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Pressure for Perfection in the Current Generation

The use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Twitter and

Instagram has become one of the widespread behaviors among men and women.

There is an increase of 13% in social media users from 2017 to 2018 as reported by the

Global Digital Report 2018, which stated that “the number of social media users

worldwide in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year” (Chaffey). Social media

paved way for a faster and easier form of communication and for a creative and artistic

form of self-expression. It became a medium for people to “constantly update and share

content with their friends with little effort” because “social media platforms like Facebook

and Twitter have manifested the need to constantly broadcast our lives on the internet”

(Willis). A popular method of sharing stories in social media is through pictures. It has

become a practice to post pictures in social networking sites as a way of sharing the

happenings in one’s life. This has unfortunately contributed to the ever-growing issue of

body image.

As social media’s popularity rose, “another rising statistic that has caught the

attention of researchers is the number of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction

rates” (Bell 3). In response to this revelation, several researchers began to look at

possible effect that social media has on body image. Klein established that “the

prevalence of social media has increased” as well as the “rates of eating disorders and

body dissatisfaction among college women” (82). In addition, she stated that “women

have become more focused on their outward appearances and more obsessed with

personal photo sharing through social media sites” (83). This leads women – and even

men – into giving much effort in taking their photos – finding the perfect angle, lighting,
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and expression – with the primary goal of getting positive feedback from other social

media users.

Fox and Vendemia stated:

Affordances of SNSs, especially photo sharing features, promote objectification

of the self and others. Previous studies have associated Internet use and

specifically SNS use with body image issues. Images on SNSs and the visibility

of social feedback among one’s social network (e.g., comments, ‘‘likes’’) may

encourage social comparison. (593)

The photo sharing features and social feedback mechanism of social media can make a

photo viral or trending. If it is a photo related to physical attractiveness, people may feel

pressure to conform to what is being shown in the photo. A great example of this is

#fitspiration photos. An article by Clark indicated:

If you explore social media, you’re bound to find “fitstagrams” that share the

fitness journey of people of all ages, sizes and shapes. Yes, these posts inspire

some people—hence, the hashtag #fitspiration—and may motivate them to stay

on track with a healthy eating and exercise program. But for others, the same

messages can backfire, making them feel inadequate, anxious and preoccupied

with perceived body flaws. (67)

Exercise is supposedly good for the body – it is a way to keep the body healthy and fit –

but Mark Greif says otherwise. He stated that:

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Men and women seem more ashamed of their own actual bodies in the present

environment of biological exposure than in a pre-gym past. An era of exercise

has brought more obsession and self-hatred rather than less. (367)

The essay placed an emphasis on the inadequacies that exercise can lead people to

feel. Brock, in his summary of Greif’s essay, stated how “most people (especially young

people) exercise only for the hopes of increasing their physical attractiveness.” He also

added how women “will run themselves to near death in the hopes of achieving their

“thinness”” and how men “will go to the gym and lift weights to bloat particular muscles

that would never get that way naturally without certain exercises.” In the present,

physical attractiveness is “thinness and shapeliness” and “big breasts, big bottoms,

narrow waists” for women, and “high muscularity” and “road chests and big biceps” for

men (Olds). This pressure of having the “ideal” body – thin for women and muscular for

men – can sometimes lead to people to do obsess about their physical appearance.

This can also lead them to resort to extreme measures such as exercising too much or

developing an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia. Unfortunately, not everything that

people see online is real.

Programs like Photoshop and Lightroom have made it possible to deceive the

masses. These programs can be used to edit and remove flaws to make a person seem

perfect. “Though most people know that the images that social media shows to the

public are digital edited in some shape or form; they still try to attain the unrealistic

characteristics that are displayed to them on a daily basis” (Gaffney 27). Results from a

study by McLean et al. indicated that “young adolescent girls with high levels of body-

related and eating concerns might engage in social media activities that are appearance
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focused such as self-photo manipulation and investment in efforts to present an ideal

appearance when sharing images” (1138). Another study by Kim and Chock suggested

that “higher levels of social grooming behaviors (e.g., visiting and checking other users’

profiles, clicking ‘‘likes,’’ leaving comments or messages, etc.) on Facebook were

positively associated with a greater drive for thinness as well as appearance

comparison” (336). Social media can drive a person to do deceiving actions like photo

manipulation just to get affirmation through likes and comments. The number of likes

and comments that people have becomes the basis for their level of self-esteem. This is

a sad reality that has surfaced.

What is seen on social media, particularly what goes viral and trending, has

become the standard of what people should look like, should have and should do.

People, especially women, become mere objects online. “Objectification theory posits

that the cultural milieu of objectification functions to socialize girls and women to, at

some level, treat themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated” (Fredrickson and

Roberts 177). This is the reason they place too much effort into the photos they post

online – taking picture after picture just get the perfect one or even resorting to photo

manipulation just to appear perfect. People have the tendency to compare themselves

to others due to the standard of beauty that is present in social media. “Such

comparisons have important implications for individuals’ psychological and physical

well-being as body comparisons and surveillance have been linked to body

dissatisfaction and disordered eating” (Fox and Vendemia 594). Because of the beauty

standards wherein women should be thin and men should be muscular, some
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individuals become dissatisfied with what they have and can lead them to do extreme

measures to achieve the “ideal” body.

Social media has truly contributed to the body image issue that is present in the

world today. Social media is everywhere. It provides immediate and extensive access to

photos and videos anywhere around the globe. Due to the beauty standards seen

online like how women should be thin and men should be muscular, self-acceptance

becomes nonexistent. The number of likes and comments that one’s photo has is the

measurement of happiness and self-acceptance; however, achieving the “ideal” body

and getting a good number of likes on social media does not always make a person

happy. “Unless we pursue them for the right reasons— intrinsic reasons— we are often

left wanting what we don't need” (McAlister 41). A good example of this is Essena

O’Neill, who had half a million followers on Instagram. “She had a great body, beautiful

clothes and hundreds of thousands of fans. She had it all -- but only on Instagram”

(Trinko). She quit social media because it is “contrived perfection made to get attention”

(Gajanan). With all these, social media should not be the center of one’s life but be once

again used for its primary purpose – to connect people.

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Works Cited

Bell, Kathryn. “Social Media and Female Body Image.” BSU Honors Program Theses

and Project, 2016, vc.bridgew.edu/honors_proj/173/.

Brock, Cody. “English 1020.” Summary of "Against Exercise", 11 Feb. 2015,

cabrock42.blogspot.com/2015/02/summary-of-against-exercise.html

Chaffey, Dave. “Global Social Media Research Summary 2018.” Smart Insights, Smart

Insights, 23 Nov. 2018, www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-

media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/.

Clark, Nancy. “Social Media and Body Image: pass:[#]Fitspiration at Its Worst.”

American Fitness, vol. 35, no. 2, Spring 2017, pp. 66–68. EBSCOhost,

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Festinger, Leon. “A Theory of Social Comparison Processes.” Human Relations, vol. 7,

no. 2, May 1954, pp. 117–140. Sage Journals,

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Fox, Jesse, and Megan A. Vendemia. “Selective Self-Presentation and Social

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600. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1089/cyber.2016.0248.

Fredrickson, Barbara, and Tomi-ann Roberts. “Objectification Theory: Towards

Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks.”

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Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 2, Jun. 1997, pp. 173–206.

ResearchGate, doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.

Gaffney, Katelyn J. "Negative Affects that Social Media causes on Body Imaging."

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Gajanan, Mahita. “Young Women on Instagram and Self-Esteem: 'I Absolutely Feel

Insecure'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Nov. 2015,

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Body Image.” CMC Senior Theses, 2013,

scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/720.

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McLean, Siân A., et al. “Photoshopping the Selfie: Self Photo Editing and Photo

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