Filters, Editing, and Impossibility
By: Jessica Mardian
Content Writer For The Stories We Need to Hear Magazine
The social media I consumed used to draw my self-esteem out of me; instead of tubes and needles, my confidence was depleted through the images and accounts that cluttered my screen. Social media only increased the internal pressure and feelings of inadequacy I was feeling. Everything was soaked in filters, editing, and impossibility. What I saw on my phone didn’t reflect who I was and just left me entrenched in negative thoughts about my body, mental health, experiences, and well, me.
Where it once took flipping through magazines, movies, television, or interactions with peers to set off a landslide of comparison and negative thoughts, now I can go to Instagram and then spend the rest of my day body checking and contrasting my life to someone else's. Unfortunately, self-hate is more accessible today.
A 2017 study on the correlations between social media and body image in women, by Deanna Puglia, found that“social media is not necessarily creating new problems, but may simply be functioning as a news outlet that people can use to engage in maladaptive processes such as body comparisons.” That voice in the back of your head, the one full of insecurity and a desire to make you forget all the things that make you remarkable, has changed with the times and is probably showing up on your social media platforms.
You give life what you give energy to. When we open Instagram to see posts that only make us feel crappy about ourselves, we are giving that nasty voice of insecurity and doubt in our heads a megaphone. We have to stop following the accounts that make us feel bad about ourselves.
In the same way that social media can hurt us, it can also be an inclusive and empowering space. In my search for accounts that spread body positivity and awareness for mental health issues, I found comfort and power in the same social media platforms that once left me seeing myself as less. I wasn’t alone in having body insecurities and struggles with food. Therapy was demystified, and I found additional ways to take care of my mental health. Switching to accounts that tackled removing shame around the issues I face, that voice of insecurity in my head was met with kindness and representation. I changed who I was following and seeking out on social media — particularly visual focused platforms like Instagram and TikTok — and found positive energy in something that once drained me.
Ashley Graham rocked my world at sixteen and continues to do so five years later. Her posts don’t hide her body; she does not shrink herself for social media. Her feed is a mix of stunning model shots, bare-faced selfies, shame-free pictures, and clips from raw interviews with other celebs on body image, mental health, and other topics. She’s vocal with an infectious energy that you can feel even through pictures. Ashley Graham wears what she wants; as someone who still trips up over the size of her pants fluctuating and is working to stop containing my style because of insecurity, that’s pretty incredible to see.
Loving and accepting yourself and your body is not a one and done task but an everyday act. Some days are harder than others, and Graham’s content reflects that. Her captions and images are real; she doesn’t gloss over her insecurities or hard days — she shares them. Seeing a celebrity be vulnerable about their way to body positivity and encouraging it is powerful. When scrolling through her posts, I don’t fill up with envy or self-hate or wonder when I’ll ever have that confidence. I see someone who has had similar struggles and is creating a space to show that there is no set size for beauty.
I quickly fell head over heels for Lizzo through her TikTok account over the summer. I loved watching her vegan eats, joyful dancing, and vlogs. The content she posts matches the messages she sings about, and knowing more about her through social media has given me even more love for her music. Her genuineness in experiences and feelings drew me in. She encourages others to love all the parts that they don’t love about their bodies. A post that frequently appears smiling or twerking and looking untouchable from insecurity is paired with an open caption on body image.
Lizzo is helping normalize bigger bodies and is also very open about her mental health. She’s shared her struggle with depression, especially how being in quarantine has affected her. Lizzo can be struggling to love her body some days and rocking a photoshoot the next. She moves from sharing feelings of hopelessness to finding her support system and thriving. Lizzo takes on social media the same way she takes in life: authentic, smart, funny, and dynamic. Having a celebrity pull away from the curtain and show the simultaneous nature of mental health and body image breaks down these issues' stigma.
These are just two individuals who use social media in an encouraging way, not trying to fuel insecurity or jealousy. For too long, I followed individuals that aggravated me, but I didn’t hit unfollow because I thought that was the only purpose of social media. The posts didn’t leave my head after I exited the app either. Those images only hammered in negative self-talk and feelings. They multiplied existing insecurities until I hit the unfollow button, the beginning of cutting through the weeds of self-hate and negative thoughts.
Becoming more attuned to who I was following and how their content made me feel has helped me feel less and less of those typical pressures with social media. The images we see can either reinforce or interrupt what we believe about the world, each other, and ourselves. Instead of having social media as the enemy, make it a resource. Find and support accounts that can guide you to treat your mind, emotions, and body with the love you deserve. You don’t have to follow accounts that feed negative inner cycles. You owe yourself a lot more than that.
