WHAT WE THINK

We have decided to share some of our thoughts and ideas concerning this theme, as well as important topics we thought should be discussed, take a look!

The next text was based on the following song and music video:

Perfection - the disease of a nation

Like in Beyoncé's music video for the song « Pretty Hurts », we have, for a long time, been confronted with beauty contests and pageants. For what? To define what's beauty? But have we ever stopped to think if beauty actually has a strict definition and form?

In the lyrics of the song, the singer says "What's in your head, it doesn't matter [...] What you wear is all that matters". No matter how hard we try to deny this, this is what happens in our society. No one sees a heart, no one previews your qualities. People judge the outside so then they can get to know the inside. When the singer, in the music video, is faced with the question "What is your aspiration in life?" she actually gets quite lost, because, in a world of such superficiality, we end up losing ourselves and questioning what really are our goals, to which she finally responds: To be happy. I mean, what else could you ask for? If you are constantly put under pressure and under the spotlight, in which you should look "perfect" all the time, happiness is the least you can ask for. Media constantly portrays and conveys this unreal scenery of an ideal image, a perfect body, the perfect popstar, the flawless woman, to which I can only answer with the lyrics to this song:

No matter how hard you try, you will never please everybody, and you should never change yourself, your real self, to please anybody or anything. Your body, your essence, your image... It's all you! And nothing on you needs to be changed to fit in on any place. The cruel society might judge you, you might feel pressured and uncomfortable, since the world you see is apparently perfect, but trust me, that is not the reality. Perfection really is "the disease of a nation" and that is the only thing that should change, not you.

Tiago Silva

How can social media affect you?

   From a young age we are told to love ourselves, but how is that possible when beauty standards are unrealistic and achievable?

   Social media has taught young people to erase all flaws. The standards of beauty, now more than ever, are causing irreparable harm. More social media use at a younger age has been correlated with dissatisfaction with one's appearance. Social media promotes photoshop, filters, plastic surgery and makeup. Young users believe that the fabricated appearances that these methods create are natural. So, young people can't look like popular models, it impacts their self-esteem and mental health greatly.

   According to some studies, teen users who use beauty filters are more likely to desire plastic surgery. Beauty filters are defined best as automated photo editing tools that use artificial intelligence and computer vision to detect facial features and change them. These filters are being used by young people, reflecting back versions of themselves more in line with conventional beauty. These filters are rooted in western beauty standards: some lighten your skin, make your nose smaller and even change your body silhouette or shape. The use of filters reinforces narrow beauty standards and creates false people on social media platforms. It's because of this that teenagers feel more confident on social media than in real life due to the use of filters and photoshop.

   Not only does social media reinforce constraining beauty standards, but it also gives this false perception of what beauty truly is. At the end of the day, beauty is so much more than the superficial, it is truly about the content of your character.

   All that said, social media has the power to create societal change if reoriented accordingly. With more popular influencers and even the platform itself promoting body acceptance and rejecting photo editing, we can teach people how to love themselves the way they are. Showing beauty in more than one facet is how beauty standards can be dismantled or changed to value unique beauty and support the mental health of adolescents, especially, as they grow and learn to appreciate themselves.

Beatriz Silva

The next text was based on the following video:

Is it real?

   On Instagram, an influencer, Danae Mercer Ricci, posted a short video where she shows that social media is fake and we shouldn´t believe in everything we see. 

   In the beginning, she's standing on a boat wearing a bikini and posing for the camera where she seems pretty thin, with very sharp curves. However, that's not how she really looks like. She used photoshop to make her look thinner and more suitable for society. At the end of the video, she appears sitting on the sand, where it is possible to see cellulite and some body fat. Next to her, she put a phrase that says: "Don't compare yourself to whatever you just scrolled past".

   The truth is, there has always been a beauty stereotype, that everyone tries to achieve. Furthermore, they even tend to criticize and despise themselves if they don't or can't have it. That's many times due to the fact that sometimes they are "made fun of" because they don't achieve the "normal girl's type".

   What the influencer portrays in the video is the reality of most teenagers, especially girls, who use social media on a daily basis. They tend to compare themselves with that stereotype and the people who have it, without thinking that that may not be real. Most social media users use photoshop in their photos and videos to seem more pretty in society's eyes. However, what they don´t know is that they are innocently encouraging a "beauty standard". Above all, they're encouraging people to have insecurities about their own bodies.

   For example, when influencers work with makeup brands, they make their face look perfect, with absolutely no flaws. When their followers give in and buy those kinds of products, they get frustrated because it doesn't look the same in them and they can't have the "perfect skin" as the people they see on social media.

   In conclusion, beauty shouldn't be stereotyped. No one is perfect and that´s okay. At the end of the day, we should all embrace our bodies, our flaws and what makes us "not perfect" because being different and confident is what makes us beautiful.  

Lara Faria

Behind body image

   For young people social media has always been there and, obviously, it is an important part of our lives as it is in them that we spend most of our time. It is a fact that social media promoted unrealistic thin ideals that are associated with detrimental effects on people's moods, body image, and eating patterns. Nowadays, social media can create body dysmorphia and create fake perfect bodies or "idealized" body types that don't exist in real life. Young people, especially young girls, have the tendency to compare themselves to other women they see on the Internet but the truth is that half of them have photoshopped their pictures. While posting selfies may help body image, trying to edit out perceived flaws can be harmful. Not everything we see on the Internet is real! Social Media should be a way to show us real people and real bodies, not beauty patterns that are unachievable and impossible. If the world can "normalize" that every body is unique and "normal", maybe we can witness some mentality changes. That new perspective can help so many young people, and even older people, accept their bodies more easily, creating a more positive idea about it in their minds. A contributing factor in spreading positive awareness about it is social media. If everyone starts to display real images on their profile, and not photoshopped ones, maybe that can be the start of a paradigm shift. Anyway, I think that it´s time to be more real, not only in personal interactions but also online.

Mariana Silva

The reality of Instagram and social media

   The constant search for perfection is increasing among young people who can't judge all the information available on Instagram and other kinds of social media. Most of the time, the pictures we all see are an illusion of reality. The urge to "sell" a perfect life, a perfect body, the perfect relationship, and the perfect food, made us believe that this is the "new normal". Instagram became a dangerous place for teenagers due to this idealized perfection. We can see a rise in cases of depression since a few years ago, and some experts believe that the consumption of social networks like Instagram is the cause of this increase. In fact, this "Instagram reality" is almost impossible to achieve because we don't live in a flawless world.

   On the other hand, Twitter is a different social media, where you might possibly find a more realistic life. You don't see the constant idea of perfection, you do on Instagram, but you see people sometimes just having fun, talking about situations they found funny, struggles they're dealing with and more of the usual posts we see on social media.
   The shocking difference between Instagram and Twitter shows us that even between different kinds of social networks, content differs and people's perceptions too.

   I believe you should consume whatever you want to, but try not to fall for the silly unrealistic life most Instagram influencers portray, you'll just be fooled by these fake impressions.

Catarina Silva 

A narrowed world

   In conclusion, I believe it's important to be critical of the media consumed and to celebrate diversity and self-acceptance. I really look forward to an equal and fair world, where every person is accepted, every body is seen as beautiful, and there aren't people and features considered more desirable and appreciated than others. Promote and focus on positivity.

Tiago Silva 

Media and beauty

Lara Faria

The next text was based on the following news article:

The "Kardashian Effect"

   For years, women and men have seen the media as something that dictates how they should present themselves. In the age of social media, it is easier than ever to get pressured into wanting to fit into a certain standard of beauty.

   Iconic celebrities from every generation have followed popular beauty trends. Celebrities, like Kim Kardashian, represent a beauty standard that is impossible for most women to achieve naturally. Even though celebrities' photos posted online are often photoshopped and edited, there aren't a lot of ways for the average person to tell.

   Fans and casual viewers may even go through surgeries in an attempt to get closer to a certain type of beauty. The previous article, called "The man who spent 110,000 on plastic surgery to look like Kim Kardashian", goes into detail about a boy named Jordan James Parke who has received a plethora of aesthetic procedures such as Botox, injections, nose jobs, etc, just so he can emulate the look of Kim Kardashian. This article just shows how beauty standards on social media influences people to change their features and their way of looking. These new standards are changing the way that a person feels about themselves and making it impossible to love themselves the way they are. This has really damaging results in someone's life: it can destroy their mental health and even develop health issues and problems with health, such as body dysmorphia, eating disorders, etc. This research has also shown us that certain features are deemed more beautiful than others, and this can be disastrous to a person's mental health and perception of themselves.

Beatriz Silva  

Social media - should we use it?

   Social Media can be an amazing tool to see and share our lives but if you are finding it unhealthy for you, there are things you can do to reduce its negative impact. To reduce harm on social media you can: unfollow accounts, find a healthy community and even take breaks to maintain your mental health. The truth is that more and more we see people have mental problems due to social media, so we must change this. Follow people who encourage you to be yourself and not to be afraid of your flaws because that is what makes you unique.

   For me, I find it super helpful to take a break from social media from time to time. That is helpful because there is so much hate online that sometimes is unbearable, especially the toxic social media such as Twitter, because on that app the point is to share our opinions and thoughts about something. The problem begins when many people say hurtful things to other people. They say those horrible things because there are no proper protection laws for that kind of behaviour.

   As I said before, there are many people that can get really affected by mean comments on the internet. Loads of people have mental illnesses due to that, a fact that makes me terribly sad.

   On a positive note, social media can make people "belong" somewhere, like they are a part of a bigger community. That is one of the perks, in my opinion, for people that feel like they don´t fit in on their day-to-day lives.

Mariana Silva

Glorification of media

   The consumption of social media is increasing and, consequently, the number of influencers too. But what is this thing called "influencer"? There are many definitions but generally, an influencer is someone who has an opinion on general matters and shares these opinions with their followers. A day-to-day routine is another popular content on this type of media. Everything is fine if the followers don't lose their own opinions which, surprisingly, has been happening. The influencers have the ability to seduce their audience and, whatever they do, become a ritual, a species of religiosity thing that everyone must follow. The idolatry between the followers is a rule by now. It is normal to find someone trying to be the same, not because they find a role model but because they see in that person something like a god.

 
Regardless of this adoration, the ego of the influencer gets higher and higher and, somehow, they manage to make money with that. Some examples are influencers making birthday parties where they invite people but only if you pay for an expensive dinner, or they do a specie of "Ted Talk" where they can say anything that the followers will applaud them even if what was said was the dumbest thing they've ever heard.

   This kind of situation should catch the attention of everyone and make us think about our boundaries. Most people lost their own way of thinking, all they want is to be this person and they find themselves depressed because of the impossibility of achieving the same things.

   Somehow, God turns to a second plan for this society as we can see these influencers assume this role for many people.

Catarina Silva 

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