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Social Media Affecting Body Images Among Americans

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Social Media Affecting Body Images Among Americans
Nowadays social media plays a huge role in how Americans view their own body image. Body image is the overall picture or mental image of one’s own body. Negative body image of one’s own body can lead to not being satisfied with your own body. Therefore, body dissatisfaction means having an negative evaluation of one’s own body. The research I conducted by doing a survey and the research I found that I looked up provides facts that Americans used to have more positive views of their body images, but as the use of social media have evolved, the positive views have turned into negative ones. Nevertheless, social media is now used to compare each other’s body image with one another. The more Americans …show more content…
However, before social media came to life, many Americans didn’t really find the need to try to fit in to have unrealistic body images. Women’s ideal of their body’s started to change throughout the different time periods. For example, the body of the year 1910 was having a small waist with a round, soft body(1910). In 1940 the body that was considered to be most ideal was being tall, long-limbed, and have squarer silhouettes. This style was called the “Star-Spangled Girl”(Hart). Therefore, here are many examples of how different time periods change the outlook on what is considered to be the “beyond comparable” body. But, as time has changed, and the more we tend to turn to the media, our body images become more …show more content…
The responses to the survey were anonymous and conclude that most peers in my school have viewed their own body in a negative way at least once in their lives. However, people who answered yes to viewing their bodies negatively, explained why they had that answer. A good response that was given included,” Partially, the media pushes unrealistic beauty goals(I.e. Airbrushing, plastic surgery.) Before I realized these body types weren’t natural I strived for them, developing unhealthy eating habits. Today I’m healthier, and understand that there is no “perfect” body type, everyone’s got their own definition of perfect” (Anonymous). This shows how some people are willing to look past on having the ideal “perfect” body that the media gives out to our society. As a overall response that I got after conducting the survey, was that most of the people has viewed their own body image in a negative way at least once. Also, some people said they have viewed other people’s body image in a negative way. Both of these were influenced by the use of

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