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Maria Enriquez

English 115

Professor Rodrick

December 7, 2017

Social Media Body Image

If you scroll down on any of your social media feeds, it is easy to find a picture of a girl

you would probably never see on a daily basis. In the picture she may be with friends or taking a

hike, but this girl is more than a girl shes the ideal body image of young teenage girls. Its easy

to be on social media and find many of these types girls who are thin and have an hour glass

body shape, but these girls impact other girls in a negative way. They make young girls believe

that having this particular body is what beauty really is and most dont own that particular type

of body. Social media affects a persons identity through body image because it creates false

beauty standards, eating disorders lead by dieting, and causes girls to be unsatisfied with

themselves by using Photoshop and comparing themselves with other girls online. Although we

know these images are not 100% accurate because of Photoshop, it is still easy to fall under the

impression that a girl is supposed to be skinny and beautiful. Girls feel the need to change

themselves in order to conform to what society expects them to look like making them change

their identity inside and out.

Girls are exposed to false beauty standards when they are on social media. What we see

on social media may not always be real, but girls who view the ideal body create a standard for

themselves and the rest of society to view and aim for. According to the article Social Media
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Effect on Young Womens Body Image Concern: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for

Research Perloff states, Exposure to media messages can impart unrealistic images of female

beauty [] and meta-analysis of research indicates that media portrayals of thin-ideal body exert

an impact on body concerns. Perloffs point is that the unrealistic beauty standards that are

shown to girls on media tend to create body dissatisfaction creating concern about what a girls

body should look like implanting thin-ideals into young girls minds. Girls end up believing that

the beauty standards that are shown on media are standards that make a girl beautiful, so they try

to achieve a standard that isnt there for them to reach. Therefore they change their identity to

become someone who they wish to be online and the real world. They try so hard to be someone

they are not and end up losing their identity to the idea that they must be perfect to society.

Since girls want to reach false beauty standards they go to extreme measures to reach it leading

to eating disorders. This then becomes a part of a persons identity because having an eating

disorder affects the way the person identifies themselves by the amount they eat and lose weight.

According to the article, Concurrent and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction,

Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls the authors Ferguson,

Munoz, Garza, and Galindos view, Compared to clinical eating disorders, which remain

relatively rare, non-clinical body dissatisfaction is very common, affecting 50% of girls and

young women. They argue that girls suffer from eating disorders because they view images that

effects how they view their body trying to find a way to change themselves on how to look

somewhat similar to the girls presented on social media I agree because these girls are admired

by people and girls want to have that same admiration therefore try to figure out ways they can

look like this and turn to eating disorders to get there quicker. Girls want to be fit as well and

turn to eating less because it would be the fastest way to be as skinny as those girls.
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There are websites online that promote dieting as a good way to lose weight. Although

sometimes going on a diet is good for a person who has an unbalanced eating system, these girls

are not doing it to benefit their health. Perloff himself writes, Websites are devoted to

promoting proanorexic ideals [] Healthy Living blogs also emphasize thin appearance values

and disordered nutritional messages, while also containing self-objectifying messages about

woman. In other words, Perloff states that websites can provide some pretty tough and easy

ways to lose weight that could harm girls because they are so desperate to lose weight. In other

words, Perloff believes these diets that are being promoted on the websites are causing harm

while giving information on what is fit and what is not to girls such as not having belly fat or

stretch marks. Models also promote dieting through their photos. They take pictures of

themselves eating salads, fruits and working out leading woman to want to follow these routines

in an unhealthy way. These pictures online present a powerful message because they are stating

that if they eat salads and fruits all the time they will be thin and good looking as them. Once a

girl goes through an eating disorder that persons identity is no longer the same they are forcing

themselves to not eat or eat very little, changing how they interact with others and changing their

appearance as a whole.

In society it is easy for a person to be unsatisfied with their body and social media

contributes to it. As we see these loved and craved bodies online we begin to see that our bodies

dont match up to them. In Perloff views, Scores of experiments have demonstrated that

exposure to thin-ideal media images increases womens dissatisfaction with their bodies, as well

as negative affect. To further Perloff statement he is saying young girls are no longer happy

about what they see in front of the mirror because of social media presents body image to be tall

with long shiny hair and skinny, but still have enough breasts and a butt. In a YouTube video
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Body Image Affected by Media according to Alicia she states, Eight out of ten women are not

happy with their body. Alicia points out that a high number of women are not happy with

themselves and the number of woman who is feeling this way is an increasing because of the

media. No body type is the same its part of a persons identity, who they are and social media

has been making young girls feel unsatisfied with their own identities.

Photoshop is used so many times with models in their pictures to portray a certain way;

girls view this and still want to have this false standard. Even at a very young age, Perloff

himself writes, Internalization of body perfect ideals and body size stereotypes begin when

girls in Western societies as young as 3 years old. Mass media have been implicated as an

especially significant source of influence of these perceptions. Beginning with young girls

exposure to mass communicated images of the Barbie doll- the cultural icon of female beauty.

Basically, Perloff is stating that body image can impact girls at such a young age through media

promoting Barbie dolls with images online that may not seem to be a big deal, but actually

promote a perfect body that is not ideal since it provides a small waist that a girl cant have

unless her ribs are removed.

Comparison is done by many women that are not satisfied with themselves and look upon

others noting the differences between the models and them. As you go through your social media

and you look at a friends picture you begin to compare yourself with that friend. According to

Perloff, Social comparison with attractive peers can actually lead to more negative self-

attractiveness ratings than comparison with attractive advertising models. He argues that

people online not only do they find effects on their friend but also themselves, I agree because

even I do that myself I tend to compare myself to other attractive friends of mine on my social

media making me feel upset about my own body. You want the features your friend or a random
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girl online has because it satisfies the wants of the ideal body for a woman. Social media then

becomes a competition on who gets more likes based on their body pictures. The skinner you

look in a picture the more attractive you seem the more likes you get. Then Perloff states

Another important social learning factor is self-objectification, the process by which girls come

to view their bodies as objects to be looked at, much like an observer would. In other words,

Perloff believes that girls compare their bodies as if they are no longer attached to their head but

are now objects that have to satisfy men. Their identity is no longer surrounded by them but upon

what others want to see online, the identity that will get them the most likes.

Social media issues on body image affect the persons identity in the real world. That

person is no longer confident in themselves and online. They make themselves suffer through

dieting that leads up to an eating disorder only to reach a false beauty standard that doesnt exist.

Their identity is not based on them being happy about themselves, but on being constantly

worried that they are not skinny enough to be loved both online and in the real world. Girls and

even sometimes men want what they see online and find ways to be the standard they all want.

They become shy and conservative because they no longer believe they are enough for society.

Identity is no longer theirs to claim, its all put into one picture they see online or social media

and that is the ideal body image for a young teenage girl.
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Work Cited

Body Image Affected By Media YouTube. Uploaded by Alicia. Oct.4, 2012.

https://youtu.be/47cbEeSKIZo

Ferguson, Christopher J., Galindo, Mariza, Garza, Adolfo and Munoz, Monica E. Concurrent

And Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and

Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, Vol.43, no.1,

January 2014, pp.1-14, Social Sciences (H.W. Wilson). Ebscohost. Accessed December 7,

2017.

Perloff, Richard M. Social Media Effect on Young Womens Body Image Concern: Theoretical

Perspectives and an Agenda for Research. Sex Roles, Vol.71, no.11-12, December 2014,

pp.363-377, Social Sciences (H.W. Wilson). Ebscohost. Accessed December 7, 2017.

Ricciardelli, Lina A and Williams, Robert J. Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Further

Considerations and Broader Perspectives. Sex Roles, Vol.71, December 2014, pp.389-

392, Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Ebscohost. Accessed December 7, 2017.