Social Media & Body Image
Social Media and Body Image
The ways in which we think about ourselves and our bodies in particular is influenced by the media we consume. This experience is intensified in adolescent girls, and puts them at increased risk for body dissatisfaction and body shame. When young women experience increased levels of body dissatisfaction it can be a stepping stone to developing mental health concerns (anxiety, depression) or disordered eating.
How Platforms & Content contribute
Highly visual social media platforms like instagram, snapchat, tiktok and Facebook are commonly used by adolescent girls (and adult women!) and all feature highly edited images of peers, celebrities and influencers. The content of this media often perpetuates ultra thinness, exercise, diet (& “wellness” culture), and unrealistic beauty standards.
The visual nature of these medias, combined with feedback received (in the form of likes, comments), the public nature of the media (we can see anyone!, even people we don’t know), and the fact that it is available 24/7 for our consumption (and that there is usually always something new to look at!!) create a social media experience that over emphasizes our focus on physical appearance and comparison of our appearance to others.
We can likely extend this to the experience of comparing our life milestones (career, family, relationships, friendships and parenting) on social media to peers, celebrities, and influencers, which can often lead to negative feelings and harsh critiques of ourselves in those domains.
Sociocultural gender pressures - how the world order influences us
Despite the advances made for women in terms of our role in society, women (in the US) are still valued culturally for their physical appearance, whereas men were valued for their morality, financial success and ambition.
This cultural value scheme plays into how young girls are socialized to over-value physical attractiveness and devote more attention, finances, and emotional energy towards trying to achieve the cultural beauty standard. And when they don’t? They experience an increase in distress, body image concerns and body shame.
Body changes
Much of the research on social media use and adolescent girls, focused on the experience of cis-gendered white women who are often striving for a beauty standard that is thin and eurocentric. Puberty often takes girls away from this thin beauty standard as they gain (normal and appropriate) fat mass while they develop. This, alongside the other features discussed can create a “perfect storm” of elements that create body dissatisfaction and shame in young girls.
We can also see how these same elements of body comparison and focus on physical appearance can impact anyone using social media. This may be especially true if they are undergoing changes in their body that take them further away from the ideal standard of their culture (pregnancy, perimenopause, aging, weight gain, and injury).
Comparison with others and over investment in apperance
Overall, these three elements of sociocultural gender pressures, social media platforms, and body changes, increases the degree to which young women compare themselves to others, and over invest focus and energy on their own appearance.
An increase in body dissatisfaction and body shame increases the risk of developing a mental health concern (such as anxiety or depression) or disordered eating.
What is the antidote to social media and body disatisfaction ?
How do we combat the negative consequences that social media may play in our body image while still engaging in the modern world? While body image is complex and sometimes requires the support of a health team and a variety of practitioners, there are some things we can use to engage in discussion and support the young women in our lives (and ourselves!).
Intentional Social Media use & media literacy
Combatting these elements of social media is not just about limiting screen time - but how we engage with social media content. We want to use intention and be mindful about the content we choose to engage with on our platforms. This might look like asking ourselves the following questions:
Is our feed filled with beauty and images perpetuating weight loss or a certain body type
Can we mute or unfollow accounts that promote these images?
How do we feel when we come across these accounts and see this content?
Is it causing us to compare to others or over focus on our own physical appearance?
Are there other social media platforms that you can engage on that are less visual but create community?
Tuning into the elements of awareness in social media is a first step to taking action on how we use it. Critiquing the source of images, the nature of them (edited, filtered etc.), and the motives of advertisers can help young women and teens reject the unrealistic standards of beauty.
Spend more time on offline activities that improve body image
Logging off social media to engage in real world activities can help reduce the amount of energy and time body image comparison (and social media in general) takes up in your day to day. Encourage teens and young women to remain connected in real life, and to pursue meaningful hobbies and activities.
Not sure where to focus? Try something like our values activity, which helps you reflect on what is meaningful to you, and how you can structure your life to reflect more emphasis on those meaningful activities.
Protective factors: Body functionality and respect
Moving towards valuing your body based on how it works (body functionality), is a great first steps towards achieving respect for ones body and appreciation for yourself. This mindset is protective against developing disordered eating and mental health concerns.
Protective Factors: Self-compassion & feminism
Other protective factors related to positive body image include self-compassion and feminism (two things we love!)
Self-compassion encompasses three elements: mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity. We can invoke self compassion when we think about the way in which we talk to ourselves, and ensure that this is in the same tone as we would talk to a dear friend.
Feminism is protective against body dissatisfaction for a number of reasons. Firstly adopting a feminist label identifies women who have rejected a societal norm. This rejection of societal norm makes it easier fo them to reject other norms (such as unrealistic beauty standards).
Feminism challenges the sociocultural values that judge women on physical attractiveness, helps women resist internalizing the “thin” ideal, they are more likely to develop identity around personality characteristics unrelated to how they look.
Need more support?
If you are looking for more in depth support for your mental well-being, or a body positive approach to your health book an appointment with one of our naturopathic doctors or psychotherapist.