THE BROADVIEW AND BROADVIEW.SACREDSF.ORG
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 | 11
OP-ED
Raising brows at unhealthy ideals
HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRENDS AFFECT YOUR SELF ESTEEM?
Edited social media photos promote distorted body images. Julia-Rose Kibben
A
Design Editor
s beauty and celebrity trends move from newsstands to phone screens, social media platforms have become a venue for the rapid replacement of one body ideal after another. Young girls and women are constantly exposed to changing body standards that can pose a dangerous threat to their health and self image. Social media celebrity Essena O’Neill, 18, took to Instagram earlier this week to tell her 673,000 followers that she was quitting social media for the sake of her 12-year-old self. Exchanging her social media accounts for a basic Squarespace website “Let’s Be Game Changers,” O’Neill says she aims to promote the exploration of what is “Behind the Image” and expose what she calls the “Celebrity Construct,” the concept that a social media and public appearance will bring one happiness. “Don’t let numbers define you,” O’Neill wrote on her new website. “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not enough without excessive makeup, latest trends, 100+ likes
on a photo, ‘a bikini body’, thigh gap, long blonde hair.” Social media thin-inspired “thinspo” trends glorify unrealistic body standards, and the latest example of this is the “thigh brow” label, which describes the creases between the thighs and pelvis that are visible when someone squats or sits down. The “brows” supposedly indicate that an individual has a larger backside, a body type thats popularity has recently increased. As the thigh gap — the space between one’s thighs when standing — trend has quelled over time due to its harmful nature, the thigh brow has taken center stage, embracing curvier figures. Body image is a complex phenomenon influenced by parents, peers, and social contexts, according to Common Sense Media. Trends like these only ostracize the female body dominate Instagram and Tumblr feeds, apps and sites teenagers use on a daily basis. Teenage girls use these social media sites and platforms — particularly visually-oriented ones — for sharing more
than their male counterparts do, making young women more prone to exposure to these images and more likely to be influenced by them, according to Pew Research Center. Sixty-nine percent of girls in fifth through 12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. In an attempt to conform with the popular images of thigh gaps they see online, some girls are going to extremes to achieve the trend, developing dangerous eating disorders and undergoing risky surgical procedures, while some stick to PhotoShop and image modification applications to alter their photos, fabricating their gaps. Unlike its predecessor, the brows appear naturally on all bodies and do not encourage unhealthy habits. Social media users must stop scrutinizing the bodies of young women and girls need to put down the phones and look in the mirror to realize that beauty is not always picture-perfect.
3
Starring Thigh Brows
“It usually lowers my self esteem because there are a lot of people on social media who aren’t portrayed as they actually look in real life.” — Grace Lachman, junior
rea li Co stic mi Sta ng nd So ard on s
Unrealistic Standards 2
Lizzie Bruce | THE BROADVIEW
THE BROADVIEW
Convent of the Sacred Heart High School 2222 Broadway St. | San Francisco, California 94115 broadview@sacredsf.org | broadview.sacredsf.org
@thebroadview
thebroadviewsf
thebroadview
@thebroadview
STAFF Liana Lum Editor-in-Chief Kristina Cary Managing Editor Kendra Harvey Managing Editor Julia-Rose Kibben Design Editor Neely Metz Copy Editor India Thieriot Assistant Copy Editor Alyssa Alvarez Sports Editor
Reporters Claire Devereux, Halie Kim, Jessica Louie, Darrean Loy, Josie Rozzelle Tracy Anne Sena, CJE, Adviser
Lisabelle Panossian Web Editor Lizzie Bruce Cartoonist Photographers Isabelle Armstrong, Isabella Bowen, Bea D’Amico, Amanda Joa, Jemima Scott Senior Reporters Grace Ainslie, Catherine Dana, Asha Khanna, Claire Kosewic, Fiona Mittelstaedt
2016 Crown Finalist 2015 Pacemaker Finalist 2014 Journalism Education Association First Amendment Press Freedom Award recipient
“Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom,” (Goal 5), therefore The Broadview operates as an open forum for free speech and student expression without prior review. Unsigned pieces are the opinion of the editorial board. Reviews and personal columns are the opinions of the individual author and are not necessarily those of Convent of the Sacred Heart High School or Schools of the Sacred Heart. We encourage letters to the editor. The Broadview may publish independent opinion pieces 300 words or fewer. The editors may work with writers for clarity and to meet space limitations. All letters must have a means for verifying authorship before publication. Corrections and letters may be addressed to the editors at broadview@sacredsf.org
“It doesn’t affect my esteem but some people feel the need to Photoshop their pictures before posting them because they feel insecure and they want to follow trends.” — Alex Farrán, senior
KEEP CALM & CARY ON Kristina Cary
Managing Editor
thebroadview
“Celebrities are like ‘respect yourself’ but they’re not really respecting themselves by being Photoshopped.” — Starr Hooper, sophomore
Un
Unrealistic Standards
“Other people post photos of themselves that are good and it makes me feel bad about myself.” — Emmy Sobol, freshman
Balancing the checkbook
Women are entitled to equal pay (period).
W
omen constitute a significant portion of the workforce, yet they often do not receive a proportionate percentage of its earnings, a sad truth that was reaffirmed by actor Jennifer Lawrence’s essay on the gender pay gap. The letter, which was published this month in “Girls” actors Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s “Lenny Letter” newsletter, comes on the heels of an email hack targeting film giant Sony Pictures, which released correspondence that revealed Lawrence made less than her “American Hustle” movie co-star Bradley Cooper. “I didn’t get mad at Sony,” Lawrence said in her essay about her initial reaction to learning that she had been paid less than her male counterparts. “I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early.” Lawrence describes in the piece that she had accepted the offered salary without much protest because she had not wanted to be perceived as “difficult” or “spoiled,” showing the double standard encouraging men to speak out but pressuring women to stay silent. Lawrence’s experience is not an outlier in the acting arena. The world’s 18 highest paid female actors earned a combined $281 million in 2015, less than the sum earned by the world’s six highest paid males, who banked a cumulative $299.5 million, according to Forbes estimates.
All women are entitled to receive equal payment for equal work. Not only is this economic equality reasonable, it is the law, as set by the Equal Pay Act of 1963. But despite the act, fulltime female workers made 79 cents for every dollar earned by male workers in 2014, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The gender wage gap is not a myth or an illusion, as some critics claim. It is an unacceptable and stark reality that women face around the world. Sexism and discrimination are everybody’s issues, and women should not have to fear vilification or backlash by wanting economic equality with men. Many students have already entered the City’s workforce, both as volunteers and paid employees. As a community of both women and workers, we need to make it clear that gender-based discrimination is something we will not stand for. Women are entitled to equal economic opportunities, and we should feel empowered to speak up towards this goal, regardless if we are a celebrity or a student.