Social media is making women ‘beauty sick’ over body image: this has to stop

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The obsession with looking good in selfies and on social media is a worldwide phenomenon. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 9:04pm, 25 Aug 2018Updated: 9:03pm, 25 Aug 2018

I am writing in response to the article, “Why social media and selfies are filling Hong Kong’s young women with self-doubt” (August 8).

It is natural that people would love beautiful things, and want to look good. Yet, the obsession with physical appearances can often lead to “beauty sickness”. The article notes how, in seeking to be beautiful and perfect, women are more likely to feel dissatisfied with their bodies due to the influence of friends and social media rather than health concerns, especially in our media-saturated culture.

In following and chasing celebrities as a life goal, we might have allowed advertising and the media to dictate our lifestyles instead of living on our own terms. Looking at models on social media can make girls insecure and subject them to body-shaming. Though this may work as a motivation for them to get fitter, this quest for the so-called perfect body and the constant comparison with online images only bring frustration and self-loathing. Then comes the tendency to alter social media pictures to fit that image of perfection.

Social media seems to be dictating lifestyles and setting the bar for “perfection”. Photo: EPA

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Beauty sickness is a worldwide problem, and even children are not immune. I read about an image-aware five-year-old girl who refused to wear a puffy coat because it made her “look fat”.