By Mia Turnock.
If you were to search for any aesthetic or outfit on Pinterest, the person who pops up on your screen is probably a gorgeous, long-legged, slim girl. As you continue to scroll, there is little diversity, just one after the other of what society sees as the ‘ideal’ body type. Now they look great in the outfit of course, but what about the people who don’t necessarily match that description? The girls being propelled onto the top of your search aren’t individually trying to project these ideals onto you, but after seeing photo on photo of what we are ‘supposed’ to look like, it begins to feel like we’re wrong if we don’t follow suit.
For me personally, I thought I wouldn’t be affected by these societal standards, until I was. I remember when I was younger, I would tell everyone that I would never wear makeup because it’s a waste of time, and although now I like using it for my own enjoyment, there is a part of me that wishes I didn’t only get told I was pretty after spending an hour painting my face. This tells us that we are so conditioned to favour one specific type of beauty that companies profit off of our insecurities. They sell us products that shape, plump and smooth us into oblivion and yet we throw our money at them because everything we’ve tried so far doesn’t work. But that was their plan all along – we can never be what society wants us to be, so why even try? We’re not all supposed to be the same, and that’s way too boring in my opinion.
Although I do believe that day by day social media (not just Pinterest – for example Instagram and TikTok) is becoming more open to celebrating different bodies, we’re not all the way there yet. As young people on (sometimes brutal, let’s be honest) social media we should be lifting each other up, regardless of how close they fit the fake mould of perfection. I believe people find confidence in seeing people just like them succeed, so let’s help them succeed! Start pinning and sharing accounts that promote inclusivity and positivity – on
social media, it is people like us that decide what we consume, and promoting these accounts helps create a more diversified platform for everyone!
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