Social Media Can Hurt Self-Image of Teen Girls

by Naomi Lawrence ‘17

In today’s society, constant access to media has a tremendous influence on one’s thoughts, ideas, and actions, and can even dictate how teen girls view themselves. It is not news that the immense pressure on teenage girls to look a certain way has been heightening for decades. In a society driven by multiple celebrities promoting themselves via social media platforms, it becomes very difficult to escape the overbearing image of the “ideal” female body—tall, white, and thin.

Ideals promoted by advertisers, celebrities, and other peers are internalized in teenagers’ minds, which often result in body dissatisfaction, extreme dieting, and, potentially, eating disorders. Adolescence is filled with physical and hormonal changes causing great embarrassment, and social media promoting this image of ideal “perfection” can make self-esteem levels in teenage girls plummet dramatically.

Celebrities posting about their “perfections” tend to go viral, resulting in many teen girls following suit. When 17-year-old celebrity Kylie Jenner admitted to getting lip injections, many fans were angry with her “altered” image. Jenner, however, is just one of thousands of teenagers who underwent cosmetic surgery. In 2014, a giant spike occurred resulting in nearly 64,000 teens having some type of operation done, and approximately the same number in subsequent years. Experts in the plastic surgery field connect the desire for cosmetic surgery to a lowered sense of self-esteem. The many images of celebrities endorsing multiple cosmetic surgeries plants the image into teens’ minds that if they change how they look, potentially they, too, could achieve fame and wealth.

Others blame the rise of the “selfie” for the increase in surgeries, as the more teens take pictures of themselves, the more they feel the need to add filters and photoshop. When those “solutions” don’t do the trick anymore, teens take the step to be permanently photo-ready with the use of plastic surgery.

While reaching an image of perfection is desired by many teen girls across the country, some major fashion companies are trying to show an opposing perspective. Aerie, a sub-brand of American Eagle Outfitters, started ditching airbrushing models and the use of Photoshop in 2014. The #AerieREAL campaign culminated from a generation of strong millennial females whom the company felt might possibly benefit from seeing women stand up against the norm of size two models, airbrushed to “perfection.” Since the campaign started, Aerie has received an overwhelmingly positive response from their audience, as sales have increased significantly and continue to do so. This company has made a reputation of spreading an idea of positive body image, an inspirational image for its patronage.

For many years, teenage girls have felt and/or experienced the intense pressure to fit into the mold created and set by society to be tall and thin. While feeling the need to succumb to society will most likely remain for some time, the efforts of companies like Aerie often tend to bring a sense of hope to teenage girls facing social pressures in today’s very picky society.