By Sarah Garman Rohr

As a 17-year-old girl, born in 2001, I am part of a generation that spent its childhood on the cusp of technological breakthroughs. While social media existed when we were in Lower School, it was still evolving and not yet on the brink of dominating American culture. We watched television cartoons when we were kids, but we were not faced with the intense and vast world of technology and social media until we got older.

Social media logos. Image credit: Sarah Garman Rohr.

Facebook came out in 2004. YouTube appeared in 2005. Twitter was announced in 2006. Instagram debuted in 2010. Snapchat hit the digital world in 2012. The current high school generation has grown up in parallel to these platforms’ domination of social media. As this generation has grown up, social media has matured as well, becoming a common part of the daily routine of millions. It influences how we think about ourselves and others. 

With the advancement of social media running parallel to my childhood, I believe that I first started to become aware of the ideal body image when I was in preschool and being exposed to the media for the first time. Watching Disney princess movies heightened my awareness of appearance, and I remember wanting to have similar qualities to the animated characters I watched in movies.

Disney princesses are beautiful, so it is no wonder young girls watch their unwavering grace in awe. However, some young girls are too naive to understand the reality that looking identical to these characters is physically impossible. In the same vein as Disney princesses, Barbie dolls and other toy dolls can also contribute to a warped perception of what should be seen as beautiful.

V Brooks (‘20) says that she began conceiving the ideal body image when she started “playing with Barbies and all the stuff associated with that.” She said that seeing skinny Barbie made her want to look more like the doll. While some young girls want to mimic Barbie and her figure, research has shown that if humans had the same bone structure as Barbie, they would be “so frail it would be impossible to walk” and there would only be “room for only half a liver.”

Valeria Lukyanova, the human Barbie Doll. Photo credit: Direct Expose.

Women and men around the world have tried to alter their bodies, using plastic surgery and other means, to look more like the unrealistic body types depicted by dolls like Barbie and Ken. In an article, Direct Expose tells the story of Valeria Lukyanova, a 34-year-old Moldovan woman who always thought she was beautiful but was never fully satisfied with her appearance. This dissatisfaction helped foster her obsession with plastic surgery to emulate Barbie’s unnatural proportions. Lukyanova is one extreme example of many women across the globe trying to mold themselves to fit unrealistic expectations.

In another example of humans attempting to emulate dolls, Brazilian-born Rodrigo Alves has been coined as the “Human Ken Doll” and has received global attention for his seventy surgeries and drastic transformations. He claims that he is finally happy after undergoing various alterations.

Conversations about body image insecurities often only circulate around the female population. However, men can be just as self-conscious as women. Will Burford (‘20) says that he feels self-conscious when people “make fun of my bowl cut.”

Rodrigo Alves, human Ken Doll. Photo credit: Direct Expose.

Men can feel similar social pressures about their appearance as well. William Otero (‘20) says, “I feel pressured to wear things like khakis and collared shirts because of the dress code, and sometimes when people wear different things they are judged, and I don’t want to be judged.” KJ Rogers (‘19) stated that “in the school I used to go to, there was a big deal about brands, and I tried to keep up with that.”

Zack Hunnicutt (‘19) opened up about what he thought about the media and how certain stereotypes are geared towards men, saying, “I think it’s mostly TV and social media that make boys insecure, because you will see videos of NFL football players, and you wish you were jacked like them. It gives you this false idea of what every guy looks like.”

For some people, the desire to want to change your appearance stems from early adolescent years. Celia Phillips (‘19) says that she started to become more closely aware of her body “in Middle School.” She said, “I feel like in Middle School there is always pressure to look good, and people will be mean to you. Something I didn’t really realize until now is that you’re still changing in Middle School, and you might not fit the ideal body yet.”

Charlotte Grace Marshall (‘19) delivered her Senior Speech in an Upper School assembly on February 21, 2019. In her speech, she discussed the concept of body image and her own self-confidence. She strongly believes that “just because I look like I do and weigh what I weigh does not mean that another girl my height who weighs more or less is any less beautiful. This goes for boys as well. Just because you don’t have a six pack or you are not ripped does not mean you are any less handsome or manly of a man.” Marshall emphasized how the world seems to revolve around a fixed definition of beautiful.

Middle School is an important developmental period in a child’s life. Children are figuring out who they are, where they fit in, and the petty dramas that come with being a tween. However, Middle School is also the first time many children are also faced with the pressures of appearance and to look a certain way.

With Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms coming out around the same time I was in Middle School, I felt as though everything I was insecure about was only magnified because I was constantly seeing beautiful models and perfectly staged photographs. Current high school students are the first generation to have grown up with these networks, and they have felt the pressures of the media for nearly their entire lives.

Evans Campbell (‘22) says that she “started wearing makeup in seventh grade” and that she “felt like people who were wearing makeup felt pressure because other people thought it was weird.” Campbell says that this was one of the first times that she started to notice people caring about their appearance. However, Mackenzie Ferguson (‘22) started to notice people’s appearance “by fifth grade” and “people cared if you were skinny or not.”

Gabrielle Dunn (‘20) opened up about the first experience she had with feeling insecure about herself, saying that “in fourth grade was the first time I felt self-conscious about something. During one of my classes, someone pointed out that I had hairy arms, and I was self-conscious about it, and so I wore long sleeve shirts to school for the rest of the school year. It is always something that is in the back of my mind, even to this day.” Comments that seem insignificant can highly affect someone’s self-esteem.

Coupled with the naturally awkward stages of being in Middle School, lots of children begin using smartphones and other platforms to access media during those years. When I got my first phone the summer before seventh grade, I was shocked at how much power such a small device could have. Walker Miller (‘20) says that “my first phone changed me, because I now had easy access to communicating with whoever, whenever, which made life a lot easier.”

Tween years often present new experiences. When I got my first phone, I immediately felt as though my insecurities were highlighted. I was susceptible to seeing people together on social media and feeling left out, or having anxiety when a friend didn’t text me back immediately.

Texting, calling, and FaceTiming have become mundane practices which have been shown to fuel social anxiety and the psychological phenomenon of “FOMO”, the Fear Of Missing Out on something. “FOMO” oftentimes stems from viewing social media and seeing what others are doing.  

In a blog post, writer and parenting blogger Kari Kampakis addresses the question of “Is Your Daughter Emotionally Ready for Instagram?” She explains that “if you’re on social media, you’re going to have moments where you feel left out, forgotten, or excluded. This fact remains true whether you’re 16, 46, or 90.” She describes Instagram as being a “mixed blessing,” because, for girls especially, it is a way to stay connected, but it can also spark insecurities.

Middle school is commonly the first time teenagers set up social media profiles and accounts.  Katie Dunn (‘20) says that she first started to become aware of her appearance “when I got Instagram around 7th grade. That’s when I became more exposed to social media and seeing other people dress up or wear makeup. I honestly don’t think I ever thought about other people’s appearances before then.” Likewise, Madison Flinchum (‘20) also said that she started becoming aware of the media and body image “when I got Instagram and saw it more often.”

Along with exploring the world with a phone, social media became much more prevalent in Middle School daily life. Now there was pressure to take the impeccable picture for Instagram, take a cute selfie on Snapchat, and have perfect images of yourself be shown to the world.

Pew Research Center surveyed teenagers and found that 95% have access to a smartphone and 45% admit to being online “almost constantly.” YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram are the most used platforms for teenagers thirteen to nineteen years old.

Most used online platforms among teenagers. Image credit: Pew Research Center.

While social media was prevalent in middle school, it becomes more intense and subjective in high school. Some teenagers become absorbed and fixated on their appearance because of the perfect images that are so famously portrayed by social media influencers.

With technology constantly evolving and advancing, editing an image or a body has become effortless. The soap and beauty product company Dove has made efforts to be transparent about the images they display for the public. They have also been adamant about showing their viewers the fictitious personas that are often commercialized. The company released a commercial that capitalizes on the realities of flawlessly published images. A woman sits in front of a camera with a naked face and untouched hair. She is then met by makeup artists and hairstylists to glam her up. After the photoshoot has ceased, the photos are uploaded into Photoshop and unrealistically readjusted.

As the Dove commercial portrays, many of the images that debut on social media, magazines, and billboards are fake. They aren’t authentic images of humans. This, however, is not only relevant across mainstream companies and celebrities. To a lesser extent, this also happens on typical teenagers’ social media accounts. Anyone can also heavily edit their photos to be certain that they are putting the best image of themselves on display.

One June, before going to camp for a month, all my camp friends and I were texting on a group chat. We were all raving about Katie Koch, fellow camp friend and a resident of Tampa, Florida, and her glowing Instagram posts, saying things like “OMG you look so good,” “YOU ARE PERFECT,” and “Wow I wish I looked like you.” Koch responded to the group, saying “y’all are so sweet, but I am kind of scared to see y’all in person, because I am not as perfect as my Instagram feed, and I don’t want you to be disappointed. None of that is actually real.”

Kim Kardashian’s Instagram feed. Image credit: Kim Kardashian.

When Upper School students were asked about their social media presence, their authenticity online, and the way they perceive themselves through the media, there was a pattern in the responses. Ellie Smith (‘22) says that “Yes, I think social media has definitely changed the way I see myself. On Instagram, I’m trying to put the best image of myself out there.” Avery Rogers (‘20) states that “my social media presence is real. I only put filters on my pictures, but I would never Photoshop myself. I would never want to post something that makes me look fake.”

Putting filters on pictures has become popular across social media platforms. Instagram has preloaded filters on the app, but people have taken editing their photos to a whole new level by downloading other apps, such as VSCO, Tezza, and HUJI to make sure they have the perfect edit. Instagram “themes” have also become wildly popular. Having an Instagram theme is when a profile feed is all edited with the same color scheme, or all the photos share the same aesthetic.

The pressures of social media have drastically increased mental health issues among teens and adults. Psychology professor and author Jean Twenge wrote in The Washington Post that “all signs point to the screen,” that mental health is directly related to social media. Teenagers are constantly trying to dodge feeling worse about themselves through other social media feeds.

A photo edited with TEZZA, HUJI, and VSCO. Photo credit: Sarah Garman Rohr.

Forbes reported on studies that “found correlations between higher social media use and poorer mental health, including depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness and isolation, lower self-esteem, and even suicidality.”

Photoshop and other editing platforms present a warped vision of what the ideal body should look like. However, the altered body that is so commonly displayed isn’t necessarily healthy.

Survivor of anorexia and Collegiate alumna May Donahue (‘16) spoke at TEDxYouth@RVA hosted by Collegiate in November 2014, about “challenges the portrayals created by the media about body image and the negative influence they have on America’s youth” and encourages listeners to “construct their own definition of beauty.”

Fstoppers, an online community that is “aimed at educating and inspiring photographers, videographers, and creative professionals,” published an article that proclaims, “68 Percent of Adults Edit Their Selfies Before Sharing Them With Anyone.” Over half of the images that are advertised online are not realistic to what is legitimately normal.

Hayley Dunn’s (‘20) Match Honors feature article from December 2018 also discussed the connection between social media and mental health. Dunn added that “when I first got Instagram, my view of myself definitely changed. I wanted to be like all of the people on the app, and it made me have a negative view of how I saw myself and my body. More frequently, however, I have changed how I view myself in a more positive way. I try to not compare myself to other people and instead be happy with who I am right now. As far as my social media presence as being ‘real,’ I do post things that I think reflect who I am. I want to show people the ‘real’ me, and it makes me feel better about myself knowing that I’m showing the real world who I truly am.”

Growing up and navigating the world is difficult on its own, for any generation. However, as social media has grown in influence, in parallel with my generation, it has heightened the intensity of adolescent insecurities. Millennials, defined as people born in the years 1981-1996, grew up just as the internet was being discovered, and therefore were never glued to the media, like the current generation. The media has been interwoven into the lives of our generation, producing an unrealistic understanding of the way some people see themselves.

Features image credit: Dove.