UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

OPINION: Cammie’s Column: Stop trying to live up to media’s standards

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Trying to live up to the media’s form of beauty is like dancing with fire: expect to get burned. 

A great deal of this generation is shackled down by the weight of what media platforms have to say about them and because of this, people’s mental health has reached an all-time low. 

Being a female in a media-driven day and age has definitely come with its disadvantages. 

We are told to wear makeup, but not too much otherwise we are fake. Dress like a girl and show yourself off, but don’t come off as easy. Be nice to everyone, but not too nice because you’ll look like a flirt. 

These are just some of the countless expectations we as females are expected to live up to, but we need to put an end to these two-sided standards. 

While I am a strong advocate for the end of unachievable standards for women, my same thoughts and feelings go out to all the men who have suffered greatly from the prison we call social media. 

As humans, we are expected to live up to a standard that very seldom are able to reach. Instead of being accepted for who we are, we are taught to find every possible solution to change ourselves to fit the mold.

This generation is at the media’s beck and call, and because of this, it will be the cause of our destruction, unless we put an end to it, that is.  

According to Forbes: “The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. One study a few years ago found that Facebook use was linked to both less moment-to-moment happiness and less life satisfaction — the more people used Facebook in a day, the more these two variables dropped off.” 

Because we have allowed all of these media platforms to take advantage of us for many years, it feels as if this is simply a trait we will inevitably pass on to future generations to come; however, I wholeheartedly believe that we can break this treacherous cycle and start learning self-acceptance rather than the constant shame we receive from the media. 

I think it is about time this media-centered generation learns a thing or two about self-acceptance and the only thing that truly defines who you are is your own thoughts, not some stranger sitting behind a screen. 

To stop the social media madness, this generation needs to fight back. We need to show society that we are proud to be who we are regardless if it fits what the media says. To accomplish this, we need to all strive to limit our time that we spend on these sites and when we are on there, we are filling our feeds with positive and uplifting posts rather than ones that will make us question our worth. 

Be proud to be different; it is not a curse, but a blessing that we are all granted with every day, so don’t let anything change that.