One highly controversial element of the media is the potential role that it has to play in encouraging the development of unhealthy body image ideals and unrealistic perceptions of ‘beauty.’ This leads us to consider, how should we channel our social media content effectively to eliminate, rather than amplify, body image issues? As someone who struggled significantly with body image anxieties for so many years I understand whole-heartedly the impact that social media networks (in fact, the media in general) can have in driving unhealthy body image concerns. These anxieties are so incredibly debilitating and seep into every single crevice of your life. They affect parts of your world that are seemingly so unrelated from the way that you look (or perceive yourself to look) and wreak more internal chaos than what you could ever imagine.
That’s why I was so willing to lend my thoughts and opinions on the issue when a friend looking into the role of body image issues (and the role that the media has to play) for a university assignment asked me to. I have therefore included my answers to her questions in this post, which allude to my beliefs on how the media can drive negative body image perceptions.
The final assignment can be accessed at the following link (with permission from the author): https://jour3111hanley.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/jour3111-story-package-natasha-hanley/
Why did you decide to start a blog?
Blogs are a great way to articulate your thoughts and opinions in an authentic and personal way. I think it’s crucial to constantly consider the world in which we live and to make your thoughts known if you believe that they can make a positive impact on another person.
Do you think there is a societal pressure to look a certain way?
For a start there are facets of the media industry that obviously project a very one dimensional representation of how we ought to look. To me it is abundantly clear that the high fashion industry presents to its audience one type of model, as thus the implication that this is the “ideal” standard of beauty. For instance, 99% of the women featured in a Vogue magazine (just as an example) are incredibly thin and therefore not an accurate representation of womanhood on a societal level. Of course this puts forward an unhealthy message because, for a majority of woman, the figure of the women featured in these mediums is highly unobtainable. Given that our genetics assign the body shape that we have for life (ie. our basic bone structure), it is extremely unrealistic to think that all women can look a certain way (ie. as thin as the models in high fashion publications). In this regard it is reasonable to argue that certain elements of the media industry encourage the idea that there is one standard of beauty which, naturally, is an incredibly dangerous message to send. Ideally a wider variety of body types being foregrounded in high fashion media products is necessary to more accurately reflect the diversity of society at large. This should also be translated onto the runway, on which almost always only very, very thin and tall models are featured. The fashion industry also has a responsibility to refuse to feature young women who are clearly suffering from an eating disorder because of the message that is sends. Their inability to do so, and insistence on featuring these women in their publications and on their catwalks is, I believe, highly ethically bankrupt.
While there are clearly elements of society that continue to promulgate the unsanitary message that there is essentially one “ideal” standard of beauty, I think at large we have come far in shifting the focus from being “skinny” to “strong”. Yes, there is a prevalence of certain irresponsible media products (the consumption of which can encourage an unhealthy understanding of what beauty is or should be). Yet, I believe that there has also been a trend towards the emergence of examples of beauty and wellness that serve as a much healthier and realistic model of what we should strive towards. We can see small examples of this in the high-fashion industry (such as through the presence of models such as Robin Lawley), which will hopefully propel forward the changes necessary (as explained above). But yet an even better example of the shift that, I believe, has taken place is the emphasis that fitness and wellness advocates have placed on “strength” rather than “skinniness.” I think that this is undoubtedly a much healthier attitude to put forward for consumption, given that it rejects ideals of standardised beauty but rather endorses general wellbeing (as well as wanting to look good) as being a motivating factor for exercising and eating well.
On the other end of the spectrum there has been evidence of an outright rejection of “ideal” standard of beauty traditionally endorsed by high-end fashion (to which we are all accustomed) that, to me, is just as unhealthy yet in an entirely different way. Putting aside our appearance completely and speaking from a purely objective position, we know that it is not healthy to be excessively overweight or obese. Yet there has been a “pro-positive body movement” within the media that endorses you are beautiful no matter what size you are. On the surface, yes this seems like a positive message to send. However, the absolute reality is that being excessively overweight puts individuals at far greater risk of health conditions that could be avoided otherwise. I also believe that these movements are rather extreme in making a mocking of people who openly care about what size they are and who admit to “wanting to look a certain way.”
So essentially what we have is two extremes, one that advocates a very particular (and largely unobtainable) standard of beauty and another that demonises individuals who wish to look a certain way as being overly superficial and vapid. What is extremely clear to me is that we need to meet somewhere in the middle and strive for balance in being the healthiest, fittest, happiest versions of ourselves. We need to realise that there is a global obesity epidemic and, at the same time, throughout the world rates of mental illness (including eating disorders) are at all time highs. At both extreme ends of the scale, these are incredibly unhealthy ways to live and we need to seriously strive for something in between. Therefore, a diversity of representations of healthy, happy and fit women and men are what the media should put forward for mass consumption.
Do you think issues of body image are projected on social media?
Depending on the source there are, of course, certain media outlets that endorse one standard of beauty through what they select to feature on their social media platforms. This is often proliferated by arbitrary numbers, such as “likes”. Again, as a polar extreme there are emerging examples of media that put forward what is, objectively speaking, just as unhealthy a standard. This is why we need to provide a diverse, albeit healthy, standard on social media (just as we should be doing in more traditional media products). The emphasis needs to be placed on balance and internal wellbeing which, naturally, will manifest itself in the most positive way possible on the outside.
Do you think celebrity presence on social media contributes to issues of body image?
Looking back to, for instance, to the 90s (ie. the Kate Moss/ Naomi Campbell era) I think that as a society we have come a pretty far way in advocating for a broader diversity of body types within the media in our contemporary culture. As I have already said multiple times, as a society we need to fixate our attention on incorporating as broad a range of (healthy) bodies in representing standards to which we should strive. While it is vital to understand that, ultimately, one’s unique genetic make-up will dictate their body shape, you can’t demonise people for being naturally slim either (which does sometimes seem to happen). It is just as unfair to reject someone as being beautiful for being too small (given that they are naturally that way) as it is for being too big. Again, we need to really emphasise being the healthiest that you can be (given your natural shape), an idea that can be encouraged by a diverse celebrity presence on social media platforms.
What would be your advice to young men and women who feel unhappy about their body image?
This is a complicated question that requires addressing on several levels. For a start there needs to a distinction drawn between harbouring a negative body image by itself and harbouring more sinister anxieties and control mechanisms with the ability to morph into an eating disorder. We need to seriously widen our understanding of eating disorders as incredibly debilitating diseases that seep into every crevice of someone’s life and dig far deeper than how someone feels about their body. The control that someone with an eating disorder exerts over their eating habits is merely symptomatic of far more complex underlying root causes, such as a generalised crippling lack of self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness and isolation. Eating disorders are not just simply a vain attempt to be thin, as the media often portrays them to be, and are far more closely aligned to the sufferers’ desperate want to gain control over other elements of their life. There are also genetic factors that pre-dispose certain individuals to developing eating disorders that require further scientific exploration. So, in short, combatting eating disorders specifically should begin at wondering current understanding of what they actually involve and how they are more serious than generalised negative body image. Further to this, we need to encourage youth to cultivate high levels of self-esteem and positive ways of addressing anxieties and obsessive compulsive tendencies to ensure that they don’t surface in toxic ways.
Going back to a more generalised discussion on negative body image, I simply do not think that there is anything wrong with wanting to look a certain way. Because of this I also do not think that it is constructive to dismiss altogether an individual who is wanting to improve elements of how they look. What is far more important is ensuring that they retain realistic standards and strive to be the healthiest that they can be. This requires that they don’t allow their desire to look a certain way (which isn’t totally invalid) to outweigh the importance of a social life or their relationships.
I think the best way to explain this is to speak from personal experience. As someone who has been overweight and then very underweight, at 21 now is the first time in my life that I genuinely have a positive body-image. It is also the firs time that I enjoy self confidence in regards to other elements of my life, such as in my relationships, social and academic life. Cultivating feelings of self-value and a positive perception of my body is something that has taken me an incredibly long time, a lot of hard work and honestly with myself about what I need to do to be a happy person.
To be fair I do not think that it is a coincidence that I am currently the happiest that I have ever been and also the fittest and healthiest. Being fitter than the average person, eating healthy food that I enjoy and feeling confident in the way I look is something that simply does give me happiness and I shouldn’t have to validate this. What has allowed this to happen, however, has been the transition in my thought process from seeking to be a certain weight or size to wanting to be fit, toned and strong (and, again, happy and confident). Exercise and healthy eating are both clinically proven to improve dramatically depression and anxiety so I think they are important considerations for anyone with a negative perception of themselves, from which usually depression and anxiety stem.
This also means moving away from fixating on arbitrary numbers that society thinks we need to pay far more attention to than what is necessary in order to have a positive body image. From a purely scientific perspective, the attitude that “less is better” (in regards to both calories, food volumes and weight) is incredibly flawed and inaccurate. (I could go on in length about this but it is probably not strictly relevant to this discussion). I do think paying too much attention to these numbers (such as calories in food, your weight etc) isn’t as necessary as what we think to be fit and healthy and can lead to an overly obsessive mentality, without a doubt.
I know that I have finally achieved this idea of balance that I am endorsing because, for the first time in years, I do not count calories, weight myself or ever allow myself to go hungry. Similarly, the calmer my internal emotional state has become, the more I have constructed a far more positive body image. For the first time I can look in the mirror and say that I am happy with what I see because I have challenged myself to re-think what “a good body is” (which to me places more emphasis on being toned and fit rather than skinny per se).
So, essentially, the advice that I would give to someone with a negative perception of themselves in terms of their body image is to put into action a realistic and balanced training and eating plan. This needs to be one that allows them to realistically reach their goals while becoming the healthiest version that they can personally be (within the confines of their assigned body type). This is as well as keeping their overall perception of self-worth seperate from their desire to look a certain way and in ensuring that their fitness regime doesn’t interfere with other elements of their life in negatively.
