Student's photo campaign hits back at body image pressures from social media
LONDON -- Social media plays a massive role in our daily lives. But, it can also add to the existing pressures we face, particularly when it comes to our bodies.
With Instagram filters, Photoshopped images and curated feeds, social media can feel like an onslaught of unattainable perfection.
Research suggests that too much time spent on Facebook can cause women to dislike their appearance, and can contribute to feelings of loneliness and depression.
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But, one British student has created a campaign to fight against the pressures women face from social media, including pressures to lose weight or have cosmetic surgery.
Jade Johnson -- a student at Birmingham City University -- produced the "Un-Edit" campaign to highlight the impact Instagram users and celebrities can have on young women.
The 22-year-old worked with fellow student Laura Dawkes to create images for the campaign, which explores the ways in which Instagram may be a factor in women dieting and considering cosmetic surgery.
Indeed, last year the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons reported that increasingly younger women were seeking cosmetic surgery. And, according to cosmetic surgeon Marc Pacifico, young people feel under "incessant pressure" to be perfect and compare themselves to edited images they see on social media.
The photos show both women in a range of situations, from taking selfies after surgery, to injecting themselves with lip fillers and wrapping their bodies in cling film. Each photo is accompanied with verses that aim to confront the ideals presented on social media.
During Johnson's second year of university, she felt herself being "sucked" into social media.
"I [...] built my personal profile around this, even though deep down it made me feel terrible as I was no longer being who I wanted to, but what social media wanted me to be," Johnson said in a statement emailed to Mashable.
“The campaign was built to show women we do not need to give into the pressures of social media and we should be proud of who we are rather than letting it bring us down," she continued.
"We wanted Un-Edit to build us back up and give women that confidence to believe they are beautiful,” Johnson continued.
Johnson isn't alone in voicing her frustration with social media. In November 2015, Australian teenager Essena O’Neill hit headlines after quitting social media because she became aware of the impact that "likes" were having on her life, and that of other social media users.
O'Neill said that she began "obsessively" checking the "like" count after uploading photos, and would take 50 photos before posting one to Instagram.
Kylie Jenner has also admitted that she takes 500 selfies in order to get the perfect photo for Instagram.
Johnson's Un-Edit campaign is formed of a digital magazine and an Instagram account, featuring more images and poetry that seeks to challenge the way you view your body.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
