These days, social media is an inseparable part of our lives. Teens spend most, if not all, of their spare hours on social media, constantly receiving massive amounts of influence on their perceptions, opinions, and behavior.
One of the dark sides of today’s teens’ excessive media usage is that it oppresses personal beauty standards and creates an unhealthy body image.
Illustration by John Holcroft
As a teen myself, I have been experiencing and dealing with this issue for a long time. Often times, I find myself starving or working out to achieve the “perfect body” that a K-Pop star has. I see my friends showing up at school all wearing the same brands to follow the fashion trend. I hear students sharing information on the newest and popular beauty items, I know that almost every one of my friends considers photoshopping a necessary step before sending out pictures of themselves and I have friends in several schools that have already undergone cosmetic surgery. At some point, it became so obvious that all of the teens had almost identical beauty standards, and most try to pursue them in ways that are harmful both mentally and physically.
This realization also made me look at my own behavior. Gradually, I stopped changing myself in ways that I did not want. I stopped myself from posting the “beautified” versions of my pictures, I stopped starving myself to be skinny like a K-Pop idol, and I stopped buying makeup products that I knew were damaging my skin. Now I no longer had to feel guilty when I see comments that praised my good looks on my WeChat Moments presenting the delicately edited pictures, nor feel physically ill as a consequence of exercising while not eating.
Caring about oneself’s appearance is a positive behavior, as long as it exerts a positive impact on oneself as a whole. Once it harms one’s inner-self and the body, pursuing beauty turns into a detrimental action. Starting from now, focus on yourself a little bit. Not what social media says and not what others around you say. Beauty does not mean having big eyes, long legs, and a small waist, nor does it mean any other standards that society produces. As someone once said, “Be your own kind of beautiful.”
KEEP READING: A Teen’s Eye View on Social Media Safety
Images: John Holcroft, Her Campus
This article is part of beijingkids’ Teen Correspondents program. If you or a teen you know want to write for us, email editor@beijing-kids.com.
