Today’s standards for women are small waists, long hair, and flawless skin. Girls are required to be this “perfect image” when nobody is perfect. They are also expected to wear makeup in their daily lives, work out at the gym, stay skinny with curves in the right places, and be young.  

What are Today’s Standards? 

   Many girls these days think they have to fit into the “beauty standard.” This is mostly because they have this image of other women from social media, even though 99% of the time people on social media don’t even look like that, yet due to of this image social media girls are portraying, young women today have been feeling down about themselves. Even men feel less confident because of their beauty standard that requires them to be good looking, muscular, stylish, and successful.  

How social media plays into standards  

   The media shows people such as Instagram models and celebrities that are “flawless” and “beautiful” when some of these images could be photoshopped like spots on their skin. When we start to see this, we often think that this “perfection” is reality. This leads to comparison with people who may seem perfect on social media. And the truth is that in our everyday life, there is no photoshop to hide things that make us human, and that’s okay. 

We can’t be perfect  

   I think that the media edits too much and destroys the personality of people. To me it seems like everything that is human is gone. Beauty standards seem unreachable, and their “beauty” is unachievable, which can harm some people’s mental health. I don’t think this should be a role model for individuals. I look up to people that are real, that admit who they are, and are not afraid to show that they also have “flaws”, which makes them so much more human and relatable. 

Depression/ Eating disorders  

   Body image is a complex construct and is made up of beliefs, thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and behaviors. The way we see ourselves and our bodies has an impact on our mental health. Women who view their body negatively can develop an eating disorder or even depression. According to the article, “College women love, hate their women mags” published by Stanford University News service in 1993, seventy percent of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines. Thirty years later women feel the same way looking at social media.  

A Message 

   It’s not Instagram models and celebrities’ responsibility to make YOU feel beautiful. You are in charge of how you feel, and the sooner you can grasp and work on that, the more beautiful you will feel despite society’s beauty standards. Even though the influence to look perfect is impactful, I encourage you to feel good about your body and see how beautiful you are from the inside and outside because you are perfect the way you are.  

REMINDERS 

You are perfect the way you are 

Avoid social media that can destroy your mental health  

Invest in yourself  

Focus on individuality 

It is okay to feel bad  

It is okay to not have self-esteem everyday