The perfect body is unattainable because it does not exist
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Every week on social media, a new body trend seems to emerge, taking the beauty industry by storm. Whether it’s the BBL, being extremely thin, having a muscular body or bleaching your skin, you simply can’t escape them and it becomes exhausting.
Just last week, it seemed that you couldn’t go a couple of hours without seeing a “My Gym Routine to Grow My Butt” video while scrolling on TikTok or a sponsored Dr. Miami post while scrolling Instagram. This week, social media pages are filled with constant brand deals by detox teas and “Appetite Suppressant Lollipops” reels. According to social media, hourglass figures are out and thin is in.
It doesn’t stop there. Over the past couple of years, there has been an uptick of women aggressively tanning themselves to dangerous limits, only to later decide that being pale is better for everyone, including people who are not naturally pale, resulting in an increase in sales of skin bleaching creams.
Don’t like your double chin or incoming wrinkles because the influencers you follow say you shouldn’t? Don’t worry, because you can just remove your buccal fat or get Botox!
Although, beware, next week the new trend might be anti-plastic surgery, who knows?
Post after post, every woman with a social media account is bombarded with constantly changing ways to fix themselves and is told ways that they should or should not look. Social media is the reason that this type of content is more consistent in recent years, but unfortunately this isn’t new — just more accessible.
Fashion magazines from the 90’s or the early 2000’s, mirrored these sentiments. Pages were filled with fad-diets and advertisements for pills. Everyone remembers Kate Moss’ famous slogan, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” with other unrealistic expectations and body types filling the front-page covers. Gossip magazines like Star and television shows like America’s Next Top Model gained popularity by body-shaming and preyed on the insecurities of both celebrities and the young women viewing their content. Phrases and aesthetics such as “Heroin chic” were used to promote a harmful culture centered around being as thin and as white as possible.
The next question is “Where do we go now?” While today it might be a body part or cosmetic surgery, tomorrow will be something new, like a different skinny tea brand being promoted, because it is an endless cycle.
While it might be simple to say, “Focus on yourself” or “Don’t compare yourself to people online,” it is a lot easier said than done, because this type of content has real and harmful consequences that are all rooted in misogyny, racism, antisemitism and ageism. For many cultures and races, those with certain features like body types or facial features are more prominent, but in a society that uplifts Western beauty standards, it can hurt, and the results are alarming.
And it doesn’t end there, as eating disorders are growing rapidly among many young women who have experienced disordered eating or behaviors at some point in their adolescence. Behaviors such as skipping breakfast or spending too much time in the gym can start innocently, but over time, these behaviors can become extremely dangerous, as eating-related disorders make up one of the leading causes of death among women under the age of 25.
Millions of women state that they feel some type of dissatisfaction with their body and much of this is caused by trends that they have seen, making them feel the need to change themselves, and this number is growing every day.
Stephanie Zaso | Digital Design Director
Over the past few years, there has been a major push towards a more inclusive culture within the beauty and fashion industry as a way to be more representative of the majority of the population known as the body positivity movement. According to Forbes, the average woman is between a size sixteen to eighteen, and many clothing companies have tried to reflect this.
Brands such as Lizzo’s clothing company Yitty and Rihanna’s beauty company Fenty have made great efforts with size-inclusive clothing and beauty products for a wide variety of skin tones and bodies. Even companies like Victoria’s Secret have made lengthy strides, including plus sized models and models with disabilities to promote their efforts towards inclusivity. This recent movement has helped in combating toxic trends and the excluding beauty industry
Unfortunately, while there has been some improvement with the rise of body positivity movements, there will be a continuous cycle of various body trends that many will attempt to follow as long as social media is prevalent. As individuals and women, we have the duty to speak out and to stop making women’s bodies into trends and leave it there. Dance videos and cat memes are trends, but women are not.
Kaitlyn Paige is a sophomore studying Communication & Rhetorical Studies. Her column appears bi-weekly, and she can be reached at kipaige@syr.edu.
