You are Ugly

My calves are too big, my nose it too long, I am too fat, I wish I looked like her. Self-image is an issue that plagues both men and women of all ages across the globe. Growing up, most kids are constantly hearing how handsome or pretty they are from their parents, friends, and family members, so what drives these insecurities?  These issues are insecurities that are created through the media. The media is the driving force of what is “in style”. This is easily seen with fashion, but also has major influence on body images. These “ideal images” change over time and can be influenced by different nationalities as well.

We look at magazines, watch television, see billboards and on all of these forms of media they display their ideal perception of beauty. Even before the eruption of the internet and social media, the media was still an influence on what people thought was beautiful, but it was in a much more control setting. People did not have as much 24/7 access to the media. Magazines and advertisement were still in effect, but for many people those people were unattainable. Seeing models in magazines can dehumanize the people in a way where viewers don’t envy them because they can’t relate to them. The famous, the rich, the beautiful “opinion leaders” were out of reach for many and it made the impact of body image a little less dramatic.

With the introduction of internet, people could view more than they ever could at a speed that was almost instantaneous. With the internet also came the introduction of social media. The concept of these social media platforms were avenues of networking with people from virtually any place in the world at any given time. The ability to stay connected was intended to be beneficial, but when it came to how people viewed themselves, there have been some major setbacks.

If I had to think about one social media site where this is seen, I think of Instagram. When I go on my Instagram discovery at any given time, I am bombarded with pictures of Girls, guys, famous people, athletes, and models. If I don’t follow them already, they give me the opportunity to see more than hundreds of pictures of people to “stay connected”. With Instagram, you can follow anyone with an account and keep up to date with their lives from pictures and videos they post. Most of these people are considered “opinion leaders”. People value how they look and what they say. These people we follow, are who set the trends of what is “attractive”. Girls particularly, view other girls and are suddenly riddled with insecurities they didn’t have before they saw an “opinion leader”. Having constant access to seeing people that are viewed as “perfect” on camera can have a negative effect on many adolescents and adults. Unlike the previous forms of media, sites such as Instagram make these opinion leaders that were once out of reach, tangible. You can spend all day scrolling through their pictures, relating to them. You realize, “this person does the same things I do!” and that is exciting because you can relate to someone that “matters”. Social media has created a world where everyone trying to imitate opinion leaders with the hope that they can become an opinion leader as well. When it comes to body image, people hope that if they look just like an opinion leader, they are considered “beautiful” or at least get a like on a picture. Regardless of what is actually beautiful or not, opinion leaders on social media are the driving force of how society view of themselves.

“eyebrows on fleek.”, somehow in the past couple years, society has decided what the ideal eyebrow looks like. From celebrities to Instagram models, if your “eyebrows aren’t on fleek” watch an elaborate YouTube video and you can turn your bushy brow into the exact replica of what society wants them to be. I remember before Kim Kardashian became a media icon, curves on a woman was not very publicized. Women did not want to be overly curvatious, that was seen through body standards that were held by previous opinion leaders. It seems that as Kim Kardashians popularity rose, so did the number of women getting butt jobs. Before Kim K, there were plenty of women that were curvy, but she made it “cool” to have curves. Girls and women wanted look like her. That is how opinion leaders influence people. Their look becomes what is in style, and if you want to be in style you will do what it takes to look like them.

If you don’t look like them, then you aren’t beautiful by society’s standards. I don’t think that is right. How crazy is it that simply because your eyes are half a centimeter wider than the girl on Victoria Secret’s billboard you are viewed as less than? These are all standards created by us, and enforced by social media, there is no rule that declares what makes someone attractive. People are not eating, over-eating, getting boob jobs, butt jobs, Botox, extensions, waist trainers, etc. just to look like the person they follow on Instagram.

Social media has created an unlimited supply of opinion leaders. that have the influence to change what we view is socially acceptable. We give people that are no difference than you or I, the power to make us feel like how we look is not good enough because of how many followers they have on social media. There will always be opinion leaders, but social media has made people feel that “If I just look like that, I will be popular.” This is a vicious cycle because what is “Hot” in 2017 maybe a “Not” in 2018. If you live your life trying to imitate people on social media you will never be satisfied with who you are. You will always find someone with a better body or perfect hair. Trying to live up to the standard portrayed on a screen is impossible.

Nothing is wrong with admiring opinion leaders on their unique sense of style or exotic features, but our society can’t be so driven by trying to look like someone on a poster.