Are selfies to blame for skewed body images?

Bollywood hottie Ileana D'Cruz may be worshipped by legions of fans here in the South for her 'desirable curves'. But the actress' latest Instagram post where she mused about her body and beauty was a shocking revelation — she struggles to accept her body the way it is "every, single. day (sic)", confessed Ileana.

"You would think that given the line of work I'm in, there's no reason for me not to love the way I look... you'd think the magazine covers and movies with the glamourous make-up and flattering camera angles are bound to give my ego an immense boost and make me feel like the sexiest thing on this planet. But I struggle every, single, day. And I try to hide behind that make-up and those camera angles... (sic)" she wrote.

Psychoanalysts and health experts have a term for Ileana's self doubt — Negative Body Image. As the name suggests, it stands for a person's negative perception of his/her own aesthetics or sexual attractiveness, and it is a problem that's plaguing hundreds of young people around the world. Interestingly, experts have established definite links between social media, the selfie craze and negative body image.

Face your selfie how Are selfies to blame?

At a workshop in the city, a proponent of positive body image, Mihira Appnender asks the participants to take a selfie; but there's a catch — the selfie should be a natural one, not something that's carefully formulated to make the face attractive! And this simple clause seems to be a huge challenge for most. Mihira explains, "People mostly have a narrow-minded definition of beauty, reinforced by pop-culture.

So when I conducted the experiment to break the stereotypes of body image, and asked people to click their selfies, without the fear of looking unattractive, I saw that most of the people were hesitant. They took their photos from the camera held high — that was their preferred camera angle.They were very careful about what kind of angle the photos are taken from. No one prefers taking a picture with the camera placed below, say casually on the lap, out of fear that their double chin becomes more noticeable."

Today, it's all about the grand idea of being "always selfie ready". There are marketing campaigns designed around this punch line. Besides marketing industry monetising on the trend, there are blogs and other "self-help" manuals that helps people figure out their perfect 'selfie face'. The 'selfie face' is nothing but a reflection of your idea of how you look the best. This is where the judgement begins, within one's self.

Apps add to the problem

Now, once the judgement of self sinks in, add to the mixture a bit of the hard standard of perfection; that's where the next level of self-help comes in. Here enter the apps.

Your smartphones come loaded with a slew of apps that work like a charm to 'smoothen', 'lighten skin', 'remove shine' and make your 'eyes bigger and brighter'. And when built in apps are not enough, people shell out a couple of hundreds on paid apps like Perfect365, BeautyPlus, moreBeaute2, Photo Editor by Aviary and so on, which promise to give anyone with a smartphone a 'one tap makeover" for a star-like selfie. Some of these apps have seen over 500,000 installations!

All these apps are constantly sending out the message that you are not good enough the way you are — you need help — your eyes could be bigger and your cheekbones could be made more Kate Moss-like. And before you realise it, the damage is done.

The social media mess
Once that perfect selfie is ready, the proud owner hits the share button to put a piece of themselves out there for the world to judge. And psychologists warn that youngsters who take social media too seriously and do not have a strong sense of self can have a tough time. Dr Diana Monteiro, counseling psychologist, Hyderabad Academy of Psychology, says that she has worked with clients from the age group of 18-25 among whom approximately 50-60 per cent suffer from negative body image.

"Young people extremely who are active on social media might have to grapple with added anxiety and stress if they do not get enough attention on social media. A few 'likes' are enough to give them a huge ego boost, and similarly, the lack of it can dampen their spirit to no end," she adds. The selfie trend and the social media seems to be the biggest threat that youngsters are facing as it is found to have a direct effect on their self-image and self-worth.

Dr Monteiro adds, "It used to be women who were subjected to a lot of scrutiny with regard to their looks over men, however, this is changing. While I still see women struggling with it, I think in the recent past men are also being subjected to scrutiny; thus more young men seem to be developing this as a concern."

Desperate means
Airbrushing and photofixes aren't all. In its extreme form, this culture of negative body image often makes people so intolerant towards flaws, even minor ones, that their natural reaction is to seek surgical quickfixes. That perhaps explains the documented increase in the number of plastic surgeries across the world.

Dr Venkata Ramana, a plastic surgeon from Hyderabad admits that there's been a definite rise in the number of people seeking surgeries, many a time for what he calls 'perceived flaws' — when people see a problem where none exists. "Nowadays, people with chicken pox scars also cannot bear to live with it, when even a few years ago it was considered absolutely normal. My clients are in the age group of 20-30 and interestingly, there are more men coming to me for a nip and tuck, than women.

They want to fix problems like sunken eyes or improve their jawline. Of course I try to counsel them to rethink their decisions if I feel it's just a perceived flaw," says Dr Ramana, adding, "Sometimes they see a problem with their face or their bodies where none exists. This serious disorder is called body dysmorphic disorder. In such cases, it is the duty of the surgeon to do their best to avoid a surgery and recognise the problem and offer counseling."

Shaming body-shamers
Thankfully, on the social media front, there is good news too. Of late, actresses and other role models for young people have been hitting back at their critics. Recently Selena Gomez slammed a body shamer on Instagram who made a comment on her weight. Her response was flawless: "I don't need to do anything other than love myself..." Musician Lorde also put up pictures of herself with skin imperfections. Among the Indian actresses who do not show any mercy on shamers is Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi has, in several instances, hit back at critics of her weight.

Would a few other celebs, who are real, please stand up?