When you think about the perfect body what does it look like? Is it slim-thick with a tiny waist? Is it shaped like an hourglass or pear? Do you pull out Instagram to find an influencer’s body that you really admire? Does the body look like yours?
Chances are that your idea of an ideal body and your actual body are not the same. Everyone has something they wish they could change about their bodies. Now, you don’t just have to dream about having a J lo butt, you can just buy it. Social media has created influencers that sell us the idea of having the ideal life. A part of that lie is having a certain body type. Which across the board is very similar. Some of the bodies that we see aren’t realistic to what the everyday woman would look like.
This can make you feel insecure about your body because your comparing your real body to someone who’s enhanced their body to look a certain way. Sometimes what even makes it worse is when you can tell someone’s body is surgically enhanced and they won’t even admit to doing anything to themselves.
I hate to use this example but Kylie Jenner. If you were to compare her picture from when she was 16 to now, you’d think it was a completely different person. One major change she made to her appearance was her lips. When she was asked about it, she said it was Lip liner. Eventually launching her own makeup line. I think the sad part about it was seeing young children buying into this fad of Kylie Jenner lips through her lip kit and the Kylie Jenner challenge.
I think it becomes a problem when influencers have a major influence on impressionable minds. Back to my example of Kylie. She has a young audience due to her age. People may think it’s the parents job to monitor what their children watch but how can they monitor an image of someone who is constantly in the media? Or who’s photos are heavily edited?
It’s really important to understand that these influencers are only people who experience similar things to us but on a heightened scale because it’s not just peers and family that are watching you, it’s the whole world. To keep up with appearances is a part of their job. What we see is only a glimpse of what they’re life is like. Pictures are edited to look a certain way too.
What is your opinion? How much influence do influencers have one you?
Mocha Girl Writes 
I completely agree. Beauty standards are not only ridiculous, but also hard to get away from. It’s important to understand that it’s part of a celebrity’s job to portray a certain subjective vision of beauty, and that much of what we see is artificial or edited. I like that you get across that these beauty standards are not realistic for everybody, and that comparing yourself with others is unhealthy. Kylie Jenner is a perfect example. Good job!
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