Cyberbullying Body Image

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

Gonzalez states that, “bullying is common in most public schools, and even in some private schools. Some girls call other girls “fat” or “ugly,” and the victim starts to become concerned about their appearances. Most girls will often change the way they look, act, or eat” (Gozalez 1). Bullies can lower self-esteem, cause depression, and make people self-conscious. When women hear men saying negative comments about their body, they over think and over react. Women are undoubtedly convinced that men are correct and they need to become the next supermodel. It should not be this way, we should cherish and affirm who we are and not feel constrained by the crowd around

Further, they presented studies that could relate to appearance-related cyberbullying. For instance, the authors identify one study that found that specific social networking sites was a reason for low self-esteem. There could be an argument made that the sites themselves are what creates the low self-esteem and not the cyberbullying, but the authors included this information in their review, helping to create a more complete picture of the issue and providing an unbiased review of the

Rebecca Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl, committed suicide after being repeatedly cyberbullied by 15 girls for many months. Once again, cyberbullying through social media has led to the suicide of a child. (“Phillips, Suzanne”) Social media allows hundreds of ways to communicate with others with electronic devices. Sometimes communicating with strangers, and sometimes unanimous. This idea of constant messages, notifications, and texts can be very dangerous when it comes to cyberbullying because the victim feels like they have no way out, or nowhere to hide. Social media for kids and teens ultimately has only negative effects because it leads to cyberbullying, a decrease in education, and suicide.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are huge contributors to cyberbullying. These social network sites grant their members the privilege to engage in the actions of the attacker which is a menace. A majority of the cyberbullied population have committed suicide due to the abusive comments. Cyberbullying has gone into a hyper drive with new devices and faster types of social media.

Social media itself is a huge danger to society. It causes many suicides within the world because of the cyberbullying and spreading of rumors. “Recent studies have shown that one out of four teens have been the victims of cyberbullying and one out of six have admitted to having cyberbullied someone” (Trautner 1). The internet and social media is supposed to be used to communicate with friends and for searching information, “Kids use technology different than their parents do. Sometimes it is hard for adults to understand that this can even be a possibility” (Trautner 1). It is not supposed to be used to bully someone, especially not to the point where the victim would think about suicide. “One of the statistics that has been highlighted within this news coverage is the threefold increase in the suicide rate for girls ages 10 to 14. The rates for girls in this age group increased from 0.5 to 1.5 per 100,000 during this time period. The increases for boys in this age group were not as high, climbing from 1.9 per 100,000 during 1999 to 2.6 per 100,000 in 2014” (Olsen

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

No doubt, when people express how they feel on social media about other’s bodies, it can affect the people they have on their social media. Because they can be going through the same thing as the person they are describing. Alex Brunstad in “Body Shaming and Social Media”, explains how she feels about social media and that it actually affects her when someone talks about other people’s bodies. The author explains how she feels saying that “social media, originally a platform by which I hoped to give and receive support from likeminded individuals, quickly became a toxic environment for strengthening my relationship with my body”. People that feel insecure about their body expect that others would accept them on how they look and receive support on how they truly feel about themselves. Since they already know how they look, they do not need a remainder.

The magazines and the constant picture shooting of the “perfect” stars leads to their being an almost ridiculous idea of what the perfect body is. This has come from a long line of basing people off of what they look like, which is natural for humans. Body image is important and bullies use people’s body as the basis for the bullying. Although people believe this is solely a female problem, many men also fall victim to bullying based on their body.

Because of society we have bullying happening, and it has caused people to have eating disorders, and get surgical replacements done to their bodies. People have become anorexic, bulimic, and have or done other things to lose weight because they weren’t “pretty or cute” enough for others to see or like them. “When they begin puberty... the body goes through many changes... These changes, combined with wanting to feel accepted by our friends, means it can be tempting to compare ourselves with others. We might start to compare ourselves with other people or media images ("ideals" that are frequently airbrushed). All of this can affect how we feel about ourselves and our bodies... Family members might struggle with their own body image or criticize their kids' looks ("why do you wear your hair so long?" or "how come you can't wear pants that fit you?"). Although these often come from ignorance, sometimes they can affect body image and self-esteem” (www.kidshealth.org). Many parents seem to think that they know their kids like the palm of their hands, however very few of them see that they’re child struggles with their body image. Body image has influenced all of us, whether it’s in a minor or dramatic way, by making us shower more or brush our hair more, or maybe even by making we go anorexic or getting plastic surgery. Everyone wants to be something close to perfect but everyone is looking out

The Truth about Body Positivity on Social Media 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.

Social media allows us to connect with others and to expand our knowledge about ourselves and the world around us. The rise of social media has led to an increased amount of interactions between people of different ages, races, and nationalities. It has also been used a source of news. In fact, most people in today’s world use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter rather than newspapers and news reports to gain new insight into global and local events. However, the expansion and widespread use of social media has its costs. Cyberbullying is the harassment and targeting of person through online media and technology. It is a growing problem in today’s world, as a result of our technological advancements. However, various solutions towards

This past month, I researched three articles related to the connection between culture and body image. This topic remains vital in modern-day society due to its dangerous effects and outcomes. People strive to be accepted socially, even when it results in unsafe measures. Implications of this issue not only include exclusion, but being bullied or judged by others for their appearance.

Body image is an issue known around the world, just like eating disorders, it is most commonly seen in woman; however, there are men that suffer from this issue as well. The social issue of ideal body image affects people of all ages regardless of gender or ethnicity. Body image is the way one sees their own body in their mind, and they may not feel confident within their own skin, or they may feel unaccepted in society. A person may feel they might not be skinny enough, big enough, tall enough, dark enough, ultimately they will feel they are not enough to fit into what is acceptable in the social order around them. People begin forming rash conclusions or observations of their own body’s attractiveness, health, and appropriateness, in early childhood. However, for today’s ideal body image, it is just another passing trend that does not reduce the desire children, teenagers, or even adults may have to follow ideal standards of beauty and attractiveness. Meanwhile because of the epidemic with body image there has been one-half of females and one-third of males as young as six that have engaged in some sort of dietary behavior. Social influences that can potentially cause people to form ideas about positive and negative body image can play an important role in the way a person may live their lives, and such influences can be things such as, family, friends, and social media.

Despite the positives, there are many negatives associated with social media. Using social media can make a person more vulnerable to predators and cyber bullying. In this age, “Cyber bulling is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and tragically suicide” (“American Academy of Pediatrics”). Cyber bullying impacts society in a negative way because it is harming young teenagers’ minds. Bullies, torment, threat, harass, and even embarrass their victims by using different forms of social media. Using social media can also decrease privacy for an individual. People often give out their personal information not knowing who can see it. To average internet users, “A false sense of security may leave social networking site users vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking, leaking sensitive information, and sending viruses” (“ProCon”). Furthermore, Social media can also lead to brain disorders and can cause people to have a hard time interacting with people face to face. “Social networking entices people to spend more time online and less time talking to a person face to face.” (“ProCon”)