Analysis Of Mirrors By Lucy Grealy

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

Many people have a habit of asking others on the internet for opinions on what they look like. This creates body image anxieties. At the same time, women were being more objectified in media, with an extreme emphasis placed on their bodies (Klein). Some people believe that the answer to body anxiety is to give a bigger range of body examples in the media. Dr. Phillipa Diedrichs, University of West of England’s Centre for Appearance Research, said,“The more time spent on Facebook, the more likely people are self-objectify.” Media is everywhere, so telling them to ignore it is not going to work. Steps could be taken to help girls to not compare themselves to the unrealistic

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

The media is our source of constant information, and is presented in many forms such as, daily newscasts, social media like Facebook, and the magazines strategically placed in our doctor’s office. There is no surprise that it is also the dominant influence when it comes to society’s beauty standard either. Unfortunately media isn’t a positive influence all the time, and is the main force behind negative body image epidemic that plagues women, especially the 18-25 age group. In order to fully understand the severity of what some call a “Vanity” issue we must look into the facts of how exactly the media damages women’s perception of their own bodies, and then observe the extent of the damage done to the physical and mental states of these women

A young girl may follow a celebrity on Instagram and see pictures posted that have been taken by a professional photographer that only a celebrity could have access to, and suddenly the young viewer may feel that her own self-taken photos are inadequate. Social media has now made it more likely that she will pick apart her appearance and want to look more like the celebrity does. This is an unattainable goal, and when this fact is realized the viewer may feel discouraged about how she looks and turn to extreme measures, such as an eating disorder, to try to approach the unattainable as much as possible. As much as people would want to believe differently, in our society “thin” is synonymous with “beautiful” and “successful” and this underlying truth pushes many social media “thinspiration” sites to mass readership.

The ideal body image that is seen by society is being tall, thin, muscular, and fit. It is commonly seen across various media platforms, making it more popular. The group of people that are targeted ranges from teenagers to adults who engaged in social networking websites (Fardouly and et, al.). The increase in media consumption has proven that it leads to body dissatisfaction among consumers. A statistic from Body Image shows, “Similarly, 90% of 16-24 year olds in the United Kingdom (Office for National Statistics, 2013), and 90% of 18-29 year olds in the United States (Pew Research, 2013a), use social networking websites” (Fardouly and et, al.). The amount of exposure to social media is relatively high in a particular age. These social networking websites have images that are constantly

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 easier to use, many people have felt obligated to go on a photoshop epidemic every time they share an image to the world of social media. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel over the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts in body dissatisfaction in today’s society. 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 social media has a positive or a negative impact in the way an individual perceive themselves. With the rapid growth and rise of smartphone usage among adolescents and young adults, social media outlets have become an essential part of one’s daily life. Today, when adolescents and young 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. Thus, often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful in today’s society. 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

A recent study of women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five indicated that greater Instagram use was linked to increased self-objectification and body image concerns (National Eating Disorder Association, 2017). Some women and girls compare themselves to each other and to pictures on the internet all the time. Although, sometimes what people do not realize is that what is shown on social media is not always the actual representation of what they actually look like.

For young people who have a tendency towards perfectionism, anxiety, or disordered eating, the (often digitally enhanced) images of skinny girls or women they see online can lead them to equate slimness with happiness. Validation of their own photos from other social media users (“You look great!” or “Have you lost weight?”) may falsely fulfill their need for acceptance—further distorting their body image.

Body image is extremely present in all platforms- television, magazines, and social media. It makes young adults, teens, girls self conscious of how they look. “Because the body changes dramatically in adolescence, teens are often self-conscious and embarrassed. Self-criticism has become a fluid part of online media, with your teen using their online friends for validation, acceptance, and judgement. Factor into this scenario celebrity advertisements, models, TV and movies, in which bodies are airbrushed and preteens are used in adult advertisements without the “burden” of body fat or wrinkles... and you can see how difficult it is for your teen to maintain a balanced and healthy body image. In fact, this impossible and improbable media-driven body image realistically fits only a small percentage of the population of boys and girls... and yet, it is the criteria by which your teen measures herself”(Gross). “Statistics show that approximately 92 percent of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only 5 percent of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media. More alarming is that these numbers aren’t exactly shocking. In fact, it’s what we’ve come to expect”

To love yourself for who you truly are, is a goal many adolescents strive to achieve. However, this goal is being pushed further aside, consequently due to social media's influence. The teenage society could not be hidden from the time era where many underestimate who we are. Unfortunately, social media has taken an immense part of harming teen’s body image. The “perfect body” image that has spread all over social media has shattered teenager’s point of view on self beauty. Social media portrays its images as the “must have” body, without the assertion of being realistic.

Upon the introduction of social media, music featuring words relating to a person's physique and movies starring beautiful actresses, our world has acquired an unrealistic ideal body type for women. Wide hips and a tiny waist are considered “hot”, just as a big butt and round breasts appeal the eyes of our society. While women lucky enough to portray some of these idealistic traits are being praised, the rest of us are being body shamed by bystanders and our own altered conscious.

Janine DeMichele who was a web designer and actress, featured magazine called “Psychology Today” magazine, was never satisfied with the way she looked. As she start stumbling upon through online photographs such as on a social media platform such as Instagram, and search “fitspiration” or “fitspo” included pictures of women with a slender and toned body, thinking it would help her mental push in need to run an extra mile, as a way to motivate herself to make the effort to get herself fit. She describes, “‘I would look at the accounts of women posting their perfect pictures and then stand in front of the mirror comparing myself”’(34), which also lead her to think that she would make a lot of progress with getting the “perfect” body that she wanted. Because social media has become a huge part of a young adults lives, many professional models will promote themselves through their fitness, giving other people motivation into working out more. Another genre of pictures called “thinspiration” which includes photos of women, showing off their extreme skinny bodies and could also lead to women to self-esteem and even causes them to eating disorders as an influence to think they are overweight or not skinny enough. At a young age from middle school to high school, I’ve also personally dealt with body image and feeling dissatisfied with the way I looked. At the age of 12, I

Body image insecurity is an issue that a large majority of females in our world face on a daily basis. Celebrities have been idealized by the media to a point of unreachable standards, not always by their own desire. Modifications and enhancements are made to nearly all published photos, making the perfect body type one that does not truly exist in the real world. Because of today’s technological advances, celebrity news is never more than a smart phone click away. This constant availability has enabled females to compare and analyze their own bodies more than ever before. Individuals ideal self-image seems to have grown farther and farther from their actual self-image, presumably due to the “perfect body” stereotype that is projected to