Imagine being a teenage girl in today’s society. Everywhere you look there are pictures of beautiful women—on television, in magazines, and all over social media. Being in high school only makes it worse. There’s so much pressure to look a certain way and it becomes too difficult to keep up with. You try your best to eat healthy and go to the gym to stay thin. However, you don’t have the time so you gradually just start eating less and less. You convince yourself that this is okay because you have a lot of homework and just forgot to eat lunch. This goes on for some time and without realizing it, you develop an eating disorder. This is often what happens to tons of young girls who are exposed to media. Our society has been trained by the media to see beauty in a certain way that forces young girls to define beauty in the wrong way. Therefore, it is clearly evident that both social media and body image are universally prevalent and the way that they impact each other affects society tremendously. In a society that places such great emphasis on how women should look, it is often difficult for females to feel satisfied or confident in their own skin. As a result of seeing such a glamorization of thinness in the media, young girls today can’t help but compare themselves to others, which in turn leads to poor body image. This issue is more relevant now than it ever has been because social media was not always as popular as it is now. More and more people, especially throughout the younger generation, are being exposed to social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and are learning to depend on these social platforms as a way to validate themselves in the eyes of society. Although this can be seen as a positive trend, it can also be extremely detrimental to the perceptions of young girls. According to Rachel Simmons, “Psychologists found robust cross-cultural evidence linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness and self-objectification in adolescents.”  This sad truth is often overlooked and many people fail to realize just how greatly the media affects women today. However, social media negatively impacts the body image of young women in society, which can be seen through outcomes such as the dangerous development of eating disorders, the change in academic performance of young women, and the ways in which women generally see themselves. All of these outcomes place the health and well-being of women in jeopardy and causes them to change the way they live their lives just based on what they see in media. 

Eating disorders have always been a very serious issue and still are today. However, many people don’t realize that disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating often stem from social media. In an interview titled “Susie Orbach Talks To Anne Kingston” by Anna Kingston, Kingston focuses on the serious eating disorders that are caused as a result of the pressures of society. In this article, Kingston points out that many of the role models for young women, especially young female actresses, are notably thin. In response to this, Susie Orbach says, “So there's a fetishization of the female form, which then encourages young women who are not that size by nature to transform themselves. So bulimia becomes the response: you eat but then you don't feel entitled to keep it down.” This quote hits the nail on the head with regards to how media might cause young girls to develop eating disorders. When girls see so many thin women in the media, they become motivated to look exactly like those women. So, many young girls resort to eating disorders such as bulimia because it’s easy and quick. Those girls then get attached to the horrible things they do to their body and it becomes hard for them to stop. However, many young girls are not aware of just how detrimental eating disorders can be to their health. "Eating Disorders: Perceptions Of Young Women And Social Media Portrayal” by Arushi Verma and Maria-Irini Avgoulas is another article that focuses on how the media contributes significantly to the cause of eating disorders in young women. This is because forms of media, such as magazines, tend to glamorize thinness as something that all women should strive to have. “The wish to be thin among women could also be explained by the messages the media gives out and its influence on young people. As young women will often aspire to be like celebrities, the media may have acted to promote eating disorders by linking the illness with women of beauty and status (As quoted by Giles and Maltby 2004). This source used in Verma and Avgoulas’ article clearly articulates how the desire to be like celebrities in the media can very well cause eating disorders. Some celebrities in the media have even had eating disorders themselves, which also leads young girls to think that it is okay for them to develop eating disorders as well. 

Additionally, society’s preoccupation with appearances is slowly taking over the academic progress of young adolescents. In a Ted Talk by Meaghan Ramsey, called “Why Thinking You’re Ugly Is Bad For You”, Ramsey focuses on the unfortunate fact that the academic studies of the younger generation are declining at the expense of the excessive use of social media. In her Ted Talk, Ramsey points out that, “Thirty-one percent, nearly one in three teenagers, are withdrawing from classroom debate. They're failing to engage in classroom debate because they don't want to draw attention to the way they look.” This statistic alone is reason enough to see that the pressures of society are severely impacting academic participation. When attention is draw to students in a classroom setting, it makes them feel self-conscious of the way they look. Therefore, in their mind, it is just easier for them to skip class overall or not participate in class discussions. Ramsey also states, “And when it comes to exams, if you don’t think you look good enough, specifically if you don’t think you are thin enough, you will score a lower grade point average than your peers who are not concerned with this.” All of this is derived from the tremendous amount of time spent on social media seeing people with “perfect” appearances. Furthermore, an article written by Tovah Yanover and J. Kevin Thompson called “Eating Problems, Body Image Disturbances, and Academic Achievement: Preliminary Evaluation Of The Eating And Body Image Disturbances Academic Interference Scale” similarly explores the idea that negative body image and decreased academic performance are related. The authors write, “Body image dissatisfaction might lead to a high level of class absenteeism due to social anxiety regarding appearance (184).” This quote communicates almost the exact same idea that Ramsey brings up in her Ted Talk. Yanover and Thompson take that idea even further by linking academic performance to the physical effects of eating disorders. “Binge eating and purging, and the aftereffects of purging, such as fatigue, might conceivably interfere with one’s ability to study or complete classroom assignments (184).” This is a great point to make seeing as though it is not something that a lot of people think about. The aftereffects of eating disorders can take a huge toll on the human body, which can make it difficult for students to perform well in class and even at home.  

The most general issue with body image and social media in society is that girls from extremely young ages to girls in their teens and even girls in college are becoming more and more accustomed to using social media and in turn, being taught that appearance is everything. In her article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror”, Rachel Simmons focuses on the toxicity of social media and how it negatively affects young girls today. The author explains that when young girls see someone like their favorite celebrity on television, it reflects poorly on them because they see that they don’t look like the “perfect” women in the media. In turn, this causes young women to lose self-confidence and become more insecure. Simmons writes, “Visual platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat deliver the tools that allow teens to earn approval for their appearance and compare themselves to others.” In this quote, it is evident that social media directly impacts the way that young girls see themselves and it also makes it seem as though appearances are the only thing that can validate self- worth. Correspondingly, Susie Orbach also points out that the media is negatively impacting girls who haven’t even reached their teen years. Orbach says, “There was a new program last week in England showing 10-year-old girls, nine-year-old girls, not one of them felt that they were an okay size. They have already absorbed this idea that they have to transform their bodies, that they should mimic their moms, or what's generally in the cultural conversation and be dieting.” Not only is this quote shocking, but also disheartening to even think about. The fact that nine and ten year olds are trained to worry that much about their physical appearance is absolutely ludicrous. Additionally, as the media is able to affect girls before they even reach their teen years, the media continues to affect girls even in college. The body image issues and societal pressures don’t stop after high school. After conducting a simple, anonymous survey to research how social media affects young women in college, I found that many girls in college still experience negative body image because of what they see in the media. When asked, “Have you ever felt insecure about your body as a result of social media?” 17 out of 18 girls responded with “Yes”, which is nearly 95%. When asked how they thought social media usually impacts body image; positively or negatively, 15 out of 18 girls responded with “Negatively”, while three people said “Neutrally”. These statistics make it clear that a majority of young girls in college agree with the fact that social media negatively impacts the body image of young women in society.   

Despite the fact that some people believe that social media strictly induces negative body image, others believe that social media can be used as a platform to motivate others and promote self worth. This phenomenon is especially evident on Instagram, specifically on ‘fitspo’ pages, also knows as ‘fitness inspiration’ pages. In an article titled “On Instagram, ‘Fitspo’ Is More Than An Eyeful” by Hilary Sheinbaum, Sheinbaum states “Despite varying personal aspirations -- to write fitness books, star in fitness videos, etc. – their (fitness inspiration personalities) stated goal is to motivate others.” With regards to this quote, it makes it seem like these fitness pages are only motivational and make others feel better about themselves and the way that they look. However, in Lauren McMah’s article titled “Fitspo Contributing To Negative Body Image Among Women, Researchers Find”, the author points out that “The images plastered on Instagram or Pinterest accounts are meant to inspire women and remind them to stay on track of their fitness goals. But it turns out that these images could be making women feel worse about their bodies.” This quote directly communicates that women don’t feel better about themselves after viewing “inspiring” fitness pictures of other women. These images actually make the situation worse. One example of a ‘fitspo’ Instagram page can been seen on famous fitness model, Jen Selter’s account. Selter dedicates her work to helping motivate people to change their bodies by promoting a healthy diet and a strict workout regimen. She manages to do this by posting hundreds of pictures of her perfectly toned abs, legs, and butt. Although it’s great that she has accomplished her goal body, these pictures don’t always have a positive affect on the women that view them. It is believed that the reason why is because all of these fitness images only represent the uniform standard of what is considered attractive. In other words, these images usually depict women that are already toned and thin, which only makes most women feel worse about themselves.  

It is also not uncommon for some brands to promote positive body image through their own media platforms. For example, Dove decided to create a campaign called the “Real Beauty Campaign” which advocates for all types of body shapes, sizes, and colors. This campaign had hopes of “making beauty a source of confidence” by promoting all body types and demonstrating that real beauty comes in all different forms. However, in an online article titled “Dove ‘Real Beauty’ Campaign Turns 10: How A Brand Tried To Change The Conversation About Female Beauty”, Nina Bahadur states that “Both critics and champions of the campaign have pointed out that just because women are redefining beauty, doesn’t mean they are actually feeling differently about themselves.” This quote is especially meaningful because even though certain brands claim to promote body positivity, that doesn’t mean their tactics always work. Another flaw with this campaign is that even though it is being done positively, people are still being trained to focus on appearances. According to Jennifer Pozner, “Until we get to a point in the culture where the dominant messages about girls and women are not focused on their physical bodies, then we do need to actually reaffirm a broader and more innate, internal definition of what beauty is” (As quoted from Bahadur). This statement is extremely powerful because it communicates that beauty should consist of more than just looks. Instead of focusing on how physically beautiful one might be, female beauty should be based off of factors such as intelligence, strength, and character. Until society successfully defines beauty as something that is internal rather than external, women everywhere will still only think to focus on their appearance as way to validate their beauty.  

There is no doubt that social media has become an exceptionally important component of life today. Whether it is used for work, school, or simple leisure time, there is no denying that all types of social media platforms appear everywhere we go. Although this is great for the advancement of our society into the future, this overwhelming use of media has created an outlet for the societal pressures on appearance to affect women now more than ever. As a result of how much media is focused on being thin and looking a certain way, body dissatisfaction levels are increasing in women and causing poor body image all throughout society. Furthermore, as seen in the survey I conducted, if nearly 95 percent of surveyed female students from the University of South Carolina agree that they have felt insecure about their bodies as a result of social media, then this is clearly an issue that needs more attention. However, this topic of discussion rarely receives enough consideration and that needs to change. It is easily arguable that being confident in your own skin and promoting self-love is one of the most important things to do in life. Therefore, society needs to be able to define beauty by focusing internal factors rather than only focusing on the external beauty of people in our society. In order to do this, we can change the topic of discussion by, for example, trending hash tags on social media that promote self-love and positive body image. We can also focus on highlighting achievements that have to do with intellectual abilities rather than physical appearance.  
