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Term Project Reflection By Marlon Canlas

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Here is another view on representation of social media, all these worries, doubts and etc can feel like something whispering in your ear with negative thoughts.

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As you can see here the photo of the woman has been altered, showing a more make believe look like many media pictures.

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The image presented, presents a message to me. That social media can be very overwhelming, that's why balance is needed.

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In this video you can see a mythological story being applied to the modern version social media.

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In the video you can see Matt become more balanced or positive after changing his life style.

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In the video you can see people express their thoughts about the "beauty standards" portrayed from the media.

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Beauty | Documentary on Societal Beauty Standards

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How Social Media Contributes To Unrealistic Beauty Standards

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How Social Media Contributes To Unrealistic Beauty Standards

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In this site/ article it touches upon how a "influencer" with a nice body promotes unhealthy weight loss meatheads.

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Every morning, the first thing I reach for is my phone. I go straight to Instagram and scroll through my feed before I have to wake up for my 8 a.m. This is not only a part of my everyday routine but a huge part of my life. Like many others, social media has become woven into who we are as people. It is a part of our identity. It's how we show the world an image of ourselves that we have curated.

Just as we use social media to promote ourselves, thousands of celebrities, models, companies and brands, we also use it to create an image of perfection. It's hard not to see a multitude of perfectly bronzed beauties with amazingly sculpted abs, legs that go on for days, and perky, perfectly rounded tushies. Thousands of Instagram accounts promote images of perfectly sculpted men and women.

There is an apparent problem within this fake shiny world of idealism. Thousands of famous people and models on social media document their workout routines, eating habits, and other aspects of their lifestyle that contribute to the way they look. There is only one problem with this industry; it's all fake.

An Instagram model can post a picture of herself in a bikini, showing off her amazing tummy while holding up a weight loss tea supplement. Her caption reads something along the lines of "Love this new detox tea! It's my secret weapon against unwanted fat!" This is sending a very dangerous message to millions of her followers. It is spreading the idea that supplements, diet pills and detox teas are the best way to achieve her body type, when in reality, it could not be further from the truth.

Her job is to look perfect and promote merchandise. This creates an unrealistic beauty standard for all of her followers who believe that this product is their ticket to a perfect body. In reality, a perfect body does not exist. An immense amount of planning, makeup and photo editing went into the final Instagram picture she posted. It's designed to sell a product, not support a healthy lifestyle.

This leads to low self-esteem and negative thinking towards food. It is incredibly important to teach young women AND men that social media is not real life. Every day, I see the hashtag "body goals" or "thinspo," which is supposed to serve as inspiration to acquire a thin body. I myself have experienced the pressure to look a certain way, as most people I know have. Social media tells us that we need to be a beautiful person in order to be worthy.

In a world where you are measured by how many likes you receive, it's not surprising that so many young men and women suffer from eating disorders, or disordered thinking towards food in general. According to The National Eating Disorder Association, "40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat." Over half of elementary school girls are worried about the way they look. I personally find this number extremely disheartening.

While so many accounts contribute to the harsh beauty standards of today's society, many aim to spread the message of self-love and acceptance. Amalie Lee has an Instagram account that preaches body positivity and a healthy attitude towards food in general.

She posts pictures of candy, ice cream and unedited photos of herself. She believes that cellulite and stretch marks should be celebrated, not erased. She has recovered from anorexia, which she states was made worst by the images she saw through social media.

Her goal is to flood the internet with realistic photos of healthy, happy bodies. Accounts like this are creating a safe, healthy place for people to understand the truth behind edited social media pictures and brand advertising. Instead of using social media to create a toxic breeding ground of negative self-image, let's strive to create a positive attitude towards a true version of ourselves!

@amalielee

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How Social Media Contributes To Unrealistic Beauty Standards

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Every morning, the first thing I reach for is my phone. I go straight to Instagram and scroll through my feed before I have to wake up for my 8 a.m. This is not only a part of my everyday routine but a huge part of my life.

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Unhealthy marketing towards young women.

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Unhealthy marketing towards young women.

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This article talks about young women reacting in such a way from body types and such

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It's an average afternoon for a sixteen-year-old girl, she is sitting in bed after school scrolling through her Instagram feed full of perfectly photoshopped models. She checks her calorie tracking app and starts to panic when she sees that she ate over 12 hundred calories. She skips dinner and stays in bed all night wishing that she looked as beautiful as the girls on Instagram and regretting what she ate that day.

Currently 95 percent of young girls with eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders are between the ages of twelve and twenty five, according to the Huffington Post . These disorders are caused by the unrealistic societal standards that have been created over time. Young girls want to match the ideal body image so much that they create bad habits and force themselves into diets that don't nourish their bodies. They also obsess over unrealistic goals and complete grueling amounts of exercise.

Junior Stephanie Hoogerheide said, "I think that it's not right for society to be pushing young girls and teens to try to be perfect because no one is perfect. We shouldn't have to fit into a certain image, and we should want to be who we are without wanting to be someone else."

Social media perpetuates trends that encourage women to work out, try fad diets and use ridiculous products like waist-trainers. Waist-trainers are steel boned corsets that are worn around the midsection that supposedly help to shape your waist into an hourglass figure. Also, many women base their careers off of dieting and exercising to raise money by posting pictures of themselves, and marketing the latest fat loss products and skinny teas, which are promoted on social media platforms that include multiple teas, extracts and herbs that are supposed to help people lose weight.

"Instead of wanting to work out and eat healthy just to take care of your own well being, many people are doing it [publicizing a healthy lifestyle] just to say they are and to take a mirror selfie at the gym or eat a healthy salad to post on social media," said junior Zoe Srackangast.

Some of these standards enforced by social media go unnoticed everyday. Think about this: almost every movie that you watch features a female love interest that has pretty long hair, is skinny and is desired by every guy. Almost every commercial on TV has a family with perfect looking kids and seemingly great parents. These aren't just coincidences; media sources purposely project these images to show the standard of beauty that is expected out of young girls.

Zoe wants young women to be themselves and ignore societies harsh standards.

"I think that our current society and social media is causing girls to act unnatural or not be their true selves just to fit in with their friends or social standards." Zoe continued with her concerns, "I think that it's also causing more anxiety and mental problems in girls with the idea that you're not good enough and aren't perfect. It has changed what motivates people."

Not only do young girls believe that they have to excessively exercise and eat next to nothing, but the media has portrayed beautiful women as only those with a big butt, a small waist and a perfected face of makeup. This has created an expectation for young girls that defeats their self-confidence.

English teacher Anne Bowser said, "I'm not sure it [society's standards] has changed as much as you might think. I think that women have always been required to be concerned with how they look, more so than men. I'm not talking about hygiene, I'm talking about how one presents oneself. What you highlight in yourself is what you're presenting to the world. The fact that this is happening with younger girls is the problem." Bowser continued, "What we don't realize is that we tend to ... ourselves by saying, 'I can make my eyebrows look this way or my lips this way.' That's the problem."

We as young women can try to uplift each other by doing the little things like giving out compliments about someone's talents or skills in a subject, rather than just how they look or what they are wearing. That takes less than thirty seconds out of your day. Also, young women can try to take the media with a grain of salt. We need to have a filter for the media and realize that most of these women are photoshopped, and these ideas of women are unrealistic. No one needs to conform to societal standards created by social media to be deemed beautiful or liked by others.

We have to realize that every single one of us is beautiful and we are all unique, and the things we like and our personalities are more important than how we look. Everyone has their own journey to self-love and that is okay.

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Beauty Standards and Body Image: How Society Uses Social Media to Target Young Girls

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It's an average afternoon for a sixteen-year-old girl, she is sitting in bed after school scrolling through her Instagram feed full of perfectly photoshopped models. She checks her calorie tracking app and starts to panic when she sees that she ate over 12 hundred calories. She skips dinner and stays in bed all night wishing...

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Social media influences on men and women

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Social media influences on men and women

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In this article it talks about how deceiving or influential media can be, putting un-realistic views on people.

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How Social Media Impacts Beauty Standards for Boys and Girls

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Social media has increased in popularity ever since the idea of smart phones and tablets started to appear for sale; there are various…