Media vs Society: where's the love?

Cassie the writer
Sep 5, 2018 · 5 min read

I was talking to someone the other day about the medias influence and we came back to this question, ‘does the media influence society or does society influence the media?’

I think the answer is both.

Source: Pintrest

I think society and the media mirror each other. It’s similar to how we feel and dress. Sometimes what you wear makes you feel good and other times you feel good and it’s reflected in the outfit you choose to wear.

This past week I caught up with three friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I noticed a theme was evident in my conversations with each girl. When I started to think about it, I realised pretty much all of my conversations with all of my friends, for as long as I can remember, have centred around ‘image’. We’re all self-conscious, doubtful and we all want a different, better, improved version of ourselves, and it plagues our thoughts. What we discuss on each occasion varies, but the theme remains, it’s a lack of self-love.

With one of my friends we discussed fitness and physical health. She’s my age and she’s realised that she needs to work on her mental and emotional health now. Body image and mental health was a hot topic among my younger friends. Both friends talked about not being able to feel comfortable in their own skin and I think that’s something that every girl struggles with, no matter how old they get. I found myself offering advice, which allowed me to realise something about myself. I’m okay with my body.

I’m not saying I’m perfect, I’m far from it, there are still many areas where I need improvement. But, I’m okay with that too. I know that for me, I’ll be working on learning to love my body my entire life, and that’s something I’ve come to terms with. One of my friends was telling me how she struggles to love herself for who she is. I responded with, ‘perhaps you need to start by just liking yourself first’.

If we can learn to appreciate the great things our bodies do every day, maybe we would be more thankful and in turn have more love for ourselves. I think this lack of self-love and confidence comes from our body image issues, which are exaggerated by the media, and lead to mental health issues in so many young people. The worst part of it all is, we’re creating this worm-hole ourselves!

When I was at my lowest point, health-wise, I found motivation within myself to make a change. It worked, I found fitness, health and happiness, and with that, I found self-confidence. However, when I was feeling low mentally, I looked outwards for motivation. I thought that inspirational quotes and images would help me change, when really, I was creating a bigger disconnect between myself and others. I was comparing my body to the bodies of other women, of different ages, my abilities to the abilities of athletes and those with more dedication than me, and I was comparing my mental and emotional state to that of other women in different places. This isn’t wise, but it is common.

Source: findyourtruebeauty.com

Like most girls, I’ve been through phases, health kicks and tried fads and fasts. I even put myself in hospital once by messing with my diet so much! I’ve learned a lot about my body in the past five years. Having to deal with a chronic medical condition has taught me that my body’s capable of more than I give it credit for. If I keep on top of things, it does so much that I take for granted every day. While I’m out here having self-doubt and confidence issues, my body is fighting off illnesses and keeping me functioning, allowing me so much freedom and independence. So much that I take for granted. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I can do better for my body, because my body is doing it’s best for me.

These are just my lessons, I think it must be much harder for the younger generation. Technically, I’m a millennial, but I’m on the cusp and I’m a late-bloomer, so I can’t really relate. Or so I tell myself! In my last year of high school, I stayed on Myspace, glitter background, music and all, while my friends all signed up to Facebook. I used AOL, while most were on MSN. I got my first smart phone at 22, long after my friends. I feel so lucky to not have grown up around Snapchat, Instagram and the pressure to always look perfect. I was the kind of teenage girl who enjoyed riding bikes, climbing trees and making up dances with my friends. I wasn’t the kind of girl who spent hours doing hair and makeup to go hang out at the shops. I’m 28 now, and I’ve only just learned how to braid my hair and I still don’t understand contouring!

I think there’s way too much pressure on young girls, but the problem is, they’re putting it on themselves! If you want to be a better you, you need to focus on you! You can’t compare yourself to someone else. To improve you need to work on being better than you once were, not comparing yourself to someone else. Everyone’s different. Your best self isn’t going to be the same as someone else, but that should be celebrated, because it’s impossible to be someone else! I feel sad for our generation of girls. We’re so obsessed with body image, we’re getting implants and procedures done at a young age, when really getting older is a part of life that we should embrace, along with our imperfections! This generation has an even longer road to self-love, than me, (that’s real, not selfie-superficial-hashtag-love). Real love. It’s a vicious cycle we’re in.

Dr Seuss helped me growing up, so here’s some of his #inspo for millennial girls, in hope that they embrace themselves the way they are and begin the road to self-love. ‘Today you are you, that is truer than true, there is no one alive, who is you-er than you’.

I want to leave you with a question, feel free to leave your response in the comments below. If we, as a society were to change our thinking around body image collectively, would it be reflected in the media and then, would society follow?

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