Cleary, this trend is huge among women: comparing themselves to other girls and how different their appearances are when they were the same age. This points to two clear implications for me. The first is that, with more media being exposed to young girls than ever before, through iPhones, social apps, and television, girls are met with more pressure than ever to look like beautiful celebrities and models that set unrealistic standards for them. In the past, the media has not had such a huge influence because apps such as Instagram and Snapchat did not exist, nor did the phones that use them with. However, in my generation, everyone has a smartphone and is therefore exposed to the media that pressures them to look a certain way, by wearing makeup and more mature clothes, explaining the huge differences between older generations and preteens now. The second implication of these types of tweets is that women are constantly in competition for who can look the prettiest. This topic was covered in the documentary, MissRepresentation. Because the media portrays beauty in an unachievable way, women constantly compete to try to meet this standard, thereby competing with each other and often putting each other down.
I think that like u said this is a common found among women, comparing yourself to another, and this is also found within men but more with women. I think this can be harmful, as it causes many to be unhappy with their bodies which can lead to depression or suicide. I think that in order to change this we would need to change our media in a way that limited this comparison.
ReplyDeleteIt is not only a girl who compares herself to someone else. This is a result of others constantly comparing you to all the "perfect" people out there. This common trend of posts on social media is very contradictory. Its simply a girl telling another girl to dress their age, while the rest of the media is telling them the opposite. This simply results in reinforcing stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI also have noticed this issue a lot. However, I also believe self-love posts are very important because women are expected to be modest and they are considered a b*tch if they acknowledge that they think they are beautiful. I think this needs to change. It is hard to draw the line between these self-love posts and pictures where girls are trying to meet an unreachable expectation portrayed in the media. where do you draw the line?
ReplyDeleteI also agree that women practicing self-love is often shamed and seen as bragging or b*tchy but, like you said, it’s really important for girls to recognize and celebrate their own beauty. However, once it becomes a content of who can be the prettiest and women start holding/ judging eachother on unrealistic standards, then it becomes unhealthy and an issue. I think girls should try to celebrate their own beauty, and recognize the beauty in other women around them even if it might be far different than their own.
DeleteWhat really makes me concerned for these young girls is that they're doing something that they most likely don't really want to do at all. Being attractive and pretty is what makes them accepted by society (which is a problem), so they just lose themselves in being overly sexual and objectifying themselves so they can get others' approval. What are these girls actually interested in doing with their lives? What they're doing now is almost for certain fake.
ReplyDeleteI agree that women comparing themselves to others and basing their worth off of look are completely toxic ways of thinking that can lead to negative consequences. However, I also agree that self-love is an important part of social media that increases self esteem. I don't believe that we can assume that these girls are doing nothing with their lives because they decide to post these photos. Just because a woman decides to wear makeup and wear a certain kind of clothing does not mean she is a mindless bimbo.
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