Beauty standards have been around since the beginning of time – and they’re ever evolving. In ancient Greece, pale skin and red hair was lauded as the pinnacle of beauty, but centuries later, the medieval world would declare the same hair color to be the mark of a witch. In the 17th and 18th centuries, plump and voluptuous figures were celebrated, while the next century praised a slender, straight frame.
Today, headlines continue to elevate people for their beauty and heckle them for “imperfections”. Just think of grocery store tabloid headlines you’ve seen recently, ranging from “50 Best and Worst Beach Bodies” to “How I Lost 10 Pounds in 10 Days!” Pop culture, tabloids, and comparison have dominated our modern day existence. But Generation Alpha is navigating a new frontier – comparing themselves to a reality that doesn’t actually exist.
Beauty Standards Just Got Even Harder To Meet
While beauty standards have always felt somewhat unattainable, AI and social media have pushed them to new extremes. Unrealistic beauty standards on social media have created a 24/7/365 comparison game for many teens. Add in deepfake technology, AI filters, and face-altering apps, and it’s easy to see that Generation Alpha is growing up in a new world — one where fakes, filters and hyper-edited images make it harder than ever to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Photoshop was developed in 1987 with the original intent of helping users adjust things like hues and color balance before saving images in multiple formats. Now, the most well-known function of Photoshop and other tools like it is the ability to create manipulative, deceptive images. . In just a few clicks, teens can change eye color, remove blemishes, and even change the proportions of their body in an image. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the chat, as the teens might say – and it’s wreaking havoc on the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of digital natives, including s Generation Alpha.
How Social Media Feeds Comparison Culture
Every day, teens open TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to find filters that distort reality and normalize unrealistic beauty enhancements. In fact, many of these filters subtly blur skin, change nose shape, and enlarge eyes — making small changes that “enhance” someone’s appearance without the need for manual manipulation in Photoshop. They’re known as AI beauty filters, and Forbes describes their eerie ability to “alter and enhance the appearance of an individual’s face in real-time… superimpos[ing] digitally generated layers onto a user’s face to smooth out skin, contour face shape, resize facial features like eyes and lips or even apply virtual makeup.”
There is no denying social media’s effects on self esteem. In the earlier days of popular platforms, kids and teenagers compared themselves to friends and peers on a screen. But today’s youth are, in actuality, comparing themselves to enhanced and idealized versions of those peers — a version that even the friend who posted the photo doesn’t resemble in real life.
What’s more, kids are being exposed to these challenges earlier than ever. While most social media platforms require a minimum age of 13 to create an account, Johns Hopkins reports that 4 in 10 children between the ages of 8 and 12 use social media. That number soon skyrockets — 95% of teenagers use social media platforms.
How Unrealistic Beauty Standards Affect Teenagers
The Department of Health and Human Services has compiled research that highlights the negative effects of social media on self esteem, body image and mental health. Nearly half of children aged 13-17 reported feeling worse about their bodies after scrolling social media, and anxiety and depression rates double for those who spend 3 or more hours on social media each day – and remember, 3 hours is far less than the national average of teenage screen time.
Seeing so many fake and filtered bodies online can cause teenagers to feel as though their own bodies are the problem. Body dysmorphic disorder is characterized by excessive focus on perceived physical flaws, frequent changes to appearance, checking your body in the mirror or with selfies often, feeling intense anxiety or shame regarding body image, interest in multiple cosmetic procedures, and thoughts of self-harm or suicide. A peer-reviewed study published in Mental Health Science calculated the association between this disorder and social media use, and concluded:
“The results [of the study] revealed a positive correlation between social media usage and symptoms of body dissatisfaction, as well as low self-esteem. Notably, increased time spent on social media emerged as a significant predictor of body dissatisfaction.”
The lack of unedited images on social media makes digital beauty standards seem like reality. Aside from simply keeping children away from social media, which isn’t realistic for many parents as kids grow older, how can we help them find a better way to view themselves?
Helping Kids Build A Healthy Self-Image
Even as Generation Alpha is inundated with these messages, can we help our children build an image that isn’t dependent on filters? Yes, we can – and these guidelines offer a good place to begin.
Teach Media Literacy
This artificial digital world isn’t going away, but we can teach Generation Alpha how to navigate it. Media literacy is essential for modern kids to grasp – the earlier, the better. Help your children spot overedited images and AI-enhanced content, emphasizing to them that not everything posted online is true or real.
Set Screen Limits
When trying to combat the unrealistic beauty standards on social media that your kids view on a daily basis, simply limiting access goes a long way. Set screen time boundaries to reduce exposure. Just as importantly, use their offline time to build their confidence in other ways. Sports, arts, and other hobbies can boost confidence and mood while they reinforce the idea that identity runs so much deeper than appearance.
Encourage Them Generously
Be liberal with your encouragement in the face of so much negativity. Focus on God-given qualities that make up their identity, and speak those truths to your kids as often as they come to mind. Children are longing to be filled up with words like:
- “You’re so creative! I love the way you brought that scene to life in your painting.”
- “You work so hard! I saw how fast you ran around those bases today.”
- “You’re a great friend. I know Annie appreciated your kindness to her today after she was disappointed that she didn’t get the lead role.”
Most importantly, pointing your kids to their truest identity, which can only be found in Christ, offers a foundation social media can’t shake. Your words can guide your children toward true confidence and a healthy self-view.
Redefining Beauty: Helping Teens See Themselves Through God’s Eyes
From the opening pages of Scripture, we see that humankind was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This means that we hold intrinsic worth – no filter required. Every one of us was lovingly fashioned. If your child struggles to believe this, offer up Psalm 139:13-16:
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Even when our kids believe that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, social media can be a brutal place. If unrealistic beauty standards on social media are causing them anxiety, stress, or depression, they may wonder, “God made me, but does He really care about this – or about me?” Matthew 6:26-30 provides a resounding answer:
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”
God cares about His creation, from sparrows to flowers – and even more so His own children. When kids and teens have confidence in who God made them to be and how loved they are, external validation online loses its luster, even for digital natives like Generation Alpha.
Parents and caring adults have the opportunity to come alongside our children as they navigate a world we never had to face, or even imagine, as teens. As we support our children for who they are, not just what they look like, we help them challenge unattainable beauty norms and build confidence based on God’s truth, not secular trends.
Not sure where to start?
Ask your teen what beauty means to them and how they view it online. Chances are, you’ll get a prime opportunity to reinforce the idea that beauty standards are volatile and unreliable – but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, which makes Him a much better source to derive worth from.