The Impact of Social Media on Body Image
By: Holly Urbanek
Our society teaches us to judge others immediately by the way they look. We do this because it is the easiest way to form an initial opinion of someone, even if it is incorrect. Unfortunately, this leads us to compare ourselves to others, thus negatively impacting our self-esteem. This presents a problem because it encourages unrealistic beauty standards and teaches us to look down on those who do not fit within these standards. This phenomenon is known as lookism and is a huge issue in society today.
picture of someone people-watching would be good here instead
Ted Chiang’s short story Liking What You See: A Documentary introduces a new technology called Calliagnosia, which is a procedure that turns off people’s ability to perceive others based on their outward attractiveness. In my opinion, the central issue of the story surrounds lookism which is the prejudice that people feel towards those whom they perceive as unattractive. Lookism is incredibly prevalent in today’s culture because many people feel pressured by unrealistic beauty standards which negatively impacts their body image and self-esteem. Similarly, as social media has increased in popularity, the “ideal” female body image has evolved and is almost impossible to achieve. Consequently, women often feel as though they need to go to extremes to achieve the “ideal” female body. Because of cosmetic surgery, makeup, and new technologies like photo editing apps, no one can tell what is real and what is fake. In my mind, this begs the question: “If everyone had Calli, would there still be an “ideal” female body and would social media still be this influential?” While I am unsure of the answer to that question, I expect that Calli would reduce the effects of many of these issues, but not eliminate them.'
Image from Perceptions of Media Pressures and Body Image among US Adults, 2021 on Gale Opposing Viewpoints
As society has developed, so has the “ideal” female body image. The article, The Female Body Type is Getting Even Harder to Attain by Frances Bozsik and Brooke L. Bennett, discusses the evolution of the female body type and the unrealistic beauty standards that women are expected to adhere to. It introduces the idea of “fitspiration” in reference to the increased number of social media posts of women posing in ways that highlight not only their thinness but also specific muscular groups. While some may expect that exposure to these images would inspire healthy exercise, “analyses of the text accompanying the images have found that they often include guilt-inducing messages that focus on body image” (Bozsik). The image above also supports this, because it shows that 76% of US adults think that social media promotes an unattainable body image. Consequently, the main issue that this image and the article present is the negative impact that social media has on women’s body image and self-esteem. In my opinion, this is a topical issue in society today because women are going to extreme measures in an attempt to achieve unrealistic standards. Unfortunately, the problem does not end there. Because women are striving to achieve an impossible “ideal”, the result will be decreased body dissatisfaction and an increase in unhealthy exercises such as restrictive eating and dieting. Ultimately, these factors hurt women’s mental health, resulting in a cascading effect that impacts other aspects of their lives.
Image from Sources of Standards of Beauty among US Adults, 2019 on Gale Opposing Viewpoints
Because of the prevalence of technology today, social media and other media platforms are becoming increasingly influential in shaping people’s perceptions of themselves. The image above shows that TV and movie stars, models, and influencers are among the top sources that people use to form personal definitions of attractiveness. As technology and social media continue to become more prevalent, the value that people place on their appearance will only increase. The article titled Reducing Social Media Use Improves Body Image in Teens: Study by Wency Leung reflects on a study performed by Gary Goldfield in which one group reduced their social media use by half and the control group continued using social media as usual (around 3 hours per day). What the researchers found was that the students who reduced their social media usage felt better about their body image. Specifically, “the researchers suggested limiting social-media use may reduce people's engagement in unfavourable comparisons and exposure to unattainable beauty standards, leading to a healthier body image” (Leung). The study also found that the students who regularly used social media had symptoms of depression or anxiety. This exemplifies the negative impact that social media can have on one’s mental health. The source also discusses the problems behind the algorithms that determine people’s social media feeds. Since the algorithms continue to recommend content similar to what you liked in the past, they create a repeating loop that ultimately increases the mental health problems discussed earlier in the article. While it is inevitable that social media will have an impact on people’s body image, the article does propose a preventative measure that can be taken to alleviate the effects. The article proposes that parents should talk to their children early in life about body image and how the content that they will see on social media is likely edited and highly staged. In my opinion, this is an easy action that all parents should take to encourage positive body image in their children and prevent the formation of unrealistic standards.
As technology has evolved, so have photo editing apps. What this means is that it is becoming increasingly easier to edit photos in ways that look realistic. Consequently, the article titled Girls Are Taking Drastic Measures to Achieve the Perfect Instagram Snap by Kayleen Schaefer outlines how photo editing has led people to feel as though they need to achieve an unrealistic standard of beauty. It also discusses how the increase in edited photos on social media has resulted in an inability to determine whether people’s photos are “real” or “fake”. Consequently, many young people take extreme measures to achieve “perfection”. However, the “perfection” they strive to achieve is edited, and therefore nearly impossible. As Dana Suchow, a body-positive style blogger states, ‘“lip jobs and nose jobs are setting the new standards of beauty”’ (Schaefer) . What Dana is referring to is the rise in popularity of plastic surgery and how that has raised the bar for beauty standards. The article also refers to perfection as a “constantly moving target” (Schaefer). What she means is that because social media is ever-changing, so is the “ideal” body image. Therefore, even if one is able to “hit the target”, the target will likely shift and that person will no longer fit into society’s “ideal”. Consequently, the article emphasizes that the “best photo of all is one where you look like yourself” (Schaefer). While it’s easier said than done, young people should focus on embracing their beauty and not striving to look just like everyone else.