Let’s spread positivity through Social Media

‘Distorted’, ‘unrealistic’ and ‘harmful’ are the words that are always used to describe the beauty standard of the old days. It is uplifting that there is a transformation of how social media is changing those beauty standards for better. Although social media can generate adverse side effects, it has given a voice to those that were once voiceless such as models, stylists and makeup artists. It has opened the doors of the fashion industry and beauty by allowing regular women to express their creativity, gain followers and spread positive. It has also developed more channels of communication as we meet and connect with people in different countries, living different lifestyles and with varying interests, thus giving us daily inspiration for our lives. I believe social media is very potential to revolutionise the beauty game.

Nowadays, social media has given us the ability to reach a global audience and have increased the average user’s means to persuade and influence. We are no longer just the passive consumers of media but become content creators, distributors and opinion makers. The young social media stars can have a louder voice than the CEO of a company. Their single tweet, Instagram post and videos can go viral, arousing changes at the top in a matter of hours.

For those in the fashion industry, Instagram has the power to influence and the number of followers a model has to allow them becoming one of the biggest influencers among the younger generations. Instagram does provide some of the major inspiration and it is one of the primary reason we are so into social networking site. It empowers us to connect with people in different countries, if only through photos and find daily inspiration in beauty. Social media can be a valuable resource that can inspire people.

I found a very inspiring story in the fashion and modeling industry of how Winnie Harlow, also known as Chantelle Brown-Young utilizing her social media platforms to spread messages of body positivity and highlight issues like racial inequality in the beauty industry. She found fame after having her selfies discovered on social media. She is a runway queen who is influenced by the walk of Naomi Campbell and the icon of Marilyn Monroe. She is also a former contestant on US reality show ANTM, the new face and the in-demand model, booking runway shows of many designer brands. Her skin condition has made her career and becomes a symbol for diversification and progression. She is now an inspiring supermodel who suffers from a skin condition called vitiligo. Winnie has garnered an Instagram following of 1.2M and spoken openly about how difficult it was for her to gain acceptance growing up. But now she is proud of the unique way she looks and always encourages others to feel the same way on social media platforms.

Winnie has partnered with Dove’s campaign #MyBeautyMySay to garner conversations around women’s accomplishments – ‘not just appearance.’ Harlow attributes her start in modeling to social media and also advises young people not to be afraid to put themselves out there instead of making their own views of themselves the utmost priority. She said that she enjoys people getting inspiration from her. When she was up for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Model, she revealed that she wants to be seen as an inspiration than a role model. She enjoys people getting inspiration from her. There is an inspirational quote from her, saying

“But I think making your opinion more important to you than others’ opinions are to you, that’s the most important thing — I don’t care if you think I’m beautiful, I think I’m beautiful.”

The best advice she has given to the young people is that it is important to have perspective, surrounding ourselves with supportive people and a greater sense of self-talk and self-love. We should be kinder to ourselves and remind ourselves about the positive trait then that’s a good thing because we all know we can hear ten positive things and one negative and it’s the negative thing that sticks. Gracing the covers of magazines, she has come a long way from being bullied out of high school and acts an inspiration to women all across the globe. I am sure there are people with BDD or having body image problem can be inspired by Winnie’s story and encouraged to be more accepting who they are and staying positive regarding their bodies.

 

BDD: Does media play an important role?

The rise of social media has changed our culture into one of over-sharing. As we spend more and more time online, it is essential for us to look at how it may affect our mental health. By reading Facebook posts, tweets and Instagram images, we always look at a piece of someone’s edited life. We often find ourselves judging and comparing our own lives with these photos and updates. The comparisons we make to the reality are unrealistic and unfair as those images may be edited by lots of filters and being photoshopped. They are just a filtered perspective of someone’s life. It could cause us feeling inferior and lead to developing low self-esteem.

Low self-esteem is not the only adverse side effect of intensive media use. Researchers have suggested increased amounts of time spending on media may lead to body image insecurity. A societal premium on image and beauty is one of the cultural factors that contribute to BDD. Researchers have shown the possible relations between pop culture and the prevalence of people with BDD. This theory can be easy to recognise: an individual only needs a glance at the local grocery store’s magazine rack and view that tabloids feature the latest celebrities to go under the knife. The fashion industry is always blamed for encouraging an unhealthy body image standard among young women in the Western society. There are many media stories that have been written on a particular body image in the fashion industry and advocated a unhealthy body image among the teenagers. Many people with BDD are not even trying to look as glamorous as those celebrities but they just want to look like what they think is ‘normal’. As BDD often takes hold during the teenage years when one is very vulnerable, it can be assumed that teenagers are more common than others to get the disorder.

We are in a culture that so concerned with beauty and body image where fashion plays a significant role in how we think and act. We used to be set our standard for what beauty means is those ‘supper-skinny’  models, like Twiggy, the ‘60s fashion icon. As the fashion industry always sends out the message that ‘skinny is IN’ and this is then smashed into the mindset of the masses through magazines and other social media. Therefore, it is easy to assume that those people who are suffering from BDD may begin to have their fears about never fitting in the high standard of beauty.

There are just many possible factors contributing to BDD that shouldn’t just point an accusing finger directly at the fashion or media industries. I would rather suggest that people, particularly teenagers are more common to getting BDD than others and if ‘ideals’ of appearance are held up to them, it can be more likely to trigger their development of the disorder. Knowing that many teenagers love to read a fashion magazine and follow that kind of stuff on a daily basis, it could be assumed that fashion and media industry has a significant influence on BDD when it comes to teens. After all, it does highlight the great responsibility for the fashion agencies and media producers to take towards their readers and consumers.

In the next blog, I will be sharing an inspiring story of how people can use social media as a tool to spread the message of body positivity. Stay tuned xx

Barbie Wannabe: The truth behind Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Plastic Surgery

We all have whined about the way we look on occasion like bigger eyes, a v-shaped face, a smaller nose or a slimmer waist. But for people who have Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) this concerns is constant that they will go shocking lengths to change or cover the way they look. People with BDD are 15 times more frequent in patients to seek for obtaining plastic surgery. Moreover, BDD patients have been found to have an increased tendency toward performing violent or threatening behaviours toward their surgeons.

To a person who has BDD, happiness is always related to beauty. Although this person may even look beautiful to others, they are often defeated by negative feelings about their appearance. Alicia Douvall, a former English glamour model and also known to be Simon Cowell’s ex girlfriend is a self-confessed plastic surgery addict. She had spent over £1m on over 350 plastic surgery procedures all over her body such as injections of Botox and fillers, nose jobs, remove implants and a rob and toes shortened with a goal to look like a human Barbie. She told the surgeons she wanted to be ‘perfect’. Surgery is the primary thing she wanted to spend money on.

However, the surgeries didn’t give her the look she wished to have but it ruined her body, her face and even her relationship with the person who means a lot to her, her daughters. She mentioned that her surgery addiction was driven by her undiagnosed battle with BDD. She said: “I was on anti-depressants because I was so upset about what I had done to myself and it was my psychotherapist who suggested I might have dysmorphia”. She was also sent to rehab where she was treated like other addict. There was lots of psychotherapy that they helped her to build herself up from scratch. After the therapies, she believes: “I may need surgery again to correct damage caused by too many operations, but I won’t if I can help it”.

Douvall’s plastic surgery obsession is not just simply vanity. It is BDD. It is a psychological disorder manifesting in a perceived flaw of the person’s body appearance. She believes that her obsession to look beautiful is caused by an unhappy childhood, with her father calling her ugly. She had her first breast enlargement as a teenager when she was a glamour model that earned a huge amount of income. Although the changes she paid for her appearance, she was never believed being beautiful enough.

She is now recovered and has survived these challenges of her life. She is having a stable relationship with an anonymous billionaire who helped her bounce back in the right shape and mindset. During an interview, Douvall warned plastic surgery striver that undergoing the operation is not a cure for life’s insecurities and problems.

When BDD is behind cosmetic surgery addiction

BDD patients always display unrealistic expectations about surgery. They may think that the operation will lead them to a better relationship or a higher paying career. In some cases, it is disturbing for some BDD patients to have more and more cosmetic surgeries in desperation to achieve that ‘perfect look when they are satisfied with their cosmetic surgery results. Unfortunately, in their pursuit of perfection, they end up diminishing rather than enhancing their natural beauty.

Does Cosmetic Surgery really help Body Dysmorphic Disorder?

Plastic surgery can enhance the spirit and the body. Its many advocates can boast the physical and mental benefits. However, behind the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery always lies insidious factors like peer pressure low self-esteem, bullying and even Body Dysmorphic Disorder. When there are pre-surgery screening points toward BDD, the patient should be referred to a psychotherapist or a mental health treatment.

Reference:

Fletcher,V. and Petre, J. 2013, ‘Why did nobody stop me wasting £1m to be the world’s most nipped and tucked woman? Alicia Douvall’s 16 boob jobs, six nose jobs and 308 cosmetic treatments’, Daily Mail Australia, viewed 7 September, 2016, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2297998/Alicia-Douvall-Why-did-stop-worlds-nipped-tucked-woman-wasting-1m-16-boob-jobs-eye-watering-308-cosmetic-treatments.html >

 

Believe in your Selfie? Selfie Obsession and Body Dysmorphic Disorder

The medical experts have related taking selfies with mental illness. They suggested that taking a lot of selfies and striving for the perfect angle from which to portray themselves are not an addiction but a symptom of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) or might in some cases be ill. However, with the rise of smart phones and social media, it has led to ‘selfies’ becoming a common and cool thing for the young people to do. Many of the celebrities and supermodels are known for taking selfies to show off their luxurious lifestyle and how great they look in sexy bikini and clothing.

A UK psychiatrist who specialise in Body Dysmorphic Disorder states that BDD patients are obsessively taking photos of themselves to check their appearance for defects. With the advancement in new technology like our smartphones, taking a selfie is a new way for the patients to check their appearance. He says that 67% of his BDD patients are repeatedly taking and posting selfies on social media sites. Some of them even attempted to end their precious lives in the trend for ‘selfies’…

The most significant stories can be seen from the people felt completely suicidal because they failed to pursue the ‘perfect selfies’. According to Wikipedia’s entry on the selfie, a man diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder recounted spending ten hours a day attempting to take the ‘perfect’ selfie, attempting suicide after failing to pursue what he perceived to be the perfect selfie. Furthermore, a 19 years old British teenager was obsessed with taking selfies and would post 200 selfies per day to different social media sites. He developed this habit when he was 15 and caused him to drop out of school and lose huge amount of weight. He didn’t leave his house for 6 months and became suicidal that he attempted to end his life with an overdose of pills when he felt like he had failed in taking the perfect selfie. It all began in 2011 after he was turned down by a modeling agency. He became more depressed because he was unsatisfied with his appearance in the selfies he took that he failed to pursue a ‘perfect’ portrait.

It is just frightening for the BDD patients to commit suicide in failing to get the perfect selfie. They lost their friends, families, education, health and most of their lifetime. According to Dr Pamela Rutledge, ‘preoccupation with selfies can be a visible indicator of a young person with a lack of confidence or sense of self that might make him or her a victim of other problems as well.’

While these are some extreme case, they aren’t too far off from what go through many of the minds of young and even older people as they take pictures of themselves for social media. Seeing the images of other people and the attention they may get, we end up comparing ourselves to others. Overtime, an obsession builds and penetrates into our perceptions that appearance is increasingly more important to us. Something I feel we should be focusing less and less on versus more and more. Narcissism, being obsessed to receive gratification and recognition from ones looks, vanity and in an egotistic manner has become a big problem in our digital age. The more ‘likes’ we get on social media sites the happier we feel? Grounding our happiness on our or selfie or profile picture performance?