We would argue that the media is the single greatest contributor to body negativity. The beauty and weight loss industrial complexes are out to make money. The advertising world relies on us to be dissatisfied with our appearances so that we will spend money to buy products that come with the promise of happiness. Of course, that promise is never fulfilled, since the products don’t work. Businesses rely on this failure aspect as well, so that the money will continue to flow.
The majority of the images that we see in mainstream media are of young, white, thin, feminine women, (or tall, muscular, masculine men) which sends a very clear message to the viewer that this is the ideal, leaving anyone who doesn’t identify with this image feeling unrepresented and unvalued. We see these people in ads and on TV, and their existence is romanticized; it makes us want what they have. We begin to believe that the only way to be happy is if we satisfy the beauty ideal that is set before us. This leads to a great deal of mental distress as we tear ourselves down for being different, and become unable to see the beauty in what makes us unique. Sadly, our uniqueness becomes a barrier to our very happiness. When you add in the fact that many of the images we see are not even real (heavily photoshopped), we are presented with a recipe for disaster. Now you have people striving towards a physical image which isn’t even attainable. This leads to body dissatisfaction on many levels, causing intense mental distress and, in many cases, triggers eating disorders and potentially dangerous body augmentation (weight loss surgery, breast implants, liposuction, etc).
Social media is a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand, it has allowed people who were suffering alone to realize that they were NOT alone, and that led to people taking action to promote change. Young people now have role models of people who are unique and living incredible lives. The message is being spread that it’s okay not to look like a supermodel. Instagram and other social media platforms provide an opportunity for people to create and contribute to their own media feed. Because social media allows everyone to contribute their own images and messages which aren’t linked to the advertising world, we are able to see vastly diverse bodies and messages, which opens our minds to the possibility of finding beauty in new ways.
On the other hand, social media has become a conduit for internet bullying, which is obviously a huge and serious problem. Additionally, there is now extra pressure on us to be aware of our images at all times since people are constantly taking pictures and posting them to social media for all to see.
In addition to the influence of media, the people in our immediate lives often contribute to negative body image. Hurtful comments made by family members, friends, partners, or even strangers about our bodies, children put on restrictive diets by parents, doctor visits that are solely focused on weight and BMI, are examples of messages that harm our relationship to our bodies and lead to worsened self-care. It is easy to blame media for all the problems people experience with their body image. It is also important to remember that when the people in our lives buy into the messages that are promoted by advertisers and companies out for our money, they relay them to us in a much more personal way that can be extremely damaging to our body image and self-esteem.
