Social media has done a great deal for diet culture. It has established that there is a whole industry just based on getting people to lose weight. Many health specialists like Helen Lee Schifter have maintained a way to avoid such residuals from social media. Many influencers and socialites struggle with mental health issues thanks to the negative connotation that comes with fame. People are constantly out to get one another online and it can be very damaging to a person’s self-image. So much of what people post is photoshopped and edited. That is why it’s so critical not to compare oneself to what is shown on the media. It is very harmful to be constantly comparing oneself to others. Social media sells these ideal stereotypical bodies as a way to influence more people to use their dieting products.
The more people that click on diet-related advertisements or on a very famous person’s Instagram post, the more the illness of diet culture spreads. It’s sickening to see people sell such harmful products to those who want to lose weight. When a person is insecure, they are vulnerable. That is how diet culture clings to these customers. By giving them ideas and versions of themselves to look forward to. Yet, there is so much that is wrong with that idea. For the millions of people who are affected by mental illness or body dysmorphia, this industry can be so toxic. people shouldn’t have to feel like they need to change just because Jane Doe posts something on Instagram. Each body is beautiful, and that’s the message social media should be spreading. It certainly is not going to happen overnight, but the more people that reject diet culture, the more good can come out of it. With people constantly comparing themselves to usually a highly edited photo, it can be damaging to their mental wellness.
When a person is constantly down on themselves because of the societal standards of beauty, it is so melancholy to see. People of all ages are constantly doing their best to strengthen their abilities and do what they can to “fit in”. When in reality, fitting in is very overrated and no one needs to be defined by a body standard of beauty standard. Everything and everyone is beautiful. If you gain twenty pounds during quarantine? So what! Have you successfully and healthily anchored your fitness goals? That’s amazing! Doing steps that help a person feel more alive and wholesome is what diet culture should be presenting. The more people that fall into the schemes of dieting, the more potential harm it can cause. Helen Lee Schifter admires those who don’t focus on weight loss but on lifting weights of one’s shoulders. Diet culture should be promoting that exact notion. “Lose the weight on your shoulders before stepping on the scale”. So many people are overwhelmed with how society defines beauty and how social media categories what bodies are considered beautiful. Remember, you are beautiful and perfect the way you are. Social media and diet culture have nothing to do with the definition of beauty and wellness.
