Social Media and Eating Disorders/Body Dysmorphia

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EQ: How do perceptions of social media impact eating disorders and body dysmorphia in youth?


Focus Questions: Is social media an influence when it comes to ED’s? Do body dysmorphia and ED’s start at home or around peers? How does the growth of social media mentally affect the well-being of youth, and what specific apps are in play? How do these disorders impact relationships with family and friends? How does someone ask for help? What factors play a role in the start of eating disorders? How do influencers of social media glamorize these disorders? Does it become for society or for self? 


Overview: Eating disorders and body dysmorphia are seen in any age group and in both genders. It mainly starts with the standards of society being pushed onto the victim. They then take matters into their own hands by trying to fit into those standards through anorexia or bulimia. Though they may be losing weight, body dysmorphia tells them they are still “overweight,” or “too skinny.” I feel as if I have a very good grounding for this topic, but I know that I will be able to find more. 


WHY: I selected this topic because it is something that I have struggled with personally, and I know of many people that have struggled with it as well. I became physically aware of my body at a very young age due to comments made by close family members, and I believe that what they said still torments me today. It would be interesting to find discussions about body dysmorphia and eating disorders I want to cover this topic because it is not something that I have looked into, but I wish to know more about it. I know social media is partially to blame for ed’s and body dysmorphia, but I really want to know the full effect of it. I tried to write a similar paper on this topic but was unable to, so I am excited to go into depth about this mental/social issue that is prevalent in adolescents. 


Related Books: Wintergirls by Laurie Anderson

  Identical by Ellen Hopkins 

I know two almost three novels that I will be using. I do want to include The Duff because it does cover body dysmorphia in teens. By searching a bit more, I know I will be able to find more novels that are closely related to my thesis. 


Resources: I will more than likely go to the USC Upstate and search through EBSCO. I have used this before and I find great material to use. There may be some other outside sources, but they will be reliable. Since the social media platform, I’m on the most is TikTok, I know that I can find examples of people that are either currently undergoing this problem or have overcome it. They usually freely share their stories, so I believe that I will be able to incorporate someone into my paper. There are also several people that speak out about the influence of social media causing body dysmorphia and I would like to quote what they say as well, by also noting their platform and comments and reactions they received. 


Claim or Argument: My claim is that social media alters the perceptions of adolescents when it comes to physical appearance and the push for unrealistic expectations that they will attempt to seek in harmful ways. 


Foreseeable Challenges: My only challenge is that I will try to incorporate all of the angles, and it might end up confusing. My best bet to avoid this is to make a complete outline of what I wish to incorporate and how it will relate to my objective.


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