There have always been unattainable standards in media that we agonizingly compare ourselves to. The look that’s in at the moment and the form of media may change over the decades, but still these insecurities remain.
However, there is no doubt that social media has exasperated the problem.
I worry for little kids who grow up with Instagram and TikTok being all they’ve ever known, absorbing these images every day for hours.
Before I was on social media when I was younger, I was definitely still wishing I could be Vanessa Hudgens or Selena Gomez or whoever was on the cover of Seventeen at the grocery store check-out, but today’s social media is so constant and accessible and widespread in a way that can be very dangerous.
It can remind us constantly of our own insecurities—or worse, suggest new insecurities that we didn’t even know we should be worried about.
So how do we not let this sort of pressure shake our confidence?
Firstly, in regard to “influencers” and other models and celebrities on social media, it’s important to remember that it is literally their full-time job to care about their appearance. Of course they know their best angles and what lighting they look good in. And plus, they have the time and money to get their teeth professionally whitened and get spray-tans and lip filler and whatever else.
Secondly, stretchmarks and hip dips and cellulite and textured skin and all these other things we worry about are all so normal. I used to believe that models and influencers and actresses are the blessed few that don’t have these things— but they do! They just know the lighting, angle, filter, or dermatologist treatment needed to conceal them.
It can be tough to remember this sort of thing because we see ourselves more closely and clearly and harshly than anyone else, and therefore we are our own worst critics, just as I know someone like Kylie is probably her own worst critic too.
So, do celebrities and influencers have the responsibility to be more candid about the ways in which they manipulate their image? Perhaps.
It is their own body and of course they have the right to do whatever they wish with it—I’m certainly not trying to shame them for a nose job or set of veneers. And celebrities do deserve privacy as well.
However, I’m just tired of Kylie trying to convince the world that if we do enough squats and drink enough flat tummy teas, we can have her ass and waist when, really, if you want her figure, what you need to do is get the number of her Calabasas M.D.
Ultimately, social media is like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny: it can be fun to get into the spirit of things and enjoy this crazy aspirational concept, but at the end of the day, it’s important that we all realize it’s just not real. This is a lesson it took me way too long to learn.
So, be kind to yourself. And if you’re feeling the urge to purchase flat tummy teas or waist trainers, perhaps it’s time to hit unfollow.
