This photograph, Outside Influences, by Meg Gaiger is extremely powerful and sobering to those who view it. This image portrays a little girl gazing down at images of what society claims is the ideal woman, while holding scissors to her baby fat. Society makes women conform. Women are constantly under a microscope, having their tiniest flaws examined and exploited. The increased use of social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, puts the pressure on young girls to post the perfect picture. A picture that shows off a girl with delicate features, who is skinny, tan, and fun. Girls truly believe if their social media is not perfect, then they are far less than perfect. Beauty should not be measured in the amount of likes someone gets on their social media posts, it is much deeper than that. The photographs the young girl surrounds herself with make her feel unworthy and ugly simply because she is not built like these women. This connects with the pressure from social media because young girls are being bombarded with photos of these “perfect” women. This frequently results in girls going to extreme and unhealthy measures to achieve their looks. It is easy to tell that this photo depicts the pressures of society through the use of colors, facial expressions, posture, and strategic photos of models, exposing the insecurities brought about by society and the pressure brought upon all women, specifically young girls, to conform to what is considered “perfection”. 

 The colors used in this image are extremely powerful because they truly show how corruptive society can be to even the youngest, purest humans in our world. This young girl believes that if she looks like these “flawless” models she will find happiness. The background appears almost dirty, as though there is a layer of grime glossed over the little girl. The grimy layer portrays societies less than pure beliefs and disgusting standards. The duller colors in the background highlight how the girl is truly feeling as she obsesses over these pictures. The background of the photos is darker than the girls own background, in different shades of blues and blacks. The dark colors represent the struggle that women are faced with on a daily basis and the girls own bruised ego. It shows the damage and hurt that societies expectations bring upon young girls, especially. These colors emphasize the pure white the girl is covered in. This truly goes to show that she is innocent and untainted in a dark, corrupted world, represented by the dull colors of her background. However, the dark backgrounds surrounding the girl are slowly starting to close in on her. The importance of this is that the young girl is slowly becoming contaminated by the negative views of society, thus beginning her conformation to what is expected of females. 

The paleness of the young girl’s skin is representative of her innocence. It serves as a reminder of her youth and purity. Being as young as she is, she should be free from the exploitation of labels and beauty expectations from society. Aside from her light skin tone, everything is dimmed and dark. The lackluster colors that the young girl is made up of, directly contrast with the sleek, darker colors of the models in the surrounding photographs. This is representing the insecurities of the girl and how she feels about herself compared to those models – as though she is not worthy and has a negative impression of herself. One of the photographs pictures a model with bright golden hair, a polar opposite from the girl’s dull, dark brown hair color. The brightness of this models hair correlates with the image she puts out in the world. Her hair is a bright, happy color, giving off the image that she stands out and she is intriguing. The girl’s plain hair is average compared to the women’s and does not give off the same carefree, energetic feel, which further emphasizes her disappointment in her appearance. 

The use of facial expression in this picture give the image more depth and is essential in emphasizing how much the effects of the modern take on beauty weigh down and degrade women. Even if the scissors were not in this image, her facial expression makes it obvious how the girl truly feels after looking through the different photographs of “perfect” models.  The girl looks down upon her body, still yet to develop and grow, with a facial expression that appears almost shameful, which immediately sets the tone for the entire photo. You can tell she is ashamed by herself due to the element of defeat etched into her wrinkle-free face as she attempts to change her body to look like the models. Though she does not have a deep frown, her mouth is taut and firm. Her eyes are downcast and her eyebrows are slightly furrowed. The shadows on her face emphasize the girl’s disappointment in herself and her clear desire to have the same shape and image as the women in those photographs. These are all signs of dissatisfaction and disappointment, something a girl as young as herself should not have to worry about. This goes to show how much these images effect our youth and how corruptive the world’s common idea of beauty can be to a young person’s mind. 

Posture plays a big role in this image, as well, and it coordinates with facial expression. The young girl is slumped over, her shoulders are hunched, her head is down, and her hair is hanging in front of her face and body. Her head hanging down emphasizes her insecurities and shows how ashamed she must feel. Not only are her eyes downcast, but her head hanging goes to further show how down she feels. The child is trying to close in on herself and hide her “ugly” image and body from the world by hunching over and using her hair to cover herself. However, the models that are in this image exude confidence with their powerful stances. One model is in an elaborate pose, she is holding herself with confidence and pride. Her photo captures viewers’ attention and she appears proud and satisfied that others are looking at her in envy. This is quite the contrast from the girl, who seems to want to hide herself from the eyes of others. Women are told from very early on that confidence is one of the most important things, if you have it then you will be more attractive. However, women are also being told that they cannot be confident if they do not fit societies criteria of beautiful. This leads the little girl to believe that if she could look like the women in her pictures, then she too will be able to be free of her insecurities. She would be able to hold her head high if she could mirror the models she is surrounded by. 

Society’s warped idea of beauty and feminism plague the minds of people everywhere, specifically females. This picture is evidence that even those as young as the girl seen in this photograph are effected by what society deems “perfect”. Magazines, social media, and other outside influences tend to dictate how women feel about themselves. All around the world, media is given the power to determine what is beautiful, what clothes are cool, and what women should look and act like. The media is detrimental to both the mental and physical health of people all over. This image truly anchors the viewers. It makes them stop and truly think about what the children in our world are being taught about beauty and appearances. It shows that young girls typically resort to drastic measures and in the process of trying to be perfect, harm themselves. This picture displays the low self-esteem of all women. An image like this deserves to be seen internationally in order to truly show the world the disgusting way society makes women feel about themselves. The insecurities of women provided by societies expectations make women feel as though they are in competition with one another and the media often encourages women pitting other women against each other. 
