As published in the New York Times
by Jane Michel
This month we’ve been featuring projects conceived and written by members of our teenage Student Council, and this one is 17-year-old Jane Michel’s impassioned plea for teaching and learning about body image at a time when social media can warp young people’s perceptions of what is normal.
Photo: Kim Kardashian West appeared on NBC’s “Today” show in 2012, courtesy Peter Kramer/NBC
Below, she provides both a rationale and some practical ideas that anyone can use, in or out of the classroom, to learn more about this issue.
Student: Jane Michel, 17
Institution: St. Ursula Academy, Cincinnati
Idea: Raising awareness of unrealistic media messages about body image and how they affect us.
Why We Chose It: We love the way Ms. Michel has defined the problem, found interesting sources to counter it, and suggested ways any young person can take action.
In the past few years, the media’s murmurings about body image have turned into a scream, with teenagers as the prime recipients.
Before the rise of social media, teenagers could reasonably avoid the barrage of body negativity, but now, it’s inevitable. There is more pressure than ever for teenagers to always look “perfect.”
Long-lost Facebook friends from middle school are exchanging exercises to get a thigh gap. Kim Kardashian (who boasts 44.3 million Twitter followers) is sharing near-nude selfies, and sending the internet into a frenzy. High-profile fashion designers are using emaciated models to represent beauty and happiness.
The result? Teenagers are editing their Instagram pictures to make themselves unrealistically skinny. Thousands of dollars of babysitting money are being spent on weight-loss teas and protein shakes. Teenagers everywhere see themselves as not pretty, skinny or athletic enough.
People with low-self esteem tend to focus on their insecurities and neglect their own natural beauty. Teenagers with beautiful smiles and perfectly healthy bodies focus on the number on the scale and fall into the trap of self-loathing.
This attitude leads to increased attention to full-body pictures on social media. What started as a casual picture with friends has turned into means for physical comparison. In fact, a recent study found that 80 percent of women experience body negativity on social media.
The task of combating body negativity is a daunting one, but steps must be taken by educators, parents and friends to stop negative self-talk as well as controversial messages on social media.
The First Step
A key first step is to acknowledge that the bodies seen in the media are not only unrealistic, but also unhealthy (the average model is 5 feet 10 inches and 110 pounds). Nearly all images released to the public have been filtered, airbrushed, stretched and tweaked to make them appear as perfect as possible. Models have admitted to eating very little and exercising an unhealthy amount in the weeks before a photo shoot. These impractical images are continually shared on social media and forced down the throats of teenagers, only leading to more self-esteem issues.
Young people also have a lack of body-positive role models. Many celebrities contribute to the problem by posting scantily clad Instagram pictures, which leads teenagers to hold their bodies to unrealistic standards.
However, body-positive messages have been emerging recently from a handful of celebrities.
The “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham denounced Photoshop in her candid essay, “Retouched by an Angel.” The singer Demi Lovato frequently takes to Instagram to share her thoughts on self-acceptance and confidence. More celebrities using their platforms for spreading positivity could do wonders for teenagers’ self-esteem.
Possible Ways to Approach This Topic in a Classroom
1. Think critically.
First, reflect on the following questions by journaling your response or adding your comment to these Student Opinion questions (links embedded), and then discuss in small groups or as a class.
Is there too much pressure on girls to have perfect bodies? What about boys?
How do you think this pressure affects girls’ self-image? What about boys’ self-image? How does it affect your own self-image?
Where does this pressure come from? What messages are in songs, movies or TV shows that promote the necessity of a “perfect” body? What role does social media play?
2. Look closely.
Then choose three or more images on which to focus, and respond to the following questions:
What changes do you notice in the retouched image? What trends did you notice among all the images you viewed?
Why do you think the editors or the celebrity decided to make changes to the original image? What body ideals do the retouched images promote?
What might be the consequences of all this retouching for viewers? What about for the celebrity?
3. Get inspired. Next, read one of the following articles about how ordinary people and celebrities alike have pushed back against the sea of unrealistic body representations being published on both social media and traditional media.
Saying ‘No’ to Picture Perfect
Essena O’Neill, Instagram Star, Recaptions Her Life
TheTalko | 15 Celebrities Who Spoke Out Against Photoshop
As a class or a small group, discuss the following questions:
How has the person or group of people taken a stand against image manipulation?
Do you think this action is effective? Does it help to make a difference in challenging the culture of unrealistic body images?
If different groups read different articles, share what you learned with the rest of the class.
4. Take a stand. With a partner, brainstorm ideas about how to promote healthy body images in our media age. Here are some possibilities to help you get started:
Decide if you support a mandatory label for excessively Photoshopped images.
Start or join a campaign to pressure the media to be more honest in the images of women and men they promote.
Embrace the body’s imperfections. Think about how real you want to be on social media. Perhaps even join the #uglyselfie trend, just to reaffirm that all of us don’t look our best all of the time.
Focus on healthy eating and exercise instead of unrealistic, and often unhealthy, body trends.
Think about the messages you promote and perpetuate with your own social media use. Are you leaving comments that promote a positive body image?
Think about how often you engage in “fat talk.” How can you start by changing your way of thinking about your own body, and the messages you send yourself?
Brainstorm a list of qualities you like about yourself, physically or in terms of personality. You can acknowledge that there are things you don’t love about yourself, but be sure to consider all the things you do love. What makes you feel confident?
What ideas do you like best? What other ideas can you come up with? Pick one and get started.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/reader-idea-body-image-in-the-social-media-age/?module=meter-Links&version=meter+at+0&action=click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=&priority=true&contentCollection=meter-links-click&_r=1