August 1, 2022
Media plays a huge role in the way we identify ourselves. As a means of mass communication, media often engages the public in idealistic messages, naturally making us compare ourselves to others to understand our place in society. Essentially, it affects how we see, think, feel and act towards our bodies. There is a lot of research that has identified correlations between media consumption and body image concerns, for all genders. While simple exposures to social media, such as the time spent, is not directly correlated with body image concerns according to Kim & Chock (2015), appearance comparisons and social media behaviours such as commenting and engaging with peers, indicate a higher drive for thinness and muscularity amongst men and women.
Let’s be honest > Social media in and of itself is a whole other world! There is a lot to learn about social media and more specifically, about how you consume the messages and images that you see. It can be hard! Media literacy is definitely a skill that needs to be developed and practiced as this can protect you from harmful, damaging messages!
Let’s explore together why media literacy is important and how you can start developing this skill!
The way we consume media has changed and grown exponentially in the last few years. Going from newspapers, to radio, to television, to TikTok…. there are more and more platforms for folks to consume a wide range of information.
Media is a method of mass communication, and like most things, media has both its pros and cons. There is more and more research on how media is affecting the way you think, feel, and act towards your body and other people’s body. The messages and images consumed daily result in internalized beliefs relating to dieting, body image and body dissatisfaction (McLean et al., 2017). Social media is a unique environment that promotes disordered eating and body image ideals while reinforcing comparisons, hierarchization and harmful behaviours.
Media literacy is the ability to decode and assess content/thoughts/feelings around media messages AND creating media content that is thoughtful and conscientious (Media Literacy Now, 2022). Media literacy can help you be more intentional with the way you consume and create media messages or images. It’s important so that you don’t accept all messages at face value and decide whether these messages are ones you want to accept or reject. In fact, media literacy suggests the potential to reduce the risk of developing eating disorders in the current social media environment (McLean et al., 2017).
Let’s quickly review what body image is!
I wrote an entire blog post on body image and its intersection with eating disorders – make sure you check it out for more details! BUT, to quickly summarize, body image is the way we see, think, feel and act toward our bodies. It is something that everyone experiences because everyone has their own, unique experience living in their body.
In 2008 study by Dittmar and Halliwell that studied media exposure and appearance-related self-discrepancies, showed that media exposure would trigger appearance discrepancies amongst both men and women, in relation to a body ideal. This was related to an increase in negative body image and thus, more susceptible to media images and messages and their effects.
The way that someone appears on social media is critical to the way they are categorized within society (Rumsey & Harcourt, 2012). Today, our understanding of value and worth in relation to appearance is strongly rooted in fatphobia. Media has played a large role in the definition and representation of ‘ideals’ for human bodies (i.e. thin/”fit”, white, able-bodied folks) amongst many other things.
There is a theory called, “Self-Objectification Theory”, which is when you place yourself in the perspective of someone else. So, what media does, in this case, is that it subjects you to an image that makes you ‘objectify yourself’ and view yourself from an observer’s perspective. As a result, you compare yourself to this image that holds a lot of value, which leads to feelings of shame, guilt and anxiety (Rumsey & Harcourt, 2012). This can lead to the development of other mental health illnesses, including eating disorders. Most research has looked at how body dissatisfaction acts as a risk factor for eating disorders, however, research has shown that it is also associated with weight control behaviours, decreased fruit and vegetable intake, frequent dieting, negative psychological outcomes and more (Burnette et al., 2017).
Westernized beauty ideals have put a big emphasis on thinness, and more recently, on fitness. A study by Prichard et al. in 2018, states that body satisfaction decreases, while negative mood increases over time with constant exposure to fitspiration. All this to say that changing the narrative from thinness to fitness is not any more inclusive, helpful or less discriminatory. Social media displays a certain image that is a “socially acceptable” format for worthy bodies to appear, which continues to make people who don’t subscribe to that image, feel like they are not enough as they are.
Interestingly, a study by Burnette et al., published in 2017, looked at the effect of media literacy on teen girls’ body image and self-perception. While the girls reported appearance concerns and social comparisons, primarily with their peers, “…they displayed high media literacy, appreciation of differences, and confidence, strategies that appeared helpful in mitigating the potentially negative association between social media exposure and body image” (p.114). In addition, this positive body image was nurtured by positive parental influence and a supportive school and social environment.
> As I said earlier, media literacy is the ability to decode and assess what you are consuming, as well as how it’s making you feel, think and behave.
This leads me to a major question:
What are you seeing vs not seeing in the image, advertisement, message, etc.?
A lot of the research is done amongst white, middle-class, young, heterosexual and able-bodied folks, which means that the way we represent “body ideals”, is centred around folks with these exact characteristics. But what about folks with identities outside of those mentioned above, such as BIPOC, LGBTQA2S+, disabled, elder, etc.?
Here are a few prompts to ask yourself next time you are on Facebook, TikTok or Instagram:
– Who am I NOT seeing represented in this image/message and why?
– What is this image trying to tell me? What is the message behind this ad?
– How do I feel when I see this image? What stories am I telling myself?
– How would I feel if I hadn’t seen this image or message?
Now, it’s okay that not all messages are geared toward every single person. Some messages really don’t concern everyone! For example, a message about mortgages may not apply to someone if they aren’t a homeowner or looking to buy a home, BUT are they always representing homeowners as the standard nuclear family in their commercials? How might this be less inclusive towards folks who don’t fit that image of a “perfect family” buying a home?
This mindset is the same when YOU are creating media content too! It’s important to ask yourself – am I forgetting anyone to whom this message can apply? Who is excluded from this message and why?
The Balanced Practice is a team of health care providers specialized in eating disorder outpatient treatment, disordered eating and intuitive eating. Our mission is to help folks heal their relationship with food and their bodies so they can live happily outside of diet culture!
We strive to provide evidence-based counselling to support you, or your loved one, in achieving full recovery. Schedule a connection call now.
This means without judging YOURSELF or OTHERS. Before jumping to conclusions about what the image/message is telling you about yourself and others, remember to ask yourself:
– Who am I not seeing represented in this image/message and why?
– What is this image trying to tell me? What is the message behind this add?
Social media has inherently made us compare ourselves and others to a certain ideal, which often leads to shame and judgment. Recognize when this shame and judgment appear and use this to be curious about what the message is telling you as opposed to being furious!
This is SO important. Check out your current social media channels and see what type of people you are following/subscribed to. Which type of folks and messages could you seek out instead/in addition to your current roster?
The more diversity you see on your own social media channels, the more you are bringing awareness to the diversity that exists and the more you are normalizing inclusion, so that the next time you see a message, it will be more and more innate to assess the content thoughtfully and intentionally!
This is an extension of the point above. Your social media environment is huge in creating a safe and inclusive space and your physical environment, including your peers, your family, your sports/school, etc. According to Burnette et al. (2017), current findings suggest that parents and the school environments are associated with the way girls’ attitudes and behaviours are towards their bodies, in regard to social media.
Writing body-neutral affirmations, identifying diet culture messages within these environments, and speaking about food and bodies in a neutral tone! All of this can help foster a supportive environment that actually supports the way you consume media.
Media Smarts is a not-for-profit Canadian organization that provides free and paid resources to help folks develop tools to critically process media information. They have really awesome parent and youth resources as well as workshops and YouTube videos! I really encourage you to check out this blog post by Media Smarts for details on media literacy fundamentals, origins and functions > https://medialiteracynow.org/what-is-media-literacy/
Written By Joelle Ciccarelli, RD
Revised by Marie-Pier Pitre-D’Iorio, RD, B.Sc.Psychology Founder of The Balanced Practice
Resources:
Dittmar, H., & Halliwell, E. (2008). Think ‘ideal’ and feel bad? Using self-discrepancies to understand negative media effects. In H. Dittmar (ed). Consumer culture, identity and well-being: the search for the ‘good life’ and the ‘body perfect’, p. 147-172. Hove: Psychology Pres.
Burnette, C.B., Kwitowski, M.A., Mazzeo, S.E. (2017). “I don’t need people to tell me I’m pretty on social media”: A qualitative study of social media and body image in early adolescent girls. Body Image 23, p. 114-125. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.09.001
Kim, J.W. & Chock, T.M. (2015). Body image 2.0: Associations between social grooming on Facebook and body image concerns. Computers in Human Behaviours (48), p. 331-339. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.009
Media Literacy Now. https://medialiteracynow.org/what-is-media-literacy/
Media Smarts. (2022). https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals
McLean, S., Wertheim, E., Masters, J. & Paxton, S. (2017). A pilot evaluation of a social media literacy intervention to reduce risk factors for eating disorders. International journal of eating disorders,50(7), p. 847-851. Doi: https://doi-org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.1002/eat.22708
National Eating Disorders Association. (2022). https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/sites/default/files/Toolkits/GetRealToolkit.pdf
Prichard, I., McLachlan, A.C., Lavis, T. & Tiggemann, M. (2018). The impact of different forms of #fitspiration imagery on body image, mood and self-objectification among young women. Sex Roles 78, p. 789-798. Doi: 10.1007/s11199-017-0830-3
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