Social Media Affecting Young Girl's Body Image

Social media has a big influence on this generation when it comes to “body image.” Many women, or “models,” will post pictures of themselves showing off their body with thousands of likes and many comments saying “body goals” or “I wish I looked like that.” This

Being a woman of twenty, I know how much this can affect young girls. Body image influences are everywhere, social media, television, magazine and unfortunately for us, the current presidential election. Kim, Kim and Moon describe body image as “a plastic, constantly changing concept, continually modified by bodily growth, trauma, or decline, and significantly influenced by the ever-changing interaction with the social environment” (Kim, Kim, Moon 2011). This is an extremely true statement for young girls in today’s society. With the shows on television today and social media such as Instagram and Facebook, everyone is forced to be at their peak physical fitness and look their best all the time. The only way someone can achieve a realistic body image is when their self perceived body weight is the same as their current body weight. An unrealistic body image is the result of their self perceived body weight being different than their current weight (Kim, Kim, Moon 2011). What some people fail to realize is how deeply body image can affect a persons emotional being. Having an unrealistic body image can cause people to contract eating disorders, emotional issues, anxiety, low self esteem and finally, depression (Kim, Kim, Moon 2011). These feelings can cause suicidal thoughts and behaviors especially in young adults. Multiple studies have presented evidence that adolescents who commit suicide are more likely to have different body attitudes than those who do not, though it is not always the case(Kim, Kim, Moon

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

Throughout history, body image has been determined by various factors, one of them being the media. In the article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror,” written by Rachel Simmons, she shares the story of a woman who admits to being afraid of leaving her apartment without putting on makeup. “I don’t get to choose how I’m going to leave my apartment today,” one young woman told me, “If I could, my body would look different. But I cant choose which picture makes my arms look thinner” (Simmons). One word: Fear. The woman fears the opinion of others. She second guesses herself before she steps foot outside her apartment building. It displays the lack of confidence she has towards herself as an individual and the control the media has over her. The author goes on to discuss how teenagers look up to social media by obsessing over how many likes

As this generation has easy access to social media, culminating to 95.9% of girls having access to the internet, it is no wonder that these girls have easy access to view these “ideal” images. There is a cause and effect, which can be seen through sites like Facebook and Instagram, as users are more prone to body obsession than non-users. Second, no one is immune to these beauty ideals, even the women who started it all. The women who post these photos, have internal problems as well, such as eating disorders and unhealthy fitness habits. These “role models” are achieving these beauty ideals in unhealthy ways, which is not a positive message to send to viewers. Third, we have massive studies and data to show the damages of social media, but it is the individual stories that people can

Social media plays an immense role in the way that stereotypes about attractiveness is conveyed in regards to body image. As Gerbner and Gross wrote in 1976, the cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. The subjection to social media can cause an idealistic view amongst young girls and women alike. Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This belief that these body types are achievable can lead to females being dissatisfied within their own skin. The result of the discontent can potentially lead to eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction occurs when views of the body are negative and involves a perceived discrepancy between a person 's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Cash and Szymanski, 1995 and Grogan, 2008). It is estimated that approximately 50% of adolescent girls report being unhappy with their bodies (Bearman, Presnell, & Martinez, 2006). Surveys have revealed that the exposure to social media can cause body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms’ and the concept that thin is “beautiful” amongst young girls and women (Botta 1999; Harrison and Hefner 2006; and Stice et al. 1994). With media influence, the question is the strength of the effect, studies indicate the effects are small in scale; they are likely to operate in accordance with particular differences in

(Weiner 2) Claire Mysko an award winning author and expert on body image, leadership and media literacy explains: “While social media is not the cause of low self-esteem, it has all the right elements to contribute to it. Social media creates an environment where disordered thoughts and behaviors really thrive”. (Weiner 2) For most young women with constant use and easy accessibility social media can become an addiction and the ability to become outlet that can either build up / destroy women’s self-esteem. A recent survey of more than 1000 girls in the United States ages 8-17 sponsored by the dove self- esteem fund, showed that 7 in 10 girls surveyed believed that when it came to issues including beauty and body image they did not “measure up.” Only 10 percent found themselves to be “pretty enough.”(Sweeney 3) Among women over 18 looking at themselves in the mirror, research indicates the at least 80% are unhappy with that they see. (Fox 5) We are society literally obsessed with being beautiful. Unfortunately female dissatisfaction with appearance or a poor body image being at an early. The latest survey show that young girls are going on diets because they think they are fat and unattractive. (Fox 5) In one American survey 81 % of ten year old girls had already dieted at least once. (Fox 5) By 13 at least 50% of girls are

Researchers have discovered that “ongoing exposure to certain ideas can shape and distort our perceptions on reality.” (Mintz 2007) Because young girls are subjected to a constant display of beautiful people in the media, they have developed a negative body image of themselves. Those who have a negative body image perceive their body as being unattractive or even hideous compared to others, while those with a positive body image will see themselves as attractive, or will at least accept themselves and be comfortable in their own skin. During adolescence, negative body image is especially harmful because of the quick changes both physically and mentally occurring during puberty. Also, young girls are becoming more and more exposed to the media and the media keeps getting more and more provocative. Young girls are looking to women with unrealistic body shapes as role models. It’s hard to find, in today’s media, a “normal” looking

“Research in the USA suggests that around 40% of adolescent girls are dissatisfied with their bodies. Amongst UK samples, 48% of 9- to 12-year old girls were dissatisfied with their body shape, with 22% reporting they were too fat, and 50% of girls aged 11-16 reporting body dissatisfaction” (Halliwell, Easun, Harcourt 396). It is clear that body discomfort has become a real problem for girls of all ages all around the world. Young girls are much more vulnerable when it comes to body image. They can see an image and not realize that it is not realistic. Once they are exposed to the false depiction of a beautiful woman, that is what they want to look like and will do anything to get there. Since children at a young age are exposed to media and it is all around them, this problem has

Similar to Bell and Dittmar’s study, Burnette, et al.,(2017), had 7th and 8th girls in a girl’s private school to participate in their study. These girls were asked to fill out questionnaires about websites they frequently visited and how often they posted pictures of themselves (selfies) on social media. Burnette (2017) found that 61.1 percent of the girls did not post any selfies and 22.2 percent stated that at least half of their posts were selfies. What Burnette and her colleagues found is that the girls studied in this research had resources such as clubs at school and parents to help educate positive body image and accepting others differential qualities

There is no denying that social media: Instagram and Tumblr, has a significant influence on all of us. The current effects of social media have increased dramatically among young women aged between 15 and 25. As stated in the study by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) that the high exposure to social media portraying the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in young women. They used a meta-analysis examined experimental and correlation studies testing the links between media exposure to young women's body dissatisfaction and the unconscious behavior towards having a thin ideal body. The results by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) support the claim that high exposure to social media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to

The media representations of the female body images lead to the psychological problems of the young generation. Body image can be defined as two aspects of cognition and behaviors. The cognition of body image can capture social beliefs or standards in the media and internalize of it as a stereotype of the unattainable physical appearance. Because perception control behaviors, the cognition of the body image in the media lead to the comparison with others’ body images, and the stressful situation results in abnormal behaviors such as eating disorder, depression, and low self-esteem. Leahey emphasizes, “more than 80% of comparison made by women…including peers and models… [It] generally result[s] in negative outcomes, such as body dissatisfaction” (qtd. in Fitzsimmones 797). Indeed, the

Social Media has an impact of how the female body should look. Society’s promotion of a thin body as the female form contribute to anorexia and health problems. Popular apps like Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook encourage this unhealthy behavior. People have came up with hashtags for this lifestyle. “Pro-Ana” which stands for Pro Anorexia, #thinsporation, #thinspo are hashtags that are relate to this problem. Quotes like “Ribcage is the new black”, “Don’t eat anything you’ll regret tomorrow”, “Look at your thighs, now put the food down” are all quotes that have surfaced the internet. As we all know, technology is a big part of our generation. Since the internet promotes being skinny, teenage girls are more worried about their size. Society shames girls for not being skinny, and since you’re not skinny, you’re “not Beautiful”.

In today’s society, the public is exposed to technology at even younger ages than ever before. Everywhere you go these days you see kids even as little as three holding their parent’s phones or even their own, watching videos or playing games. But as said in the article Does Social media impact on body image by Philippa Roxby, as kids start becoming teenagers their technological uses advance and they start to rely on social media sites for new sources of communication, and their main channel to the outside world. Based on studies conducted by psychologists they have come up with a conclusion that social media has a direct relationship to body image concerns. I believe that in today’s society we should focus on promoting self-confidence as most of the adolescents have a very low assurance of their own bodies. Although a study conducted in the article The Upside of Selfies: Social media isn’t all bad for kids by Kelly Wallace says that a survey which resulted in 52% of the teens saying that social media positively influences them. Even though social media platforms have some beneficial aspects such as they make people want to go on diets, exercise, and eating healthy, the teenagers don’t really look/understand the negative aspects of it. The impacts that are carried with social media are mostly negative such as fancying teenagers to lose confidence in themselves and has become a toxic mirror to them. The visual platforms impact

The types of media that are out there today are advancing and becoming more readily available for kids to see, specifically adolescence girls. Today, kids have access to social media, TV programs, movies, and magazines, with a touch of a button. Girls, especially, are using these outlets the most and are being subjected to the judgment that comes along with it. With social media, girls are seeing models, movie stars, and even people they might even know, uploading pictures of themselves in all sorts of ways. This is making them compare own bodies to these models and stars, which get paid to look this way on social media. They are looking at their own bodies and questioning maybe why they don’t look like that or even if we don’t eventually