Beautiful, skinny girls are on the cover of every magazine, social media is filled to the brim with these picture perfect girls, their sparkling white teeth, clear skin and stunning figures. We are brought up being told to love ourselves for who we are and all our flaws but how can we when these digitally enhanced photos of this distorted idea of ‘beautiful’ is being waved in our faces at every moment, telling us what beautiful is?
Our perception of beauty is hugely distorted. From a young age, we see images which have altered our consciousness of true beauty, and made us forget what’s really crucial, health. Models are airbrushed, that's not just making blemishes disappear. Their legs are lengthened, they are made taller, smaller, thinner and more curvy. This is all to please society's view as ‘perfect’ at the time which is constantly changing. One minute curves are in, then it’s hourglass figures, then abs, elongated torsos, having no body fat.
We live in a world so corrupt, that brands are advertising mascara, yet the model is wearing fake eyelashes. We're constantly told what's acceptable and what's not, and our idea of ‘beautiful’ has been morphed into what society wants us to think. Magazines are constantly bombarding us with images of what's seen as ‘perfect’, and the standards as to which we should keep too. In our everyday lives, our perception is altered, even mirrors in dressing rooms are curved slightly at the top or the bottom, this creates a slimming effect. As many feel the slimmer they look, the better.
Now what is this promoting exactly? Young girls aspire to look like these models, 5 foot 7, long legs, flat stomachs, perfect features and figures. There was the whole trend of ‘clean eating’, going to the gym every morning or night, spending your lives counting calories and snacking on salad. Now some people may argue that these habits are healthy for you in fact, however they were just society’s way of telling children that they have to be skinny to be pretty? These are disordered behaviours that shouldn’t be seen as normal but yet somehow are because in the world we live in they have been accepted as the norm.
Children as young as 10 can be found downloading calorie counting apps and other fitness apps and on social media platforms like Instagram or Pinterest looking at accounts that promote eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and restrictive eating. Yet Instagram and other websites do not do anything about these accounts. There are whole websites and blogs dedicated to getting a ‘Victoria’s secret angel’s figure’ and ‘bodybuilder muscles’ that anyone can get access to.
A friend I spoke to recently, saw an advertisement ‘promoting’ skin care and she noticed that the very first thing that was said was, ‘do you want healthier looking skin?’ She expressed her view on this by saying:
“This made me think, is there something wrong with my skin? Nobody had perfect skin. And why does it even matter how perfect your skin is? It doesn’t, yet big brands promote ‘flawless skin’ as a way to attract people like you and me to buy their products.”
The way young children are surrounded by these images and rules of what they should, and shouldn’t do, what they should and shouldn’t eat and how they should and shouldn’t behave is damaging for their health in the future. Social media has a huge impact on body standards in children and teens. There are social media accounts that show and promote eating disorders to look good and glorify them, making other people think it’s okay to take part in unhealthy behaviours and activities to look like the people online. Photos online are enhanced and edited to show the best of people, making children and teens think that there is something wrong with them as we are presented with these unrealistic ideas of how we are meant to live.
This can lead to many mental health illnesses such as anxiety, self-harm and depression. Children and teenagers are especially vulnerable and naïve, this makes mental illnesses seem cool and ‘trendy’. Such destructive behaviours have become normal, but it shouldn’t be. These illnesses are life threatening and should not be promoted.
Figures obtained by BBC News from NHS Digital show a rise of more than 130% in those aged 19 and under suffering from eating disorders being admitted to hospital in England since 2011. In 2018 there were more than 2,000 admissions for children aged 15 or under - up by 163% since 2011. Surely these figures alone scream to us that we need to do something to help people with these illnesses instead of making them seem like something people want and aspire to have.
It’s one thing to advertise helplines and services but it is not okay to promote these disorders as it makes it seem as if it’s normal. Society’s expectations of its constantly changing idea of ‘beauty’ is ultimately unachievable. It promotes toxic lifestyles that will ruin your health, not making it stronger. Social media is tarnishing our perception of beauty, manipulating individuals into believing that they are not beautiful the way they are.
