“Our continual connection to social media makes us prone to new forms of viral emotional effects. These are not media designed for calm reflection. With their constant presence, we have less and less mental space to step back and think.”
Robert Greene in The Laws of Human Nature
As a young person growing up in the technological age, social media has had a clear and unrivaled impact in the way some of us interact and see the world. Now it’s so easy to be a keyboard warrior or twitter personality from the comfort of your own home. Real life interaction and the need to foster lasting relationships are almost second best to the need to find approval and gratification from strangers on the TL.
It is clear that social media has had a huge effect on society, especially on us so called ‘millennials’. Public figures such as Kim Kardashian have massively influenced many individuals, especially young girls.
It is through Kim Kardashian that a lot of people learnt about highlight and contour and started to apply it to their everyday make up routine. It’s become a huge craze. Now if you go on YouTube today, you will see thousands of make-up tutorial videos using this method of application and developing of this foundation. Everyone wants to be the next best MUA.
It’s crazy because I remember back in the day, the most people would wear in terms of make-up were eyebrows, lipstick and foundation with a bit of mascara. Now if your eyebrows ain’t on fleek, people don’t want to know. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have put a lot of pressure on young females growing up in society today. Influencers are partly to blame. A lot of females are trying to fit in this category of becoming an ‘insta babe’.
An insta babe primarily denotes a female with a nice body – thin waist and a perfect shaped bum. It has changed the idea of beauty for some. This inadvertently has caused some people who do not fit in this category of ‘insta babe’ to feel left out, inferior and ultimately uncomfortable in their own skin. More and more individuals are trying to fit into societal norms and resulting to creating a false representation of themselves in order to make themselves look ideal. By this I mean editing their pictures by using apps such as Face Tune in order to make themselves appear perfect. This among other things feeds into a cycle of deception.
What do I mean by a cycle of deception? This is when an individual edits their looks in order to make themselves seem perfect and flawless. Another individual then sees this and is inspired to do the same. The cycle occurs because individuals are constantly deceiving each other in order to be deemed as ‘perfect’. In reality though, no one is perfect.
Maybe that’s just part of growing up. Or is this what society has taught us to believe?
The pressure of wanting to look perfect has caused cosmetic surgeries such as a BBL and lip fillers to become highly popularised. Everyone now wants the perfect face and body. Surgeons such as Dr Miami and Dr Bumbum (Yes Bumbum) have excelled majorly due to social media websites such as Instagram.
Many individuals are becoming depressed and are subject to body dysmorphia due to the thought of them not being perfect. Many result to causing irreversible damage to their bodies because of them wanting to look ideal. Surgeries have inadvertently caused death. Last year, Dr Bumbum was arrested due to the death of one of his patients. All because they wanted their bum enlarged. We individuals need to learn how to love ourselves for who we are. Self-love is crucial in order for us to be content and confident within ourselves.
No one is perfect, even your favourite Instagram Influencer or YT MUA. Changing ourselves externally using cosmetic procedures can cause massive complications that you could have avoided if you accepted yourself for who you are. There are alternatives such as gym and healthy eating in terms of body surgery. You are unique and a master piece. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Love your flaws. No-one is perfect. Don’t let social media change who you are!
The RealTalk Blog 