Research Paper

Intro Paragraph:

“Body image is a ‘multifaced psychological experience of embodiment’ that encompasses evaluative thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to one’s own physical appearance” (Casale pp. 2877-2878)

Opening thoughts

Multiple exposure to appearance-focused real accounts on instagram

Body Paragraph 1: Types of Media that Influence Body Image

• social media platforms (insta, TikTok, snap)

• TV/movies

• Advertising/fashion industry

• Influencers/celebrities

Body 1:

“Collaborations with influencers can be far-reaching, but these often come with financial incentives, which can lead to information manipulation” (Fantasies and Fallacies)

Influencers/celebrities influence

People blindly trust influencers because they are famous

Body 1:

“The existence of self-comparison to the unrealistic and often unattainable ‘thin ideal’ has long been relevant with television, newspapers, magazines and such.” (Eating Disorders and Socail Media)

Advertising, tv/movies, and different platforms promoting stuff

The different kinds of media past social media that cause body dysmorphia

Body 1:

“The media has been describes as one of the most powerful promoters of unrealistic body ideals that are largely unachievable by healthy means” (Wiley Eating Disorders)

How strong of an influence media has

Body 1:

“Today’s media consumer is inundated with images of extremely thin, idealized figures on televison and social media, and in advertisement campaigns in the street, on public transport, and other public places, with the average American consumer exposed to 3000 advertisements a day” (Wiley Eating Disorders)

Advertising and tv movies influence

These thin ideals all came from advertising and other forms of media

Body 2: Positive Effects of Media on Body Image

• body-positivity movements

• Representation of diverse body-types, abilities, and identities

• Supportive online communities/role models

• Media campaigns promoting self-acceptance and health

Body 2:

“Holiday is shattering barriers and inspiring others of all shapes to say, ‘effyourbeautystandards,’ the social media campaigns she launched to support her message of self- acceptance”

“‘The whole reason I do this is to show women that you can be beautiful regardless of your size’”

Tess Holiday, 22 year old social media star and supermodel in the fashion world

Media campaign, role models, body positive (2015 body issue)

She is one of the forces in the world that help people on the internet feel good about their bodies and is a role model

Body 2 opposition:

“Samyra Miller, a New Orleans native turned social media sensation, has built a career on unwavering self-confidence…her status as a powerful advocate for size inclusivity…she released music, including a bounce-genre track titled ‘Plus-Size Free-style,’ where she raps about size exclusivity”

Samyra Miller (Essence), 2.3 million tiktok followers

Another role model who encourages you to embrace your body

Body 2 opposition:

“some developmental psychologists go as far as to suggest that social media might have positive effect on teen well-being…psychologists suggest that teens turn to social media to help cope with negative emotions” (The radical Threat of Photo Filters)

Supportive online communities

Social media can help get your mind off things

Body 2 opposition:

“Lawrence’s teenage years, spent crash-dieting and exercising until she passed out…She was consistently asked to shed pounds, and when she turned 17, her agency dropped her altogether” (Oltuski)

Come As You Are in One Drive

Iskra Lawrence

Body 3: Negative Effects of Media on Body Image

• unrealistic beauty standards (filters, edits)

• Overrepresentation of ideal body types

• Comparing/pressures to look a certain way

• Impact on self-esteem and confidence

Body 3:

“Instagram can serve as a fantasy for patients by presenting a seemingly attainable ideal of beauty through curated, flawless images…Edited or filtered photographs can exaggerate results, and exaggerate claims about the benefits of certain procedures can raise false hopes”

Fantasies and fallacies

Unrealistic beauty standards

Body 3:

“Instagram often presents a world of idealized perfection, showcasing individuals with flawless features and bodies…these beauty standards are frequently edited, filtered, or digitally altered, creating an illusion of perfection that is rarely attainable in reality” (Fantasies and Fallacies)

Overrepresentation of ideal body typers and beauty standards

Body 3:

“social media use-related propagation of the thin ideal is an important contributor to development of eating disorders” (eating disorders and social media)

Impact on self-esteem and confidence causing eating disorders

Body 3:

“While a number of individual-level interventions that aim to reduce body dissatisfaction by minimizing the influence of media images have been developed (Levine & Smolak, 2017; Stice, Shaw, & Marti, 2007), given the well-documented role of the media in perpetuating unrealistic body ideals that contribute to body dissatisfaction, in particular through the digital modification of images of already extremely thin models” (Wiley eating disorders)

Overrepresentation of ideal body types

Body 3:

“‘The touched up pictures are not real,’ he said. ‘Don’t try to recreate them or think that’s what you’ve got to aim for. There’s a lot of fakeness online so don’t worry about that.’” (Prince Williams)

Filters and edits acknowledged by a well known source

Body 3:

“This risk more apparent than with TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter. It is a live action video distortion filter that ‘beautifies’ any person using it, altering facial features and delivering an image with flawless skin” (The Radical Threat of Photo Filters)

Filters and edits

Body 3:

“current media focus on weight loss drugs could further promote skinny ideals, and undermine existing body positive efforts, which encourage us to feel good about bodies of different shapes and sizes” (Body image- staying ahead of the curve)

Social media trends promoting the skinny ideal and being seen as normal

Body 3:

“‘I was spending a lot of time stalking models on Instagram, and I worked a lot about how I looked,’ says Nina…She’d stay up late in her bedroom, looking at social media on her phone and poor sleep—coupled with an eating disorder—gradually snowballed until suicide felt like her only option.” (“We Need to Talk”)

Body 4 Why teens are effected:

• Development during adolescents

• Increased time spent on social media

• Need for peer approval and appearances based feedback

• Algorithms reinforcing certain content

Body 4:

The reason why adolescents are effected so much is because, “that brain is incredibly plastic and able to adapt—that is, physically change—in response to novel activities or enviromental cues” says UPenn’s Jensen, author of The Teenage Brain

Development for adolescents and how they are more apt to be effected than adults

We need to talk about kids and start phones

Body 4:

“Research has linked social media and other phone-based activities with an uptick in feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine, which could drive compulsive device use and promote feelings of distraction, fatigue, or irritability when kids are separated from their phones”

Reasons why kids are on social media so much and increased time, these are actually addicted

We Need to Talk About Kids and Smartphones

Body 4:

“many schools and after-school groups now use social media or online platforms to coordinate events, or to post grades and homework”

Not as simple as taking away a kids phone because they need their phones for a variety of things which is also why they are on social media more

We need to talk about kids and smartphones

Body 4:

“elected officials must understand social media is the main way that many young people socialize—especially after the pandemic…Deleting the apps is not an option for many young people; it has a social price that most are unwilling to pay”

Reasons why kids can’t get away social media, they will be out of the social circle and we need to find away to control all of the negatives besides just deleting it as people are now dependent on it

Body 4:

Teen social media presence has almost doubled and around 95% of teens are going on media daily (Gerwin e273)

Eating Disorders and Social Media

Rising social media presence in teens

Body 4:

“SNS content related to ‘fitspiration,’ ‘thinspiration,’ and ‘bonespiration’ has become increasingly sophisticated, driven by algorithms and filtered visuals. These trends often glorify thinness or muscularity, encourage dietary restraint, and promote unhealthy exercise patterns” (Social Media, Body Image, and Disordered Eating in Teens)

In one drive

Body 5 Coping Strategies and Solving Problem:

• Following positive accounts

• Limiting screen time

• Stop following media trends

• Use logical thinking when it comes to social media

Body 5:

A study using 220 undergraduate students split them up into 2 groups with one group using social media normally and the other group cut their time to an hour a day. After a few weeks the group who cut their time down found that they felt better about their weight and appearance than their peers in the control group (Young)

Body image - staying ahead of the curve

Proves that just limiting screen time can help drastically

Body 5:

“‘The concept of women and girls eating smaller portions has been presented to us through time, and social media perpetuates this unhealthy notion’…Calling a grazing dinner a meal for girls, a demographic that already disproportionally suffers form eating disorders, evokes previous trends such as body-checking that have filtered through our cultural lexicon” (Girl Dinner)

The influencers on instagram have no nutrition background and their advice should not be followed because it is more harmful than helpful.

Social Media trends

Body 5:

“in a world that seems to be increasingly leaning into causal cosmetic surgery and the widespread use of weight loss drugs - and their reported use by people with a healthy BMI” (Body image - staying ahead of the curve)

People are just trying to reach the skinny ideal and a group of people who are using this already healthy

Social media trends

Body 5:

“elected officials must understand social media is the main way that many young people socialize—especially after the pandemic…Deleting the apps is not an option for many young people; it has a social price that most are unwilling to pay” (Etienne)

Deleting social media is not the solution so what else could we do? Like limiting screen time

Instagram is Doing Grave Harm to Our Generation. We Need Help to Stop It.

Body 5:

Their are many different platforms that can help parents regulate social media on a child’s phone like google family link, apple parental controls, American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Plan, and Parent Training Programs (Gerwin).

Possible solutions to the problem

Eating Disorders and Social Media