets cropped, misread, or erased.
It’s not just a bug. It’s a pattern.
This is technocolonialism—when technology, trained on biased data, continues the work of erasure in new, digital forms. It doesn’t wear a uniform or carry a flag. But it silently redraws the lines of worth, of visibility, of beauty. And the arena isn’t just social media—it’s wellness apps that optimize for someone else’s “normal” or design trends that code exclusion into seemingly “neutral” standards.
“AI facial recognition technologies are up to 35% less accurate for Black men than for white men, perpetuating misrecognition and digital invisibility.” -Podcast Episode 2
What Does It Do?
Technocolonialism isn’t theoretical. It tells your nervous system—especially if you are BIPOC, ND, or both—that your real features are too much, or not enough. It asks the algorithm to misrecognize your tone, your curves, your cadence. Quietly, it centers whiteness, smoothness, thinness—over and over—until you begin second-guessing your own reflection. This compounds for women who have always had to mask to survive; for those who live with alexithymia, it’s not just frustrating, it’s exhausting.
Repeated digital invalidation has been linked to higher rates of anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and deepened isolation, especially in neurodivergent and BIPOC communities.
As Dr. Monique Akassi challenged during our discussion:
“We are going to start creating our own programs and softwares. And instead of having a Leonardo, I may go ahead and have a Nefertiti program… make sure you quote me on that.”
—The Future of Wellness, Episode 2 (June 17, 2025)
Aesthetic trauma isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it arrives as the absence of recognition.
Why You Need to Know This
What you’re feeling isn’t vanity. It’s a biological boundary violation. When technology quietly edits you to be more “acceptable,” it reinforces the very scripts your nervous system has tried to unlearn for years. Every time you’re erased by an algorithm or “optimized” by a filter, old wounds resurface—not just for you, but across generations.
Community-based art and sensory rituals have been shown to improve self-recognition and buffer against digital microaggressions, fostering emotional repair and collective resilience .
What Comes Next? From Critique to Ritual
Reclaiming agency starts with visual literacy—asking not just, “Which filter do I use?” but, “Who built this mirror, and for whom?” You can stop defaulting to filters and begin relearning color, light, and design as tools for emotional repair, not for performance. This is not just resistance. It’s a return to collective remembrance and sensory wholeness.
“Just as we root ourselves in physical rituals, so too must we practice digital rituals of reclamation—affirming, with every gentle act, that our image deserves to be seen on our own terms.”
You are invited: Try a gentle Color Reset™ Ritual—gaze at your unfiltered reflection by natural light, name three features the algorithm erases, and reclaim color, texture, and story for yourself.
For deeper support, my Neuroaesthetic Reset™ Program guides you in relearning what it means to be seen—without distortion, in ritual community.
Want to go deeper into this conversation?
🎧 Don’t miss Episode 2 of The Future of Wellness, I sit down with Dr. Monique Akassi—scholar, Director of First-Year Writing at Howard University, and author of the upcoming AI Unveiled: The Fight for Justice in the Age of Algorithms—to unpack how AI, beauty standards, and cultural storytelling shape who is visible, who is erased, and how collective ritual can restore emotional sovereignty.
Because sovereignty isn’t just political.
It’s sensory.
And you, especially you, sis, deserve to be seen, without distortion.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or stream it on your favorite platform, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio.
Then, begin your soft return to self with the Color Archetype™ Quiz.
This blog post was authored by Dr. Stacey Denise (founder, The Neuroaesthetic MD and The Neuroaesthetic Reset™ Program) and published on July 30, 2025.
The corresponding podcast episode—The Future of Wellness, Episode 2—featuring Drs. Stacey Denise and Monique Akassi (Howard University professor and author of AI Unveiled: The Fight for Justice in the Age of Algorithms) was published June 17, 2025, establishing both authors’ priority and thought leadership in the domains of technocolonialism, algorithmic beauty bias, and sensory equity.
This post and episode predate the August 2025 release of Dr. Akassi’s book and documentary, and together serve as a public record of joint scholarly and creative contributions to equity in AI, digital wellness, and visual culture.
© 2025 Dr. Stacey Denise | The Neuroaesthetic MD & SDM Medical PLLC. All rights reserved.
For citation:
Moore, S.D., & Akassi, M. (2025). The Neuroaesthetic MD. The Quiet Violence of Technocolonialism. SDM Medical PLLC. Published July 30, 2025. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6127-4194
