INTRODUCTION:
Despite social media having a positive affect of connecting people and providing a way of communication among a large population of people, there is a problem with how social media negatively affects women’s body image and self-esteem. This topic is important to study sociologically because of the impact it has on not only the community of young women but everyone around the world. Many adolescent girls feel pressure from the standards that society and media place on them and that can influence the way young women feel about themselves. This paper will explore the answers to questions such as: How does social media affect an individual’s perception of their body and appearance? Does social media help or hinder relationships with …show more content…
2013). There are many pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia pages on social media and a myriad of images of “thinspiration” promoting concepts of beauty with phrases such as, “Do it for the thigh gap. Do it for the perfectly flat stomach. You never regret eating too little. Do you want a hot body or a pizza? Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” The mental, social, and physical consequences of eating disorders can be detrimental. The individuals who are struggling with an eating disorder become infatuated with food and weight, have a loss of control over eating habits, starve themselves and/or binge, deal with a great amount of stress and guilt, and have obsessive thoughts and behavior that take total control of their lives (Greta Noordenbos 2012). There are many frightening mental and physical consequences that Anorexic, Bulimic, and Binge Eating Disorder patients face such as altered sensory perceptions which can result in hallucinations, they can lose feeling of time and reality, hormones and the neurological system are affected where patients can no longer think logically, depression and suicidal thoughts, isolation, tiredness, lack of energy, damage to teeth, hair, nails, bowel and digestive problems, low heartbeat, and disturbed sleep (Greta Noordenbos 2012). Eating and mental disorders are serious and very real outcomes when young women are …show more content…
Cyber bullying takes place online and through social media and occurs when someone intentionally participates in aggressive cruel behavior with the intent to hurt others (Margaret Anne Carter 2013). In 2010, reports of youth being harassed and bullied online had risen to 11% while the results were even higher for American college age students, at almost 22% (Morrow and Downey 2013). Because cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and cyber harassment are so prevalent with the ever-growing technology and social media outlets, they are now considered to be a crime recognized by the federal and state legislation (Nithin Krishna 2013). There are too many tragic cases of cyber bullying that result in tragedies such as suicides and shootings. The dominant behavior on social media sites including: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, and many others is the posting of aggressive messages on another individuals’ page or adding negative comments (C. R. Blease 2015). Cyber bullying tears people down and spreads hate, especially to the younger generation. It is a common occurrence these days when young girls post a picture or video on social media, they are or called fat, ugly, being told they should kill themselves or that nobody will every love them. People write things they would never say face-to-face but because there is a screen blocking them, they don’t have to see the emotions and reaction
Despite social media having a positive affect of connecting people and providing a way of communication among a large population of people, there is a problem with how social media negatively affects women’s body image and self-esteem. This topic is important to study sociologically because of the impact it has on not only the community of young women but everyone around the world. Many adolescent girls feel pressure from the standards that society and media place on them and that can influence the way young women feel about themselves. This paper will explore the answers to questions such as: How does social media affect an individual’s perception of their body and appearance? Does social media help or hinder relationships with …show more content…
2013). There are many pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia pages on social media and a myriad of images of “thinspiration” promoting concepts of beauty with phrases such as, “Do it for the thigh gap. Do it for the perfectly flat stomach. You never regret eating too little. Do you want a hot body or a pizza? Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” The mental, social, and physical consequences of eating disorders can be detrimental. The individuals who are struggling with an eating disorder become infatuated with food and weight, have a loss of control over eating habits, starve themselves and/or binge, deal with a great amount of stress and guilt, and have obsessive thoughts and behavior that take total control of their lives (Greta Noordenbos 2012). There are many frightening mental and physical consequences that Anorexic, Bulimic, and Binge Eating Disorder patients face such as altered sensory perceptions which can result in hallucinations, they can lose feeling of time and reality, hormones and the neurological system are affected where patients can no longer think logically, depression and suicidal thoughts, isolation, tiredness, lack of energy, damage to teeth, hair, nails, bowel and digestive problems, low heartbeat, and disturbed sleep (Greta Noordenbos 2012). Eating and mental disorders are serious and very real outcomes when young women are …show more content…
Cyber bullying takes place online and through social media and occurs when someone intentionally participates in aggressive cruel behavior with the intent to hurt others (Margaret Anne Carter 2013). In 2010, reports of youth being harassed and bullied online had risen to 11% while the results were even higher for American college age students, at almost 22% (Morrow and Downey 2013). Because cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and cyber harassment are so prevalent with the ever-growing technology and social media outlets, they are now considered to be a crime recognized by the federal and state legislation (Nithin Krishna 2013). There are too many tragic cases of cyber bullying that result in tragedies such as suicides and shootings. The dominant behavior on social media sites including: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, and many others is the posting of aggressive messages on another individuals’ page or adding negative comments (C. R. Blease 2015). Cyber bullying tears people down and spreads hate, especially to the younger generation. It is a common occurrence these days when young girls post a picture or video on social media, they are or called fat, ugly, being told they should kill themselves or that nobody will every love them. People write things they would never say face-to-face but because there is a screen blocking them, they don’t have to see the emotions and reaction