Perfect skin, shiny hair, model figure – this is a familiar image for many teenagers from the dazzling Instagram world. Young girls in particular take the lifestyle or appearance exemplified there as a model and perceive it as the ideal. In this article, you will learn what this means for their self-perception and how you can support your child in feeling comfortable in their own body.
Many of the photos or videos posted on Instagram do not correspond to reality. Whether it’s a classmate or a beauty blogger, everyone wants to present their followers with the most enviable photos possible. To do this, use the filters provided by Instagram, with which the skin looks smoother, the sun brighter and hair shinier. With special apps, even the nose can be made smaller or the waist narrower.
Influencers in particular present themselves and their lives on social networks as almost flawless and perfect. Their followers perceive this portrayal as authentic and emulate them. This can be expressed by a desire for the latest sneakers or by dissatisfaction with one’s own body. Because the Instagram world has little to do with reality, as “normal” bodies are hardly present and therefore not desirable for young people. Teenagers are subjected to pressure to come close to this skewed reality.
To be part of the community, there is also pressure to post your own photos on Instagram. In the process, even taking pictures or filming is sometimes seen as frustrating because it takes a long time and the finished media products do not always meet expectations. For many young people, the number of likes and comments is then also seen as confirmation of their person. Self-doubt increases when the posted photo or video receives few or no likes.
Various studies have shown that young people who use Instagram are particularly likely to feel uncomfortable in their bodies. Snapchat is also criticized for this. Young people are not only confronted with perfect images of others in social networks, but also through TV formats such as “Germany’s Next Topmodel” or through advertising. However, young people feel a particularly strong personal connection to their role models in social networks.
The distorted body images in social networks are much criticized. There are strong efforts to present bodies in all their forms in the media, e.g. by people showing themselves on Instagram and Co. under hashtags like #formorerealityoninstagram or #teambodylove without makeup and naturally. The images are not edited. In this way, an attempt is made to convey a realistic body image, especially to young people, and to encourage them to accept their own bodies.
In addition, there are demands to mark edited images as such in the future in order to make it clear that they do not correspond to reality.
Stay in conversation with your child about his or her role models. Look at pictures together on Instagram and ask what exactly it is that it likes about the pictures. Make your daughter or son aware of edited images and question how realistic they can be. It also helps to remember that very few people have the look of influencers and models, and that even they have to use photo editing.
Perhaps show channels that specifically try to upload realistic photos. Work together to find channels or hashtags that are less stereotypical and more reflective of the diversity of society. This gives your child different incentives for their own personality development.
Use a photo editing app together for fun and change a photo of yourself or your child using filters. This way, your child also realizes how easy it is to change or even manipulate an image. Completely independent of media, you can support your child daily in accepting and loving their own body and thus strengthen their self-esteem.
Self-discovery plays a major role during puberty. That’s why likes on the latest photo on Instagram or video on TikTok equal confirmation and recognition. Influencers serve as role models. However, the perfectly staged and edited images of the Instagram make-believe world can have a negative effect on satisfaction with one’s own body. Body positivity is the name of a movement on the web that aims to make different images of bodies visible.
Body positivity does not mean always having to find yourself and others beautiful. Rather, it’s about not feeling bad about your own body because of the bodies portrayed in the media. This is because most people do not conform to the standard of beauty set by the media in particular. Body Positivity wants to show that beauty can be perceived very differently.
You rarely see fat people or people with disabilities on magazine covers. Also, people with dark skin are not the rule, as well as women who do not have smooth legs and tight skin. But not only in magazines or on news sites on the net, also in many series and movies the actors and actresses correspond to a very strict beauty ideal.
It seems to be the same on social networks like Instagram to be. The Body Positivity movement wants to show different people who are often left out of the media. Such images are tagged with the hashtags #bodypositivity #teambodylove or #formorerealityoninstagram. They are intended to draw attention to the fact that an unrealistic image of beauty prevails in the media and to create awareness of the diversity of our society.
Young people in particular are strongly influenced by the mostly edited images on Instagram. They get the feeling that their own body is not normal because it does not correspond to the image from the social networks. The pressure is increasing to upload even perfect images. Through apps and filters, many rework their images. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that hardly any real bodies can be seen on Instagram. A vicious circle that Body Positivity wants to change. Serious psychological problems, such as eating disorders, can also result in some individuals, as they have not yet developed a stable personality.
Help your child feel comfortable in his or her body. Get your daughter or son’s role models on Instagram,YouTube and the like and talk about how these people present themselves there and how realistic the portrayals really are. Deliberately show your child influencers, movies and series that don’t fit the typical stereotypes.
Even if your child does not have model measurements, it does not mean that he is abnormal. Of course, you can motivate your child to eat healthy and exercise. It’s best to set a good example. But don’t teach him that you necessarily have to be thin to feel beautiful. Body positivity helps us to perceive the diversity of people as something beautiful.
No one is free from prejudice. Sometimes it helps to be aware: Am I or my child using words like gay or disabled in a pejorative way? Why do we do this and how does it make others feel?
A DIN A4 sheet is 21 cm wide or narrow. On Instagram, young people strive to be so thin that their waist disappears behind a sheet of paper. As proof, they post the corresponding photo. The A4 Waist Challenge is just one of the absurd weight loss contests on social networks. Such challenges not only convey a completely unrealistic ideal of beauty, but also lead young people to perceive their own bodies as too fat and, at worst, to follow risky weight loss trends.
Tall, thin, athletic: this ideal is conveyed to young people as desirable, above all through the media. Videos on healthy eating and fitness are very well received on YouTube. However, healthy here often also means being thin and thus supposedly attractive. There is a fine line between a healthy diet and an unhealthy diet. It’s not always easy for young people to tell the difference. Some YouTubers who make fitness videos also deal with fashion and beauty. So for some, it’s more about showing a certain image of beauty rather than portraying a healthy lifestyle. Under the hashtag #WhatIEatInADay, YouTubers show, for example, what they have eaten in a day and count the calories. These usually remain well below the necessary and recommended numbers by doctors.
On Instagram, young people can get active themselves and show off by taking part in challenges. Besides the #A4Waist challenge, various weight loss trends have been circulating on Instagram for years now. The #thighgap challenge is about who has the biggest gap between their thighs. The thinner, the more “beautiful” you are supposed to be.
Challenges are among the most popular content that young people follow on social networks. There are regularly new challenges, some of which attract a lot of attention and encourage many people to join in. However, the weight loss challenges on Instagram are not a funny gag, but here young people compete with others for the thinnest legs or the slimmest waist. Thus, a completely unrealistic and partly unhealthy ideal of beauty is conveyed. Teenagers can feel pressured to look the same in order to be attractive and popular. Instagram is taking a first step to protect against problematic beauty ideals: In the future, minors will no longer be shown ads for weight loss or cosmetic procedures.
Not all fitness videos or challenges pose a problem. Exercise and healthy food are a good thing. When young people are motivated to exercise regularly with the help of influencers, it’s a good thing!
It is important that you support your child in being able to distinguish which content is realistic and which is problematic. Talk to your child about it and let him or her show you what he or she likes about certain social media channels.
Even independent of media, you should talk to your child about the changes in his or her body – especially during puberty. Feeling comfortable in your own body is an important prerequisite for not being influenced by others. Attractiveness usually has little to do with a particular look. If you feel good in your own body and enjoy life, you will radiate this – and this is more attractive and interesting than a perfect body alone!
