HAS SOCIAL MEDIA LIBERATED WOMEN'S BODIES IN TERMS OF BEAUTY?
Part 4: My Research Experiment
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My research experiment allowed me to experience creating different content for social media. My aim was to create two accounts on Instagram representing the different sides of social media, publishing posts, representing the 'real me' and the 'ideal me'. I wrote a blog as a reflective journal to focus on the emotions and the process behind creating images that I don’t post as a casual user. During my research, I held a focus group to talk about personal experiences with social media. I wanted to talk to friends to see the reaction they have to these accounts and find out which they felt was an accurate representation of me and which edited pictures deceived them.
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Growing up, I have been surrounded by social media mainly as a consumer. I have posted my own content on social media and, like most people, I want this to represent the best version of myself. I do not use photoshop but I have never posted a picture online without make up. Through my research accounts I got to experience this intimidating process.
The Social Media Account Links:
@fiona_beautifulideal
This account was focused on trying to fit the beauty ideal. Many of my posts were inspired by celebrities like the Kardashians who have millions of followers. For these posts I would style my hair, wear heavy make-up to highlight my face, hide blemishes, and edited these photos. It was scary to me how easy it is to manipulate your appearance and look like an entirely different person. I felt there was a strong correlation between time progressing and how extreme I manipulated my appearance. On one occasion, I copied a photo of Kim Kardashian and initially I did not find the image flattering. However, when I started editing, I began to like the photo. It surprised me how I could go from hating a photo to loving how I look after 5 minutes in photoshop.
Inspiration (Instagram, 2022)
Before
After
Editing was so easy to do it made me question how real the content is online. A lot of the posts I edited were done using simple technology that you can download on your phone. One post was edited through a filter, and it felt depressing having a computer programme make be beautiful. However, if I can edit photos on my phone with no photoshop training, what could someone like Kylie Jenner do who has a team dedicated to making her beautiful? Some of my closest friends could not tell what I had edited on posts, so, if I can deceive my friends with an app on my phone, how much editing do we not notice on social media when we are not familiar with their natural look? I believe, we will never have a full understanding of what is edited online. However, this taught me to question everything I see. No post can be accepted as reality.
When editing photos, I felt insecure about my appearance like the way I looked would never be good enough. I think trying to make your own photos look perfect takes a lot of energy and can be harmful to your own mental health. On my third post, I stated: “When I’m editing it’s like blurring my reality of what I look like. I’m glad this is only an experiment because I think if I edited my pictures this much all the time. I would end up a depressed and self-hating person.” I felt like I was creating the person I should be, not the person I am. I would argue that anyone who edited posts must feel insecure. Continuing to alter them instead of embracing flaws would just increase insecurities.
Before
After
@fiona_realdeal
This account was dedicated to trying to be an accurate presentation of myself and to push boundaries. I felt like I was able to post things I would never post on my own account like pictures without make-up, showing blemishes on my skin and the rolls I get when I sit down. It felt liberating to be able to accept that this is me and there is nothing wrong with that. This account made me feel more positive about myself and my appearance, including things that I had been insecure about in the past.
I used a new social media for this experiment called BeReal and displayed it on Instagram. This platform works through users receiving a notification at a random time once a day saying, 'Time to BeReal'. This opens a two-minute window for the user to post a picture, taking simultaneous photos on their front and rear facing phone cameras. This allowed me to realise that there are different versions of the 'real me'. Originally, I believed that the 'real me' was the one not wearing make up and showing blemishes. However, when I am trying to look more glamourous this is still real. Me dressed up to go out and the sweaty gym selfie are different, but this does not mean that they are unauthentic.
I got to recreate a trend that was popular in my teen years, a half make-up, half no make-up look. It was the first time I felt I saw celebrities or people I viewed as beautiful showing elements of imperfections. It made me begin to question what I saw online, and I felt like I saw someone I related to instead of someone I should try to look like, so I wanted to recreate that. My aim was to show that there are different versions of myself, and to show make up can be used to hide imperfections. Demonstrating we can not accept the person we see online as the only version of that individual.
Why Do People Edit Photos?
One thing my research made me question is why people feel the need to edit their posts. When editing my photos, I felt insecure because I was creating the image of what I should look like. Therefore, if editing posts is harmful to yourself and others, why do it? With social media we have more freedom and can take an active role in deciding what content we produce or consume. Therefore, why do people edit photos when it promotes our insecurities.
I grew up in the generation of social media and I felt that beauty was the most important thing to achieve. It showed me how to apply make-up and how to achieve the perfect body. It made me feel insecure and I know as a teenager I tried many cosmetics and diets in hopes of looking like the women I saw on my phone. It effected the content I posted online as I wanted to be viewed as beautiful.
Theories like Martha Levine’s Perception of beauty (2017) found when people are made to feel unhappy with their bodies the more they consume this ideal. Wolf found a young women compared reading magazines to self-abuse. Stating she feels euphoric, and she must achieve the beauty of magazines. Then, she wants to throw out all her food and clothes, but she reads them every month.
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This vicious cycle can be applied to the reason women edit their posts, there is pressure to look perfect. Initially, it made me feel euphoric through public approval of beauty. Then, I continued feeling insecure and kept editing out my imperfections. My focus group agreed they felt pressure to put the best version of themselves on social media. I found it easy to slip into the mindset of knowing you can edit photos. On my fourth post it became an addiction, and I became a victim to the vicious cycle of feeling beautiful. I was not in control of my own image. When I was editing, I was considering how other people will view me and wanting to convince them I am beautiful. I think many women feel a constant pressure to keep chasing public approval that they are worthy.
Inspiration (Instagram, 2023)
Before
After
When I was trying to 'be real' I felt empowered because I was thinking about how I see myself. When I first posted pictures online without make up it was scary. I was doing something I had never done before, but it made me feel empowered. I was not considering how others are going to view me. It felt like I was able accept myself and not need others to accept me.
My research demonstrates that the content we create can affect women and we feel pressure around what we post. This process allowed me to challenge that pressure and accept that different versions of me are beautiful. It allowed me to understand that altering images is easy. Therefore, I want to ensure I am using social media in a way that does not harm me and try to challenge the pressure to be perfect.