What Young Girls Need to Know About Social Media
It’s inevitable that preteens and teenagers will at some point be exposed to social media. TV, movies, the Internet — the media has proven to be strongly influential today in age. Just like any other bad influence that young people are taught to avoid, similar caution should be taken for girls when observing how women are portrayed in social media. Certain pressures are placed on girls because of the media, and addressing these pressures will help girls fight against them.
The objectification of women has been apparent in advertisements for centuries. Women are often times used in these advertisements to draw in male viewers, as a way to spark sales for businesses. Not only does this reflect back on the idea that women are needed to be desirable in order to gain a man’s attention, but it also serves as a basis toward why women are oversexualized, in and out of the media. When you look at how women are depicted in ads, usually they appear as fragile, delicate and sexy; oftentimes touching their face, neck or body in a sexual manner. Obviously we can see that men in advertisements are presented completely differently — strong, muscular and brave. Gender inequality has been a social and economic problem for a very long time now, and ads like these strengthen this inequality by creating images based on these stereotypes, which ingrains those ideas into viewers minds. For young girls, since the women they see in the media are seen as beautiful by society, they strive to look that way or reach the same level as beauty. For boys, the oversexualization of women is often times presented to them earlier than it should, teaching these boys to desire the women they see in the media. Along with this, though, boys also strive to look the way that men do in advertisements as well (muscular and strong). The inaccuracy of how women are expected to be is a problem, and can be counteracted by talking to young girls about not feeling the need to fall suit to these pressures.
There is a concept that men are superior to women in every way. It has been this way nearly forever — the dominance factor plays a huge role in the behavior of men in society. Things like domestic violence, rape and assault occur because of this mindset. Take a look at the advertisement to the left. When released to the public, this Dolce & Gabbana campaign became hugely controversial because of the way the woman in the picture is being objectified. She is portrayed as a sexual object, the men around her all looking down at her in a controlling manner. There are so many things wrong with the ideals this picture brings forth. Not only does it reflect back on male dominance and female submissiveness, but also the fact that sex is being used as the main appeal to get the attention of consumers. The media has largely affected how people view sex today. The documentary “Miss Representation” largely discusses these problems, and the sexism in American society and the media. Ads like this one are broken down and explained, in ways that are extremely beneficial to understanding these problems. Explaining to girls, and helping them understand how the media has created a false sense of sexual behavior is very useful when bringing this to their attention as well. Being confident enough with who you are, and knowing what you’re comfortable with, will eliminate discomfort and pressure when sex becomes a part of one’s life.
Similarly to sexual pressure, it is so important for young girls to understand that the beauty standards that have been fabricated over time don’t need to be obtained in order to feel beautiful. Teen girls that develop habits such as eating disorders and self harm reach that point because of societal pressures to look a certain way. According to HeartOfLeadership.org, 98% of girls feel there is an immense pressure from external sources to look a certain way (National Report on Self Esteem). 92% of teen girls would like to change something about the way they look, with body weight ranking the highest (Dove campaign), and 90% of eating disorders are found in girls (National Association for Self Esteem). Along with this, 1 in 4 today fall into a clinical diagnosis — depression, eating disorders, cutting, and other mental/emotional disorders. On top of these, many more report being constantly anxious, sleep deprived, and under significant pressure (The Triple Bind, Steven Hinshaw). These statistics need to change. Not only are these things occurring very early in young girls lives, they are also way too common among the teen and preteen girl population. It is possible to help keep girls from reaching this point by teaching self love and acceptance, but also by taking time to explain how social media has affected beauty standards as a whole.
There are some movements organizations are participating in that support the idea of beauty being returned to a fairer and more realistic definition. The Dove Self Esteem Project, for example, is a movement to help deliver self esteem education to young people, in order to eliminate things like low body confidence and anxieties over appearance. In the 11 years since the Dove Self-Esteem Project launched, 19.4 million young people in 138 countries were helped to feel better about themselves with the help of leading experts from fields including psychology, health, and body image. Projects like these represent the need for change in the way beauty is being portrayed by the media. What businesses are doing to improve sales is harming its viewers, because false senses of reality are being presented in a way that seems normal.
Understanding that beauty comes in several different forms is a key part in being content with oneself. The women that are portrayed as ‘the perfect woman’ in the media may certainly be attractive, but that doesn’t mean a person isn’t beautiful unless that’s how they look. Beauty comes along with confidence, intelligence, happiness, and qualities that make a person feel complete and content with who they are. Loving who you are will make you feel beautiful, and the opinions of others shouldn’t play a role in how you see yourself. Social media certainly has its pros, but keep in mind the cons it brings along as well; teaching girls about these things will be a stab against the pressures they may feel.
“To me, beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are.” — Ellen Degeneres
