I have noticed that society is placing more attention on the objectification of women and the many issues involved with this serious topic. The issue is gaining celebrity endorsements and broad support from both men and women, as it rightly should.

I personally find the subject immensely difficult to analyze because it is so complex. To try to examine the issue holistically requires immense time and open mindedness. I have been dissecting the issue, and I have realized how important body image is, especially in regards to how we formulate our opinions in society.

Our society is an image based culture. We idolize what we consider to be “attractive” and “beautiful.” Magazines, television and frankly all forms of entertainment are filled with images of men and women we readily accept to be “perfect.” Women’s clothing companies feature 0 sized models who are all unreasonably thin. Men’s fitness magazines are littered with images of men with chiseled six pack abs. These sorts of images are numerous, and they trickle down through social media outlets. When this happens, detrimental effects are magnified by the nature of social media.

We live in a heavily connected society. We are always online and constantly integrated within large social networks. I have noticed we are so heavily connected that it becomes difficult to distinguish between real life and our virtual lives spent online. Similarly, we place immense value on the number of likes and comments on our digital posts. We try to mimic the mainstream behavior of society, and these actions are terribly malignant. We are cultivating opinions based on falsely idolized images. We are benchmarking our own thoughts of what we think we look like against these distorted images.

I came accross research conducted by Meaghan Ramsey with the “Dove Self Esteem Project” to bring some perspective to my argument. She put together statistics to illustrate how much importance is placed upon our body image and how we think we look. The issue is especially prevalent for women.

One in three women are reserved in classroom and work related discussions because they fear how they look. Seventeen percent of women don’t show up at job interviews because they are unhappy with their body image. Most strikingly, six in 10 women chose to entirely disengage in activities because they are afraid of how they look.

The underlying essence of these statistics illustrate how women are vesting too much concern in how they think they look. While I find these statistics important, I must also point out that men do this as well.

Moreover, developing negative perceptions of how we think we look compared to society’s idolized images has gloomy side effects. Those who are unsatisfied with their body image enter into depression quite easily. I tend to see more subtle, but common effects, regarding unhealthy lifestyles. Both men and women try to be too thin. Individuals who eat too little to become thin are disillusioned by society’s expectations. I have come across trends on social media including “thigh gap,” “pro ana” (pro anorexia) and “thinspiration.” We need to change this behavior because it is founded upon unrealistic expectations. More importantly, we need to change the way we view ourselves.

I wholeheartedly believe we can remedy this issue if we can all develop self-esteem. Education regarding self-confidence is a good start. Programs need to be developed by universities, school boards and businesses to focus on self confidence. But most importantly, we need to start judging people differently. Finally, both men and women, and especially college students, need to be role models for younger generations. Be healthy, embrace your own image, and celebrate all of our unique differences.

Now I’m sure many would counter and say they already have strong self-esteem, and that’s great. But how do you judge everyone else? We all need to pay close attention to how we view others. I believe we can all live more productive lives if we shift the focus away from harsh judgement and toward individual accomplishments. Similarly, rates of depression would diminish, our culture would become more positivistic and we would experience societal interactions in pure form.

If we can all start to change the way we view others, I think we can start to solve some larger issues. I do not envision these changes taking place overnight. To change the way society operates is certainly difficult. But I think it is important we at least begin to think about where all of these false idealizations occur and how it trickles throughout all of society. I see potential, but we all need to do our part. Embrace who you are. Self-esteem has the inherent power to change our society.

Colin Mummery is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].