There are no doubt that the social media has become a trend that has greatly impacted on the society in particular and the world as whole concerning the manner in which individuals interact. Especially, one of them is that it influences the female body image, which has turned into a hot and debated problem. Exploring the impact of social media on women body image, the consequences of the negative effects and how they can be reduced is what this article is all about.
The Cultural Domination of Unattainable Beauty
One of the main problems in using social networks and connected to it influence on women’s body images is their driving and strengthening of unrealistic criteria of attractiveness. Hashtags from IG, Fac and other social networks are full of photoshoots and influencer’s posts representing attractiveness with skinny figures, flawless skin, amazing hair… Women stand in front of the mirror and are trying to deal with the unrealistic view that is seen in front of them.
Also, one is able to notice how actuality is in most cases utilized in conjunction with a number of filters that have the effect of making the appearance look as perfect as possible. The kind of images that women are exposed to are often airbrushed and heavily photoshopped, which instills in a woman unrealistic expectations besides making her develop a distorted image of herself, which makes her turn into a beauty obsessed, never-satisfied skin beast.
The Effects of Celebrity Culture and Celebrities
It only has gotten worse because of the prevalence of celebrity culture on social media. A lot of influencers and celebrities remain popular by continually uploading well-thought-out photos and statuses, whilst presenting only happiness and success. This instills the spirit of perfection coupled with gender mirrored body standards that make most women feel incompetent compared to those highly rated standards.
Toxic Comparison and Self-Doubt: A Spiral
The effects aren’t only dissatisfaction experienced by women because of social media. This will only create unhealthy activities because of the constant bombardment with unattainaable goals with the element of comparison and self uncertainty. Some of them are; extreme and fad dieting, vigorous exercising, and even disease such as anorexia and bulimia. Women are left fighting not only mirrors that are a real image of themselves but also other distorted images that fill women’s news feeds.
The Impact on Mental Health
However, social media’s effect doesn’t only have effects on physical health but on the mental health of women as well. Earlier literature suggests that increased exposure to these thin-ideal images is related to an increase in body dissatisfaction, low self esteem, and anxiety. Women dealing with these problems are at the higher risk of depression, eating disorders and other mental need issues, with social media making the matters worse.
Toward positive body image self acceptance
Because of these problems, there is a strong need for women to assess themselves and get better perceptions about their physical appearance and social media platforms. Practicing self-acceptance, and promoting healthy body images can go along way to combating unsavory beauty standards we are bound to encounter in society.
Some effective strategies to promote self-acceptance include:
1. Limiting social media use:
It's possible that by minimizing the time spent on the platforms that enable the reinforcement of beauty standards, the problem will itself be mitigated.
2. Following body-positive accounts:
The same is true of following or consuming post that promotes body positivity and self love and helping to curb the daily feed of unattainable beauty standards.
3. Practicing self-care:
Keeping yourself physically, mentally and emotionally healthy by exercising, meditation or any time with our family or friends will make the long direct negative effects of social media less adverse.
4. Challenging internalized beauty standards:
They have to stand against often internalized racist beauty standards and try to adopt less critical, more healthy attitudes to their body.
Conclusion
Although social media is a very powerful tool which dramatically affects women’s body image, it is beyond doubt that it comes with several facades and therefore, people ought to learn more about the effects. If we can learn to love ourselves and learn how to view beauty, then maybe some of this attitude of social media and what constituted at the time an unrealistic beauty ideal can be thrown away.
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