Gabriela Arredondo

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

12/7/17

Social Media and its participation in Body Shaming

There is much debate over the concept of technology. Many argue that it is beneficial in

communicating with people while others claim it to be harmful to our mental and emotional

health. So the question arises: is technology more beneficial or more harmful? After researching

both the pros and cons, I have concluded that the negative effects overpower the positive effects.

This is clearly displayed on social media sites where body shaming is the new trend,

negatively affecting our self-love and forcing us to alter our appearance/ identities to what

society thinks is appropriate.

Social media is extremely influential in the sense that it can promote ideas and viewpoints

and can successfully shift our perspective on certain topics. However, it is through the rude and

hateful comments that ultimately cause our perspectives to change on what we deem as

acceptable in the beauty world. Our narrow-minded and overly critical society has shaped the

way some of us think, turning some into the internet trolls that are compelled to comment

something rude or hurtful on someone elses post. What started out as a place where you are able

to share your journeys and experiences has quickly become a toxic environment for

strengthening our relationship with our bodies. (Body Shaming and Social Media) I agree with
this idea because once you go on social media, you are no longer viewing what other people are

up to and instead are seeing many people tearing others down and not supporting one another.

As I have stated before, society has programmed many of us to think that we must look a

certain way to be considered beautiful or handsome and social media has only added to the

problem. Although some might not care what others think of them, many can agree that, seeing

a constant stream of buff people can make people feel a need to look a certain way. (Scott,

THE EDITOR) From personal experience, I completely agree with this statement. Upon seeing

hundreds of women who are very fit has made me feel insecure about my body and ultimately

instilled this notion that you are only considered to be beautiful if you are fit. We are taught what

is considered the acceptable and ideal body image when we see hundreds of pictures of

women who either have flat stomachs, big hips and chests or who are very slim, with toned

stomachs and men who are tall and extremely muscular with sharp jawlines. You will only come

across men and women with these specific body types being seen in certain advertisements such

as Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Victoria Secret fashion commercials. What

these several commercials and other advertisements imply is that these body types are the only

acceptable body shape but what many people and society in general need to realize is that

Theres no right and wrong with bodies. (Scott, THE EDITOR) Our body is our body and

there is nothing wrong with the way we look. We do not need to change, society does. As Faythe

Arredondo has stated in the article Body Imagein and Out of Books, We dont want

perfection. We want to be real people, because being yourself is more important that pretending

to be or look like someone else. There is beauty in being different than everyone else; there is

beauty in being unique and embracing how we are, not changing ourselves to please society.
 If you were to go on social media to an account that has a significant amount of followers or

friends, you will be able to see that there are always a handful of people that say something

mean and hurtful because that person whos account theyre commenting on do not follow the

rules or do not meet the standards the person commenting has. Body shaming negatively affects

our self-esteem and self-love tremendously and can cause many of us to change our appearance

so that we can fit in and be called beautiful or handsome. We become gullible to what we see

on social media because of our need to be accepted. Many of us struggle to accept our bodies the

way they are and reading these negative comments can surely drag us down more. It affects us

emotionally and we then become self-conscious and go on diets and start exercising to the point

that it can become unhealthy and dangerous. All this effort to change our appearance to please

someone who hides behind a computer, phone or tablet screen just proves that words can hurt;

they leave scars and continuously run through our mind, reminding us of a time or comment we

so desperately want to forget.

To companies advertising diets and exercises, social media is considered a blessing to them

because it allows these companies to advertise their products to people. If you were to go online,

you will see these advertisements that pop up on the sides of the screen or some that even go so

far as to take up the entire screen, promoting their products or services like the company Weight

Watchers. You see this advertisement pop up on your screen and many will ask themselves in

their mind if they need to watch their weight and become self-conscious about their bodies after

seeing this advertisement. Also, you will see many celebrities, such as the Kardashian family,

Ashley Benson, and Vanessa Hudgens, promoting certain brands and companies that deal with

dieting and losing weight like the brand FitTea. (BuzzFeed) These celebrities will take a picture
with the bag of FitTea and post it their social media accounts where they know their followers

will see it. After seeing a handful of celebrities and other people post about it, many of us will go

out of our way to purchase their tea in hopes of losing weight and becoming skinny so we can be

beautiful and handsome. This is how we are ultimately manipulated by social media. Through

these advertisements, social media is feeding us the concept of being skinny and slim, essentially

changing our appearance.

As we struggle to accept our bodies, seeing gorgeous, tall, and skinny women and tall,

muscular men on social media does not help our self-esteem. We compare our bodies to those

models that are seen on social media and degrade ourselves for not looking like them, ultimately

body shaming ourselves. It does not have to be what another person said for someone to

experience body shaming, all body types (suffer) from the ridicule and shaming of an overly-

critical culture. (Body Shaming and Social Media) I agree completely with this statement.

Our society can be extremely brutal and unkind to those who do not follow its rules and

expectations. Claire Mysoke, CEO of the National Association of Eating Disorders has stated in

the article In case you havent heard, Body shaming in public or private and at any age is

unacceptable and continues a social norm in our country that, at best, is hurtful and, at worst,

creates damaging and life-altering insecurities that can have lasting effects, bringing attention to

the negativity that body shaming brings.

Regardless of the fact that social media has participated in the body shaming trend, there are

positive aspects to it. Through social media, we are able to communicate more efficiently to

friends and family who do not live close to us and we are also able to meet new people more
easily and befriend them. Social media also gives us the ability to create better versions of

ourselves through avatars and pretend that we are more artistic and unique. Social media is the

gateway to communication across the world and technology in general has given us the ability to

do extraordinary things. These advancements in technology have also helped in the medical field

and are extremely beneficial to the human population.

Society has these set standards of how you are suppose to look, behave and think and if you

do not follow one or any of these rules you are ridiculed and degraded for merely wanting to

be your own person. We suffer from trying to become someone who is unique and are

continuously mocked from those who perceive us as wrong. Social media has made is much

muore easier for hateful comments to emerge and essentially cause us to question ourselves and

affect our self-love. All the negativity can and will take its toll on our mental and emotional

health. Body shaming does not target only a specific group, everyone experiences it in some

point of their life, however it is ultimately our decision to let those negative comments affect us.

For someone who has accepted their body for the way it is and what it does for them, both the ...

negative and positive feedback from others would carry less importance. (Body Shaming and

Social Media) How is that possible? Well, once you accept yourself, you will come to realize

that the only opinion and acceptance you need is your own, not anyone elses. It is your unbiased

opinion that matters the most and fuels your decisions and emotions.
 Work Cited

"Body Shaming and Social Media." UWIRE Text, 26 Apr. 2017, p. 1. Expanded Academic ASAP,

galegroup. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017.

Diaz, Shelley M. "Body Image--in and Out of Books." School Library Journal, vol. 61, no. 9,

2015, pp. 12-n/a, ABI/INFORM Collection, proquest. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.

FitTea. Digital Image. BuzzFeed. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017. Web. 31 May, 2016.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/samstryker/i-tried-kardashians-fit-

tea?utm_term=.vlxQMJDpZ#.ifm8lKA1E

"In case you haven't heard ..." Mental Health Weekly, 14 Nov. 2016, p. 8. Expanded Academic

ASAP, galegroup. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.

Scott, Darren. "THE EDITOR." Gay Times, 05, 2016, pp. 11, GenderWatch, proquest. Accessed

3 Oct. 2017.