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| provided by Google |
Social media plays a huge role when
it comes to today’s society. Everywhere we go, we see some sort of pictures of
famous celebrities or just our friends and the activities that they’re up to. I
remember when I was younger, my sisters and I would always want to go outside
and play with the neighbors across the street. But now, cell phones and social
media has taken over our lives so that now it’s a struggle to even get us to
look up and have a real conversation with someone. Our screens are everywhere
we go; we can never get rid of them.
I’m not saying social media is a
bad thing; that’s where I discover news about our world or even what my friends
are up to. And, don’t get me wrong; I love seeing pictures of my family that I
never get to see anymore and seeing how cute their kids are. I’m just saying
how reliably we have gotten when it comes to social media.
One thing that I believe social
media has made us change our own personal views on the most would be towards
the topic of self-image and beauty. I can bet you that almost every girl or
even guys have (or even still do it today) gotten on either Facebook,
Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter; any social media website, and saw a picture of
one of their peers and rated them in their mind. When I mean by rating I mean
like, “Wow. I wish I could be that pretty in my pictures” or “That’s why she
doesn’t get as many likes; at least I’m prettier than her.” Admit it, we have
all done that before. I’ve even done it; actually several times.
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When you start to rate or judge
people’s selfies, it soon becomes a habit. But do you want to hear the truth:
Sometimes the people with the most likes have the most fakeness. There
background really isn’t that color but it’s actually a duller color, or their
eyes, teeth, and hair aren’t that bright in color in real life. That my friend
is called the editing of a filter! Filter after filter they have to make sure
it looks good with their hair or eyes or whatever.
Not just are filters added, but you
honestly don’t know how many pictures they take to get that perfect selfie. I
know usually when I want to send a selfie to someone, I have to retake it at
least 5 times just to get it the way I want it.
“Ew. You can see my pimple. Must
retake it.” Social media has gotten across the fact that selfies can’t just be
yourself; but instead they have to be a picture that shows no sign of flaws
like your yellow teeth, or that zit on the bottom of your chin. But honestly,
selfies are truly supposed to be showing off some of your flaws and showing the
world who you really are; not this person with all these filters and edits upon
them.
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| provided by Google |
Although social media is filled with lots of selfies,
it’s still filled with lots of messages especially pointed towards the way we should
feel or what the number should look like when we step on the scale. Society has
no idea how many girls strive to feel like they just don’t fit in with the
typical standards that society has put on us. Especially when it comes to
teenage girls, we feel like we have to be a certain size for us to feel
accepted. I can admit that I’ve struggled (even still today) with being
insecure with myself just because of the fact that I don’t “fit” into society’s
or Victoria’s Secret Models standards and expectations.
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| provided by Google |
Because of these high standards for
the way we SHOULD look, so many teenage girls, even teenage guys, suffer from an
eating disorder. Did you know on average about 10 million females and 1 million
males just within the U.S struggle with an eating disorder as well as 4 out of
10 individuals have either personally experienced or knows someone who had/has
an eating disorder? I can say from my own past experience that eating disorders
start because of us girls look at pictures of really skinny girls in bathing
suits and wish/think we have to look like them to be considered beautiful. But reality check; everybody is beautiful in their
own way. God made all of us not only in his image, but he created every single
one of us to be our own unique style of beauty.
Social media can have so many
messages, both the positives and the negatives, pointed towards anyone who
looks/uses it. You just have to make sure you get the right message through
your brain of what social media really consist of. Don’t be afraid to share
that selfie on Instagram or wear that bikini out in public, because what society
thinks is so overrated, and the newer generations need to take a stand and not
let these expectations control who they truly are!
http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/statistics-studies
~eating disorder statistics
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