This article is part of Concentrate's Voices of Youth series, which features content created by Washtenaw County youth in partnership with Concentrate staff mentors. In this installment, student writer Vaishnavi Attili examines media's impact on young people's self-perception.
An asterisk (*) denotes a source who requested to be referred to by a pseudonym due to work- or school-related sensitivity.
Imagine scrolling through Instagram reels and seeing perfect bodies and glamorous fitness influencers popping up unceasingly on your feed. For Washtenaw International High School junior Alex Miller* and countless other young people, this experience is all too familiar.
"Seeing [social media posts] added on to my existing pressures of being overweight as a child," he says. "It combined to make me think I should look like the average fitness creator: Slim waist, huge shoulders and leg muscles. I felt like I had to look perfect. After losing weight, getting positive reinforcement from other people made it worse, and made me want to continue losing weight, to the point where I looked sickly at some point. Seeing what the beauty standard [was] and what gets attention made me think I needed to look like that in order to be loved.”
Miller’s story is one that so many high schoolers experience. Because of societal pressures and the overwhelming influence of social media, many young people feel the need to conform to unrealistic beauty standards that glorify thinness and a certain body type. It’s important to recognize that while this issue is often more pronounced among people assigned female at birth and transgender individuals, it can also significantly impact men.
From flawless Instagram photos to the lack of representation in the film industry, today’s media have become a breeding ground for unrealistic expectations and toxic content. Films, articles, beauty products, and social media push beauty standards that lead to self-esteem and body image issues, especially among teens. This constant exposure to a distorted reality can heavily affect teens' self-confidence and self-worth.
Effects on teens
Teens face daily pressure to conform, academically, socially, and especially physically. Negativity around body image is everywhere, even where you’d least expect it.
“I have seen a lot of ‘body-check’ videos on my instagram feed. The comments on some Instagram reels body-shame plus-size content creators brutally," says Gurnoor Sembhi, a senior at Washtenaw International High School. "Also, on videos where the main topic isn’t anything related, there will be comments on the creator’s body.”
When teens see creators — especially those who are plus-sized or don’t fit conventional beauty standards — being ridiculed or shamed, it can reinforce or cause internalized feelings of inadequacy.
“Instagram promotes bodies like the Kardashians for women, face-tuned photos, and edited posts," Sembhi says. "I know a lot of people feel pressure to look that way and obtain that body type, and usually in dangerous ways too. Most people on Insta don’t have the same money as influencers, so they resort to dangerous methods to get these procedures done."
Many young people look up to influencers and celebrities as role models, often adopting their aesthetics, behaviors, and lifestyles. However, social media platforms often prioritize money and glorify unrealistic beauty standards, setting a benchmark that is unattainable for the average individual. When influencers, who often have the financial means to undergo cosmetic procedures and access professional stylists, showcase their idealized bodies, they set a standard that many young people strive to achieve, regardless of the substantial differences in resources available to them.
A 2024 study in the journal "Healthcare" showed that when young people are constantly exposed to idealized representations of beauty, it can lead to detrimental effects on mental health, including anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphic disorders. This can foster feelings of low-self worth and perpetuate a cycle of low self-esteem.
Eurocentricity in film
Media convey homogeneity not only in beauty standards, but also in the racial identities they portray. According to
a study by the University of California Los Angeles, in the movies released in 2023, people of color were only 22% of the lead actors. When young people see so few actors of color in leading roles, it sends the message that they don’t belong in those spaces or that their stories aren't worth telling. This lack of representation can affect how teens of color view themselves and their potential, making it harder for them to feel validated or inspired by the media they consume.
Additionally, the presence of Eurocentric beauty standards can be harmful. These standards usually depict a narrow definition of beauty that favors lighter skin tones, thin body shapes, and features that align with Western ideals, leaving many teens of color feeling inadequate if they don’t fit this mold.
“Eurocentric beauty standards in different forms of media can be so harmful to a teen's mental health and can lead to disordered eating and self-image issues,” says Amy Belfer, who works in reproductive justice organizing in Michigan.
Moreover, modeling standards, which typically favor tall, fair-skinned, and lean people, make it extremely difficult for teens to embrace their individuality, leading them to internalize a superficial definition of beauty.
The lack of trans representation in media also affects trans youth immensely. In mainstream media, trans characters are often reduced to stereotypes or their narratives are overly focused on their gender transition, rather than being portrayed as full, complex individuals.
A health care perspective
While popular media reinforce narrow stereotypes about bodies and relationships, the impact of these representations extends beyond entertainment and can influence the ways teens engage with important topics such as sex education. There is a lot of stigma around the topics of sex and sexuality for teens. Sex and health education is something that everyone should have access to, yet many teens are left in the dark, navigating misinformation and societal taboos that prevent them from understanding their own bodies, boundaries, and well-being.
One issue often overlooked in sex education is the lack of representation and medical images tailored to diverse skin tones.
A 2018 study, "Representation of Race and Skin Tone in Medical Textbook Imagery," found that only 4.5% of the images in medical textbooks show darker skin tones. The other 95.5% show light or medium complexions.
Genital sores do not appear the same way they do on darker skin tones as they do on lighter complexions. However, most health media and infographics show conditions on light skins, leaving people with darker skin tones underrepresented and misinformed about how symptoms may manifest on their bodies.
Tessa Langford*, an employee of Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor, says, “In college, I worked in a Peer Education program, and I got questions about the media all the time. ‘Is this normal with my body? Am I weird? My body does not look like it does in the media.’”
This lack of inclusivity in medical education can leave people feeling disconnected and unsupported, deepening the stigma surrounding sex, sexuality, and health.
What can we do?
As awareness of the harmful effects of unrealistic beauty standards grows, there are many things that we can do to combat the harmful messages put out by the media.
“Each person sees beauty in a different way — it's a fundamental human perception," says Toko Shiiki, a Ypsilanti-based filmmaker. "I am completely against using body filters for the most realistic representation. Natural beauty is what needs to be emphasized in film. If there is a message I want people to take away from my films, it would be that they don't need to be judged by anyone, and beauty is not one single right thing.”
Shiiki actively creates
projects to encourage body positivity and representation. Supporting filmmakers like Shiiki, who advocate for authentic representation and challenge conventional beauty norms, is crucial in reshaping societal perceptions of beauty in film and media. By prioritizing natural beauty and showcasing diverse body types, filmmakers can foster a more inclusive narrative that resonates with audiences of diverse identities.
When asked how the media can better support the reproductive justice movement, Belfer says, “I think the media can do a better job portraying how reproductive health care applies to not just cis women, but trans and gender expressive individuals as well. Having more representation in every sense: gender, sexual orientation, abortion, people of color, etc., will help the reproductive justice movement grow more as well. Getting rid of the idea that you have to be skinny to be healthy is very important.”
As we work towards dismantling harmful beauty standards, supporting diverse voices in the media becomes crucial. By listening to non-mainstream perspectives, we can pave the way for more authentic representation that encompasses various identities, body types, and experiences. This will not only empower individuals to embrace their unique beauty but also cultivate a more inclusive society where everyone feels valued and represented, free from social pressures.
“In media, you only see 1% of people who have insane builds," Miller says. "You’re only shown what gets these huge corporations a lot of money. I think it’s important to keep this in mind when consuming media and know that you aren’t alone.”
Vaishnavi Attili is a senior in high school with a deep commitment to social justice and equity. She truly believes in standing up and advocating for issues she believes in, and thinks that journalism is an extremely powerful way of doing that. She hopes to pursue a future in medicine and anthropology in college.
Concentrate Managing Editor Patrick Dunn served as Vaishnavi's mentor on this project.
To learn more about Concentrate's Voices of Youth project and read other installments in the series, click here.