How Social Media is Harming our Beauty Self-Esteem

Recently, Instagram “models” have been coming forward and revealing the truth behind the great lengths they go through in order to take the perfect pic that’s worthy enough in their eyes to post to social media. The refreshing honesty of these women has called to light the fact that everyone has their own unique insecurities, despite how many “likes” or “followers” they have. We see photos of our friends and celebrities appearing as though they have flawless skin and perfect makeup. What we don’t always consider, is the fact that they’ve used several apps to retouch “flaws” or pose in specific ways that make them look slimmer. We wonder why our selfies or photos don’t look as magazine-esque   as theirs, further warping and harming our self-esteem and self-perception.

Our Own Worst Enemies

Comparing ourselves to other women is nothing new; however, because of social media, we are subjected to unrealistic beauty standards multiple times a day. We then try to create a version of ourselves that will garner more positive attention and “likes”. Before, we could just be happy with any shot that didn’t involve our eyes being closed. Now, we seem to constantly be reflecting on our best body angles, the perfect outfit, and whether we are presenting ourselves in the most flattering light. We tend to be much harder on ourselves than others actually are on us. We no longer post photos of ourselves to share with family and friends; we are essentially branding ourselves and creating a social media persona that may or may not reflect our actual lives.

The Harm Caused by Social Media

Women who base their self-worth on their appearance are more likely to frequently post pictures of themselves on social media in effort to seek validation from others. If others are able to see the beauty in us, then maybe we can finally see it too. We have always cared about how we look, but we now have become a generation of people who are hypercritical of themselves because of the heightened insecurities social media can create. What we see as unique features in others, we consider flaws in ourselves.

See the Beauty Within You

If you focus your energy on having people “like” the way you look, you can be left leaving vulnerable and undervalued. Your “flaws” are beautiful and the right people will love those little things about you that make you special.

Love,

Gen