Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Body Image and the Modern Teenager

When people talk about issues such as body image, I find that they often mention celebrities, social media influencers, and models, to name a few. And sure, every teenage girl has glanced at a tabloid and wished she could look like the model on its cover page at least once in her life. She has scrolled through the Instagram posts of popular influencers, fighting the constant self-hating monologue in her head. Teenage girls have heard more than enough about how the pictures that celebrities post have been shot by professional photographers, airbrushed by Photoshop experts, and suggested by personal PR teams.

We all know that it is unfair to compare ourselves with these celebrities because we don’t have makeup artists or hair stylists, but of course we do anyway, because it is surprisingly difficult to stop the human brain from loathing itself.

Despite this, I feel that the focus of conversations about body image and its physical and mental effects should not be the importance of avoiding comparison between oneself and celebrities, but instead about peers. Even though we silently judge ourselves every time we see a hair commercial, deep down we know that this feeling is ridiculous, and that there is no comparison between us and them. It has been drilled into us. What we don’t know, however, is how to stop comparing ourselves with our peers.

In my experience, while teenage girls understand that there is an inherent divide between them and popular celebrities, they subconsciously decide that it is alright to compare themselves with their peers, since they are essentially the same anyway. The majority of conversations I have with my friends about body image and self-worth involve acquaintances that we wish we could look like, creating a sense of jealousy that never really goes away. In my opinion, these thoughts and mindsets are the most damaging. They set us up against each other and encourage us to see each other as competitors. Who has the best body? Whose Instagram pictures look the best? Who do the boys like?

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This last question, I feel, is the most damaging. It teaches us that healthy and toned bodies are meant, like most other things, for men. And for this I blame the media. Things have improved in recent years, but not by much. Influencers now preach body positivity and inclusivity, and it’s good that these topics have gained so much coverage in the media nowadays, but these same people also promote harmful products like waist trainers or appetite suppressant lollipops. The worst part of this is that the perfect body is targeted towards pleasing men. Even in the lives of young girls, the ideal body has very little to do with health and wellbeing and everything to do with boys. This narrative needs to change.

For girls to feel confident within themselves, and for them to accept their bodies the way they are, I believe that the conversation needs to start revolving around a girl’s peers. This is not to say that celebrities or influencers should be let off the hook, just that there are more immediate and direct causes for negative self-image than one might think. It is important to teach girls that — despite being a cliché, it still holds true — everyone is different. And I don’t mean this in the overused sense that everyone is special in their own, unique way, but rather, that people are principally different. People are different and as long as one is healthy, it does not matter in the slightest what your body looks like. Because, frankly, beauty standards will soon change. What seems like the perfect body now could be seen as ugly a few years later. There is no way to win. The world will always find a way to make you feel inadequate and imperfect.

The most important thing is that you feel that you are enough without anyone else’s validation.

Sharanya Trivedi is a year 10 student. Originally from India, she has lived in several countries across the world and has been in Beijing since 2017. An avid reader and debater, she is a devoted fan of the k-pop band BTS.

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Photos: Youtube, Tetra Images, LLC / Alamy Stock Photo, tinybuddha.com

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