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Megan Brownell photojournalist
For years, social media has been a huge part of our generation’s life, from posting on Instagram, taking Snapchats, and posting TikToks. With the infamous Halloween weekend or “Halloweekend” as college kids like to call it, people are posting their Halloween costumes all over. Nowadays, our costumes are silly ones from Spirit Halloween with a sweater and leggings underneath because it’s cold. Now, they are minimal material paired with fishnet tights and high heels to look more adult.
Most of the time, when you see these posts and girls out and about on Halloween they are skinny, pretty and showing off their slim stomachs and having a great time. Many of these people don’t think much about posting them, thinking they are just doing it for them.
For some bigger people, or even skinny people with body dysphoria or an eating disorder, seeing these kinds of posts is hard. Knowing they can’t or don’t feel comfortable dressing like that and feeling left out at parties because they aren’t dressed that way. It is the overall feeling of looking or feeling gross, and comparing yourself to those girls.
“You are beautiful just the way you are,” people always say. Well, as someone who has always been a bigger person that can’t/feel comfortable to dress that way it is hard seeing girls dress like that when I wish I could.
These types of feelings have always been around, and cyberbullying does not help. There are creators on TikTok who are bigger and post about things they wear, their lifestyle, etc, which helps bigger girls everywhere to have that confidence. Although this is their point, many people everywhere bully these people calling them “disgusting”, or saying many other mean comments because they are “fat.” Not only does this discourage them, but other people who look up to those creators see those comments, and knowing they look the same, feel that anger from those words and it hurts them too, sometimes even more than the person it was aimed at.
Body dysphoria is a raging issue in teens and young adults. It honestly is just hard to not compare yourself to people who you think are prettier than you.
Before social media, we wouldn’t really hear much about this, because you would only see people in public or see your friends. There was no zooming in on pictures and picking out the bad things on your own body, or looking at all the great features on someone else’s.
Social media has helped us compare ourselves to others so much better from seeing our friends pictures, to strangers. It unfortunately has left a negative self image on everyone- even people we do compare ourselves to. Even though everyone is beautiful in their own special ways, it is rough that social media is ruining that look.
So, in conclusion, even though social media ruins that beautiful image with harsh words and your mind talking down on you, fight those hard words and be confident.
