The effects of social media on women body image

Social media is having a tremendous effect on today's society, including women's concept of beauty. For better or worse, people are increasingly consuming images posted online. Consequently, social media and how people, especially women, perceive their physical appearance, have become linked inextricably. Social media has a profound effect, both positively and negatively, on how women look at themselves.

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A negative body image can cause women to have unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look as they constantly compare themselves to other people online. In turn, these expectations can result in unhealthy habits, including disordered eating (Hogue and Mills 2). According to social displacement theory, the more time a person spends online, the less time the person is likely to spend in the offline world socializing. Hence, it is highly likely that if one spends a lot of time online, they are likely to experience increased pressure to have their bodies resemble those they view online.

A recent study found a correlation between time spent on social media, disordered eating, and negative body image (Aparicio-Martinez 4177). The negative body image was especially intense if participants were scrolling through content related to appearance, like a model or fitness instructor's images. Hence, women can become obsessed with idealized body types, causing them to compare themselves with these bodies. Suppose one cannot meet these expectations of unrealistic body image ideals. In that case, they are likely to feel distressed, worsening some certain psychological and genetic predispositions such as eating disorders and poor mental health.

In some cases, in an urgent push to have thin and slim bodies, women have ended up, resulting in unhealthy and sometimes dangerous shortcuts including refusing to eat. Obsession with weight and what to eat to achieve these idealized bodies often leads to anorexia. Anorexia can be caused by too much exercise or starvation. To restore normal body weight, sometimes, medical treatment and behavioral therapy may be required.

Secondly, picture filters and photoshop are social media tools that are likely to increase women's poor body image. Social media is filled with images that have been edited or altered with filters to make them more appealing. Filters and photoshop present things and people in their best versions. As a result, these tolls create a fantasy and distorted world about beauty and body image, considerably raising the bar on what a woman should perceive as the best way to be.

Most of the images that people view on social media have been edited through various tools because nearly 75% of people who upload their pictures in social media use these filters (Heger). Besides filters, women are likely to have a poor image of their bodies due to the presence of images and social media accounts that challenge users to be thin and fit. Fitspiration and thinpiration, commonly referred to as fitspo and thinspo respectively are very common in social media.

A 2020 study surveyed college women in the US found approximately 10% of them had, in a one-month period, posted about body image, weight, exercise, and dieting. In addition, about 27.4% commented on the social media posts of their friends about dieting, exercise, body image, and weight (Heger 1). It does not help that social media algorithms keep suggesting more and more accounts of better looking and fitter individuals. The study concluded that more time spent on social media leads to more frequent weight and body comparisons and consequently, more negative feelings about one's body. The study also concluded that women who wanted to lose weight and spent a lot of time online resulted in disordered eating habits in pursuit of fit and thin bodies.

However, some of the effects of social media on women body image are positive and beneficial. After viewing positive content on social media, women are likely to feel better about their bodies and also experience better moods. Body positive content aims at showing appreciation and acceptance for all body types. People tend to go after what they see and adjust their expectations of themselves against how others look or what they do (Aparicio-Martinez 4177). Hence, social media accounts that promote health and wellness, fitness, and consumption of plant-based foods can be inspirational for a lot of women social media users. Access to this positive body content can be achieved through connecting with other people and building a community of body-accepting people. There are various communities online composing of people with positive body perceptions. Joining such a supportive online community can shift a person's mindset away from the filtered and edited body images.

Hence, social media has profound effects on women body image, most of them negatively affecting one's mood and overall mental health. However, with a little knowledge and effort, women can counter these effects by accessing positive content on social media. Some of the recommendations for positively using social media include taking a break away from social media for a few hours, week, or months. Others include unfollowing accounts that do not make one feel better besides finding and joining communities that promote positive body images.

Works Cited

Aparicio-Martinez, Pilar "Social Media, Thin-Ideal, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating Attitudes: An Exploratory Analysis." International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 16, no. 21, 2019, pp 4177. doi:10.3390/ijerph16214177

Heger, Erin. "Why Social Media Can Make You Feel Bad About Your Body - And 3 Easy Tips To Use Social Media To Boost Self-Esteem." Insider 5 Nov 2020. www.insider.com/how-social-media-affects-body-image.

Hogue, Jacqueline and Jennifer Mills. "The Effects of Active Social Media Engagement with Peers on Body Image in Young Women." Body Image, vol. 28, 2019, pp. 1-5.