By Isabella Rolz
Yes, social media can induce depression. And, it can also influence your body image.
In all of my social media applications I get bombed by countless articles and photographs of beautiful models with perfect bodies. And not going to lie, there’ve been several times where these images affect my self-esteem. However, I’ve learned over time that it is useless to let my confidence get weakened by unreal photographs and I’ve learn to filter what shows up in my social media engines.
I recently read a book written by famous author Anne Becker called Body, Self, The View from Fiji, about her experience in Fiji. She analyzed how the ideal of beauty and self-image is totally different in this part of the globe, After reading the book, I realized that in the Western World beauty is distorted due to the erroneous ideals imposed by social media.
Becker traveled to Fiji to investigate the culture of these islands. She studied the Nahigatoka Village and how individuals lived in society. After she spent several months living within this group of people, she concluded that men where not autonomous at all. On the contrary, they heavily depended on each other. Subsequently, individuals with bigger and robust bodies, were considered beautiful. This is because, people with larger bodies are related with being stronger and healthier, hence, more productive for a dependent society. Totally different from Western culture.
So this made me wonder, how much social media is impregnated nowadays in the Western culture? More specifically, I discovered how influential culture is to body image and beauty ideals. The question now is, will Western culture be able to defeat the current beauty ideal and replace it with a more realistic one?
That is definitely to be determined.
But for now, remember comparison only steals your joy. Instead of allowing social media and the images of others to lower your self-esteem, appreciate your body, change what you can, and love yourself regardless.