Remember the thigh gap craze that pushed girls to take mirror selfies with the stick-your-butt-out-so-it-looks-like-your-thighs-don't-touch pose? Remember the hip bridge obsession that engulfed girls in a deadly trend to become diet-manias?
When we think about the root of it all, it ultimately boils down to how media presents itself; the growing intimate social networking has instilled upon us a mentality that everyone has to look one way and only one way. We have basically defined beauty in a single bracket of thinness for women and the perfect six-pack for men. We've created a perfect arena for judgment, jealousy, and insecurity to thrive in forms of eating disorders, extreme dieting, obsessive calorie counting, and so on. Not everyone suffers from eating disorders, but everyone brushes contact with the media that perpetuates negative body image. There are more people who scroll through Kendall Jenner's or Gigi Hadid's photoshopped reflections on Instagram then inflict shame on their own selves than those who don't. There are more of those who set pictures of model Scarlett Leithold and Alexis Ren as their wallpapers, idolizing them and striving to be like them. The video above of model Agnes Hedengard relays a product of some dysfunction that has engineered our minds to a set of standards that cause us to isolate those who don't fit under it. But Agnes Hedengard's choice to stand up against this discrimination is a perfect example of how small attacks can amass to a powerful battle. She didn't succumb to the voices that told her she wasn't good enough; she instead dauntlessly declares her mark of beauty, refusing to conform to the standards that we think we are forced to follow. It's the tiny pebbles that cause the ripples which accumulate to create a wave. We can no longer avoid facing the underlying false sense of insecurity that the media perpetuates on us. We don't have to be victims and succumb to this deteriorating mentality. Let's start by taking baby steps - unfollow that one model you know only damages your self-esteem; go on a hike with friends rather than skip dinner tonight - to nix the cult of conformity that confines us to self-degradation.
1 Comment
Lauren Say
8/26/2016 03:56:21 pm
Now, more than ever, social media has the biggest influence over our lives and how we think about our body image. It is a way for us to feel connected to the most famous public figures in the world through pictures and statuses. We are taught to strive to be like these social figures with skinny bodies, white teeth, shiny hair, and perfect lives but this is almost impossible. This "perfect" image is made artificially by using photoshop and professional photographers. The reality is that, not everyone has access to expensive photographers and have the skills to photoshop their bodies to the ideal shape. There is no such thing as "perfect" but we are brainwashed by social media to believe that there is. I believe if we are true to ourselves and we follow positive and genuine social influences on social media, the problem of image issues will become less controlling in our community.
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Our Blog's PurposeInforming you on the harmful effects of society's constricting image of beauty as well as the courageous people who combat it. Archives
December 2016
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