hate comments, body image, & social media
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Girlhood is an organization run by teenage girls, meaning we are not mental health professionals, authorized, or licensed by any means. our advice is a reflection of our experiences, lessons, and things we’ve dealt with in our personal lives. Girlhood is a blog geared towards lighthearted advice, not mental health counseling.
By Maddie, September 12th, 2023
Although social media was new, incredible, and shocking when it first started out, the negative effects it has on girls and women are tremendous and finally being talked about. For years, girls have fallen into the social media trap of trying to prove their worth online for other people’s approval. I am writing this blog to spread awareness of self-deprecation and girls losing themselves in the facade of social media.
The world moved on from general media (newspapers, radio) to social media and viewed it as an incredible development. It brought a technological device into the world that brought people together. Unfortunately, the downsides to social media were not as quickly realized as the positives. Don’t get me wrong, I love my TikTok and Instagram, but as I grew up (I’m 20), I’ve learned how to healthily process the images and comments I see online. Because of this, I want to share what I’ve learned with girls like you.
Negativity and Mental Health
Firstly, I want to talk about the amount of negativity we see online. Every day when I’m scrolling on Titkok, I see hate and trolls in the comments. They are just trying to bring people down, seemingly out of pure boredom. These comments are often hard to digest because they lead us to believe that most people will always have something negative to say. It is so important to remember that this is not true. It’s easy to disregard all the positive, affirming comments when there are so many negative ones. So many people comment on nice things every day. Consider the number of times you’ve seen a video that you loved or was inspiring, but didn’t comment. That is the majority of people.
Most people are empathetic and kind at heart, which I know is incredibly difficult to remember in the world we live in. The people who comment rude things for no reason are the minority, and most of the time have private profiles where no one can see who they actually are (probably because they have their own insecurities). Next time you see someone be amazing online if you’re brave enough, comment something nice and outshine those negative trolls with your kindness. Don’t lose faith in girls to spread the love.
Body Image
Jumping off my previous point, negative comments about people’s bodies are one of the most heartbreaking things to see on social media. Girls happen to be the prime target of these comments, even before social media existed. When we see these comments it’s so easy to compare ourselves to others and wish we looked differently: PLEASE break this endless cycle of women self-deprecating due to the appearance and opinions of others. It’s so important to remember that our bodies are incredibly powerful machines, designed to do things no other species can do (including men).
Your body is specially made for you. All bodies are different, but that is something I believe we should embrace instead of letting it divide us. Your body is amazing. Your body keeps you moving and working to achieve your goals, allows you to carry children if you want to and experience the miracle of life, can multitask, can succeed, and is beautiful. We are all beautiful. These beauty standards are socially constructed and have changed thousands of times throughout history. Never ever doubt your beauty and as long as you’re healthy, your body is being exactly what it needs to be.
I want to finish off this post with a quote from Megan Jayne Crabbe:
“Hating our bodies is something that we learn, and it sure as hell is something that we can unlearn.”
I think this quote perfectly represents the pressure put on girls by social media. You are all beautiful women who deserve to be your happiest self. I hope this has given you some more positive outlooks not only on yourself but on social media too. Social media has been made into a negative environment, but we are the ones who can change it, and we’ve already started to. Be proud of who you are and be proud of others for who they are.
Spread some love today lovely ladies xx
