Beauty Standards – A Threat to Women

By Meghna Roy

(Image courtesy: Snigdha Dutta, Payel Dey and Rajesh Das)

'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' states how a person perceives another; different people perceive things differently. With the recent trend of meeting beauty standards, teenagers are feeling increasingly pressured. In their subconscious state of mind, they think they need to meet their expectations of being perfect. Audiences hardly know what is behind a glamorous social media post; it seems mostly perfect. 

It is observed that eating disorders mostly occur in females rather than in males. Ms. Annu Biswas, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Adamas University, said, "The eating disorders are more common in females due to the socio-cultural pressure and gender-specific expectations that have developed over time. The thin ideal, strongly promoted on social media, is one of the alarming factors". This forces women to equate thinness with attractiveness, success, and worth. 

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a serious disorder with episodes of consuming food in a large quantity in a short time. It can cause emotional and physical health issues as the person has no control over their eating habits when caught in this vicious cycle. They eat involuntarily during the binges, lamenting doing the same later, which causes a lot of distress. Binge eating disorder is also related to stress or depression. and can be one of the potential causes. It becomes a maladaptive coping strategy with people with depression or boredom. This cycle reinforces both the eating disorder and the underlying emotional issues. 

Anorexia is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and what they eat. Anorexic people have a misconception that they look fat, despite being thin in reality. They can give much thought to reducing their weight by adopting low-calorie diets, eating less, and exercising more. It can lower self-esteem and lead to changed behaviour patterns, and that too, unwantedly. "The symptoms of an anorexic patient can be characterized by intense fear of gaining weight, recurrent eating behaviour like cutting food into small pieces, eating slowly, avoiding meals", said Ms. Annu Biswas.

The lack of nutrition to look thin can be self-destructive and make a person lose weight rapidly, leading to health issues. "It can be dangerous. If a person is to follow a weight-loss diet, it should have specific calorie control, not starvation. It requires inclusion of a sufficient dose of vitamins and minerals", said Monisha Nath, Assistant Professor, Department of Allied Health Sciences, Adamas University. Ms. Monisha Nath is an expert and teaches food and nutrition. She added that increased body dissatisfaction is the outcome of spending more time on social media. Many teenagers compare themselves to celebrities or influencers, without understanding that much of what they see on social media is unrealistic.

Meghna Roy is a student of B.Sc. Graphics and Animation, Semester 4, School of Media and Communication, Adamas University

Snigdha Dutta and Payel Dey, B.A Journalism and Mass Communication, Semester 4, School of Media and Communication, Adamas University

Rajesh Das, B.Sc. Graphics and Animation, Semester 4, School of Media and Communication, Adamas University