BODY POSITIVITY

Mirror Selfie by: Madison Garrett

Look at yourself in a mirror. What do you see? The first thing to pop up in your mind is most likely a criticism about yourself. Admit it. Most of us do it, but only half of us will admit it.

Left image represent her height insecurity. Right image shows her happiness when listening to music.

“Approximately 91 percent of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only five percent of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media.” This statistic was collected by Do Something.org., a platform for campaigns and statistics for various social issues.

Women have developed this fascination with filling their head with negative, critical thoughts about themselves. Instead of uplifting ourselves, we tear ourselves down. Women always encourage others that they are beautiful, and add on that they have more to offer than their looks. But why is it that we can tell other women that, but cannot tell the person in the mirror?

Do women like to critique themselves to get praise from someone else or because they feel very insecure? These questions may never be answered. However, overtime the façade has progressed.

Left image represents her thigh insecurity. Right image shows her at her happiest.

In the 80s, women were fully confident. They dressed in the trends, wore the crazy makeup, and styled their hair with the “it” look. This fad was shown in the musical works such as: Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Mamma Mia, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Fast forward to the present day. Women are dressing like those they see who have the most followers on social media or what they know the male counterparts like. The makeup is piled on too much to mask their “imperfections,” and the hair is never right. There has been a decline in the confidence column for women in these recent years.

Let us examine the 21st century. Little girls who grew up during the early part of this time period were wearing Justice or Limited Too clothes that were accessorized with fun jewelry from Claire’s. Then their adolescent years involved Aeropostale, Hollister, and American Eagle. During this transition year was when they would receive their first cellphone. This new gift opened the door to social media. This crucial time in a young girl’s life was spent looking at beautiful, Barbie-like girls who had a seriously strong post game. In Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research it states, “internalization of thin-idealized female beauty is a key element in a culturally stereotyped standard of beauty that is ubiquitously communicated in contemporary media throughout Westernized societies.” The innocent, beautiful teens would turn to the mirror and the dam broke of negative thoughts.

Left image displays her arm insecurity. Right image shows her being happy.

This vital turning point turns teens into women with serious self-image issues. They no longer feel beautiful on the outside. This disgust of their appearances makes them turn ugly on the inside. It becomes a dark hole, that presents a challenge to climb out of.

“18-29 year olds who use the Internet are the most likely of any demographic group to use social networking site, according to Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research.” From this one can assume this issue is not exclusive to women. Men have felt insecure about their appearance for a long time. Instead of looking into a mirror, and not seeing that stunning girl that received over 1.2 K likes. They see a man who is not really a man because he does not have facial hair, abs, or biceps. However, there is a difference between these two self-image issues. Most of the time (not always) men turn this into a positive and strive to get in better shape, whereas women tend to not do this, or maybe do it in an unhealthy way.

The mirror selfie is accurate. It is probably the most beautiful picture because it shows you in your most vulnerable state which all the likes in the world cannot compete against.