In class, we were talking about how social media creates body standards. However, I kept thinking about how my social media wants you to be big in the right places. I see social media rewards bigger people who collect fat in their thighs, butt, and chest. It simultaneously punishes people who contain fat anywhere else. I, myself, only go to the gym to build the body I want, not for health and definitely not because it makes me happy. I see this in conversations with my friends. Everyone wants a bigger butt and a smaller stomach. I see it in how clothes are made today. Certain clothes that are stretchier in the butt and tighter in the waist to force an hourglass figure. There is so much emphasis placed on having a curvy figure, and it does not look as nice if you don’t have that figure. I see it in models promoting different things and celebrities that people admire. It seems like they all have BBL bodies. BBL stands for Brazilian Butt Lift when a plastic surgeon takes the fat from your midsection and puts it in your butt. All celebrities have plastic surgery, but it shapes the body expectations of those without. Some celebrities, like Lizzo, promote body positivity, but she does not exist in a vacuum. Many try to shame her for who she is, and although it speaks volumes when she ignores them, it continues to be herself; sometimes, other voices are louder.
So just to recap, you must have a big chest, a big butt, and a tiny waist, all while being under 150lbs. If you work out in the gym to build this body, you will be muscular, which isn’t feminine. If you get plastic surgery, you lose because you paid money to change your body. All in all, you can’t win.
Unruly Bodies 
Hi there! I think your take of this topic is very interesting to me and seeing the standards people have really opened up my eyes to society nowadays. Thank you for sharing!
Hello. I enjoyed reading your blog. I have to agree with you completely. Society tells women that they must look a certain way, in order to be beautiful. The characteristics are not what makes a woman, but how she feels about her self, her self-esteem and confidence level. It’s like pressure on the weight issue is saying you must lose weight in order to look great, but when the weight is lost let’s say by weight loss surgery or the new era of Ozempic, then the comments are “oh, she didn’t do it on her own so it doesn’t count”. It’s a damn if you do and damn if you don’t situation. This can really have a negative effect on individual women, such losing self confidence and not feeling worthy, trying various diets, including one’s that are not healthy such as the Watermelon Diet, or taking weight loss drugs that are not FDA approved and having adverse side effects such as gallbladder cancer, pancreas issues and gaining the lost weight back one the diet and/or injections stop. I listened to the podcast “Ozempic” by Mike and Aubrey and they were talking about how really this new weight loss drug is only for the rich due to it’s price of over $1000 per month. Also, Mike talked about how he is starting to think that some doctors will prescribe it to you and not know your background or ask any follow up questions. Almost like the doctors are worried about how many prescriptions they can prescribe. Do they get a percentage from this? Going to the extreme to become “society” healthy is dangerous. On the hand hand, there is body positivity from Lizzo. She is very secure in her body and does not allow herself to be fat-shamed as she will always most definitely respond to the negative comments. I honestly think this great, especially for the teenage girls because she wants them to embrace themselves no matter their size, but especially if they are “fat”. Will there ever be a middle ground or come a time when size does not dictate one’s beauty? Only time will tell.
Thank you for sharing this because I completely agree with your post. It’s frustrating how social media has created these unrealistic body standards that are focused on specific body parts. It’s a constant battle of wanting to look a certain way to fit in with society’s standards but also wanting to love and accept yourself for who you are. The pressure to conform to these standards can often lead to unhealthy habits, and it’s important to remember that everyone’s body is different and unique. We need to stop shaming and promoting certain body types and instead focus on promoting body positivity and self-love.
I absolutely agree with everything in this post. Especially about clothing being created more for people with smaller bodies. I see all the time in stores in asian countries (korea, japan) having their largest size be a small in US standards which is so bizarre in its own self. And its even more crazy when stores like Forever 21 for example have clothes that are skin tight and mostly fit people that are hourglass shaped or really skinny and doesn’t cater to a wide range of bodies. It also doesn’t help the fact that most clothing trends come from those brands and promote only a skinny body with a big butt or chest.
Thank you for posting this and I absolutely agree. The more I see midriff-revealing and skintight clothing or clothes that has a v-neck or is short to reveal a lot of leg makes me feel even worse about my body. As an AMAB nonbinary individual whose body includes very broad shoulders and a nonexistent chest, and who also goes to the gym to try to get that body I want, I feel both dysmorphia and dysphoria from these images propagated by Forever 21, Victoria’s Secret, and other brands. This also makes me hate my foot size since there are many feminine styles that are near nonexistent for people with larger feet. And yet many trends use these aspects that only cause insecurities to rise in those who do not fit such beauty standards.
Thank you for sharing this. I 100% agree. It reminds me of the Barbie movie that came out this summer, especially because Barbie is supposed to fit into those standards. The last paragraph drew interest to me because people can’t math it. Every part in your body is a certain amount of weight, and all of these adds together into your overall body weight if that makes sense. Maybe we can call that men-math? Since men came up with that expectation.
In general I don’t understand why the sizing system is so complicated when all of it could just be unisex. This topic is something I agree with you on 100%, but the expectations makes absolutely no sense.