What’s the first thing you see when you enter Instagram? Women with toned bodies, pouty lips, and super high cheekbones. The first thing we end up thinking is: are they even eating? What you’re looking at is a filtered and photoshopped version of someone distorting their vision to fit what they think they should look like. Why do you ask that?
Because without looking like a stereotype of a woman, women already feel beautiful.
How badly are beauty norms ingrained in our society?
No matter how many campaigns we see about natural beauty, women still strive to look like this. They either change their looks through apps or visit plastic surgeons to make them look like this.
Can you imagine what a 12-year-old girl has mastered on Instagram? This girl is probably just coming to her senses. She learns to be a gentleman and feel beautiful while embracing media with unattainable beauty goals. But do we want our young people to spend like this?
I remember being 15 and watching Britney and Christina. I was showing off my perfect abs on the balls in the middle of them. I would wonder, “Will I ever look like this?” Sometimes the product still stays with me when I go to wear a top or something that will show off my belly. Whatever young minds eat, they outgrow them. It makes an imprint and determines what they believe.
What to do about twerking videos on social networks? Women can be seen rocking their bottoms on Instagram because that’s what you must do to be considered sexy now. Wasn’t a woman sexy when she was mysterious? Although she didn’t try hard, she attracted men to her like a moth to a flame.
How can we break away from toxic beauty norms?
We cannot change all these things one by one, but we must stop and think about future generations and what we have to teach them. If Instagram exists with these fake photos, teach them about filters and photoshop.
Show them how it is manufactured and should not be abused. Instill body shame in them and encourage them to love their bodies. When they start wearing makeup, teach your little girls to apply natural makeup and not use it to look like a completely different person.
Teach them that being classy is sexy and that the happiest and most confident girls are the prettiest. Let’s take a minute to remember Audrey in a world full of Kardashians.
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