The Effect Of Body Surveillance On Body Shame

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

There are countless sources that show research on how girls’ body image is destroyed over time on social media. By middle school, 40-70 percent of students do not like how two or more of their body parts look (NYC). Over 70 percent of students out of highschool admit that they feel worse about their bodies after looking at their social media (Klein). It has also been found the body image hits “rock

Social media creates an ideal body image in an adolescent’s mind that affects them in various ways. Having an ideal body image can lower self-esteem in some adolescents’ creating eating disorders, and this idea of getting plastic surgery as they get older. Social media is steadily increasing and has heavily influenced adolescent’s to be more aware of their body figure. As a result, many adolescent’s have developed low self-esteem due to the fact that social media continues promoting fit women and creating the idea that women need to be thin to be loved or accepted by society; this can cause harm to adolescent’s because they feel the need to fit in to society.

Approximately 14 million U.S. teenage girls don’t like how they look. The number of women who feel confident in their bodies is dwindling quickly and is being fueled by edited pictures they are comparing themselves to on social media. The Time magazine article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror” by Rachel Simmons tells of the risk for everyone to feel self-conscious about their bodies. However, those most at risk are teenage girls who spend a significant amount of time on any form of social media. In response to the article, I agree with the negative effects social media has on the body image of teenage girls because I have seen girls trying to change their bodies. I also see the effects logos and pathos have on the strength of the article and what would make it a stronger and more credible source for information on teen body image.

In the article “Net Girls: The Internet, Facebook, and Body Image Concern in Adolescent Girls” Marika Tiggemann, Ph.D. and Amy Slater, Ph.D. (Clin Psych) questioned whether there is a connection between internet use and adolescent body image concern. These researchers also focused their study on one specific social networking site, Facebook.

In this literature review, I investigate existing scholarly writing in the areas of Instagram, Social comparison theory through the media, and low self-esteem due to body images on social media. Scholarship in each of these areas provides the groundwork necessary for me to conduct my own research in which I ask the question, “What are the social comparisons of Instagram and low self-esteem of body image pertaining to young girls?”

According to the article, “Low Self-Esteem at Crisis Levels for Girls,” “If the media did not have such a strong influence on today’s generation, then low self-esteem would not be in its highest percentile than all past decades” (Liebet). The issue of body positivity on social media is detrimental. Users of social media commonly say posting body-positive images online is uplifting and results in society’s acceptance of various body types. Although body positivity is improving society’s outlook on ideal bodies, it actually has harmful effects on society psychologically and physically and, therefore, should be protested.

As technology editing tools have become even more prevalent, many feel the need to excessively use photoshop before they share an image online. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts on body dissatisfaction. Throughout the last decade, social media has become one of the most common and favored ways for people to communicate, connect, and share. Thus, there have been many debates and discussions on whether the media has a positive or a negative impact on the way an individual perceives him or herself. As the rapid growth of smartphone usage among adolescents and adults has increased, social media has become an essential part of one’s daily life. In today's society, when most adolescents and adults turn on their smartphones, often times, the first thing they will refer to is a social media site. It has become a place where they are exposed to news, images, and expectations. Often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful. Moreover, these unrealistic standards will often lead to a form of comparison, influencing them to take extreme measures. Although social media serves as a platform where people can connect, communicate, and share, it has a negative impact on one’s body image, because it can lead to a lack of self confidence and severe

The latest controversy in social media is the negative effect that it is having on young women’s body image. Young women always feel the need to be accepted by their peers. They want to always appear to be beautiful with a model typed figure and perfect face but at what cost? These women are

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

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

There is a girl walking down the road toward a group of girls who are talking to each other. Within that conversation, the girl passes the group. The girl hears the other girls talk about how fat the girl was and that she should really try to lose some weight. Later on, that same girl that was called fat then gets told that she is too big to be loved, that she is too fat to be cared for. That girl then goes home every day and crys. Then, this girl develops a poor image of herself. This scenario shows how body shaming is a problem. Body shaming is when someone criticizes someone else's body, or that person criticizes their own body due to trying to compare their body with someone else’s. When someone body shames

In today’s society we let the media decide everything in our lives from what clothes we should wear, music we should listen to, and how we should look. One of the biggest problems that both men and women face is body shaming, because the media sets standards for young kids and young adults., they often times try and fit the description of “perfect” which leads these people to either be depressed because they do not look like people want them to look or harm themselves in order to achieve the desired look. The most common ways the media shames both men and women are by celebrities and how they are the “perfect” body, publishing magazines of what is the ideal man and woman, and by the people who believe being “too” fat is bad and being “too” skinny is bad.

When I was younger, my dad would constantly tease my siblings and I. He would say he was making us “thick-skinned” to prepare us for what some people would say to us when we were older. He would specifically make fun of us about our weight. As we got older, he stopped teasing my siblings but continued teasing me. He would constantly tell me I was over-weight and should go to the gym. Eventually, it was so frequent and repetitive that I began to believe every word he said. I remember believing that I could not have fun with my friends because I would need to be at the gym to please my dad. I hit a low point in my life in which I genuinely believed I was over-weight and worthless. I began buying baggy clothes and in the summer, I dreaded going to the beach with friends or family. This belief that I was over-weight and worthless began to take over my life. I remember believing ending my life would be a better solution than having to live in my own body. It was not until I started dating this guy and surrounded myself with caring and loving friends that I began to realize my self-worth. They constantly reassured me that I was beautiful and I should not look to other people for approval. I was blessed to have them in my life.

Instagram can cause body dissatisfaction, and a low self-esteem, in women. When women compare their beauty and bodies to that of what they see on Instagram, it strengthens the feeling of having a poor self-image. This image is a representation of unrealistic beauty and body expectations for women. The idea of women having to fit one idea of beauty is unbelievable and ridiculous because perfection on its own is just an opinion. Most Instagram users use Instagram has a platform to perceive their lives to be the perfect life to live. Instagram has millions of women who have hundreds to thousands of followers, and these women are considered to be living the ideal life. Women such as Khloe Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, and so much more. These women’s Instagram pages consist of them living the high life and flaunting their “perfect” Bodies. Most of the pictures posted on their Instagram page masks the reality of their lives. Instagram should be