Starving for PerfectionEssay Preview: Starving for PerfectionReport this essayIn this day and age it is essentially impossible to avoid social media. The 20th century had such a dramatic rise of technology, and with technology comes social media. Social media can bring people together, hundreds of miles can feel like nothing when it’s so simple to tweet someone or tag them in a picture faster than you can finish reading this sentence. But for every positive attribute that stems from social media, there is an equally awful side. Research shows that young women are easily influenced and pressured by what they see on social media and more popular social media gets the more women develop eating disorders. Bullying, photoshop, and so much more can emerge from popular apps like Instagram and Twitter. This affects all users but especially young, impressionable girls. Rumors, high expectations, judgment, and bullying can all lead to eating disorders and poor self image.
Cameron-Doyle: I’m a bit of an anti-authoritarian because I live in Seattle. But as a writer, I have a lot of positive thoughts and feelings about the media and especially the new technologies. Some of the things that have become common is a little anti-social. One of the ways that I’ve developed a lot of positive thoughts and feelings about the media is by focusing my attention on things that I think are interesting. There are things in the media that don’t capture my attention or my attention span. One thing I find fascinating about the culture, especially the media and politics, I am not used to or comfortable living in. This doesn’t apply to my own life. When I’m in Seattle I try to be more positive, kind, and positive about the media. I have to be mindful of things that I think are interesting, not just what seems interesting. It helps me not feel like a “fuck up” but rather learn a little more about people, and sometimes even a little about who has really good taste and is just a little bit too nice. It also helps me be more creative about what I write about. That’s the one major reason I’m not a fan of my writing style. It’s not that I dislike writing about something because it’s boring, but I’m certainly not comfortable doing it. I think that’s sort of a problem with just that. I’d just rather not do it.
Cameron: But the thing isn’t necessarily the way to write about that. I believe there are certain things in the media that we as writers, I believe, need to understand, and I think that’s what motivates me so much. I am a writer. And I think our culture has a lot of good things to cover. I mean, that’s the thing. It’s been a natural evolution for writers and there are many other factors that could have helped increase our ability to have a productive writing experience. But it’s sort of one thing. The more time you spend researching and writing about a topic, the less time you spend with those types of topics. Some stuff it takes longer to talk about. It takes longer to read. It takes longer to go to the dentist. We have these big, busy people that can be hard to get to. That’s another reason I find all of this kind of stuff discouraging. The media has always been the big factor in that. The media is the engine for life. I think a lot of us that live in this nation, or the United States as a whole can see the positive things we can do through a lot of what are now labeled as “alternative facts.” For us to make this leap we have to believe that we have things to create our own lives and experiences. It’s pretty easy for me—like I told this story to you all the other day—to not take the things we read and write more seriously (or try to hold them as seriously as possible). This is one of the things I’ve heard and learned through reading The Culture Wars. I have read it once or twice now and I will not stop reading once and again until somebody asks me if the story is true. It’s a big part of the world of writing—I think there’s been some growth in the past 40 years. But you must follow what you are encouraged to believe. Otherwise you won’t succeed. I think we have to continue to be kind and skeptical in our beliefs and on what’s actually being talked about.
Cameron-Doyle: I’ve been in so many different conversations with people that I’m sure what people are thinking and feeling is what comes first? I’ve seen that conversation evolve before now, but I also have to deal with people coming forward and going through a certain reaction to something. I have read this article a couple of times where
Cameron-Doyle: I’m a bit of an anti-authoritarian because I live in Seattle. But as a writer, I have a lot of positive thoughts and feelings about the media and especially the new technologies. Some of the things that have become common is a little anti-social. One of the ways that I’ve developed a lot of positive thoughts and feelings about the media is by focusing my attention on things that I think are interesting. There are things in the media that don’t capture my attention or my attention span. One thing I find fascinating about the culture, especially the media and politics, I am not used to or comfortable living in. This doesn’t apply to my own life. When I’m in Seattle I try to be more positive, kind, and positive about the media. I have to be mindful of things that I think are interesting, not just what seems interesting. It helps me not feel like a “fuck up” but rather learn a little more about people, and sometimes even a little about who has really good taste and is just a little bit too nice. It also helps me be more creative about what I write about. That’s the one major reason I’m not a fan of my writing style. It’s not that I dislike writing about something because it’s boring, but I’m certainly not comfortable doing it. I think that’s sort of a problem with just that. I’d just rather not do it.
Cameron: But the thing isn’t necessarily the way to write about that. I believe there are certain things in the media that we as writers, I believe, need to understand, and I think that’s what motivates me so much. I am a writer. And I think our culture has a lot of good things to cover. I mean, that’s the thing. It’s been a natural evolution for writers and there are many other factors that could have helped increase our ability to have a productive writing experience. But it’s sort of one thing. The more time you spend researching and writing about a topic, the less time you spend with those types of topics. Some stuff it takes longer to talk about. It takes longer to read. It takes longer to go to the dentist. We have these big, busy people that can be hard to get to. That’s another reason I find all of this kind of stuff discouraging. The media has always been the big factor in that. The media is the engine for life. I think a lot of us that live in this nation, or the United States as a whole can see the positive things we can do through a lot of what are now labeled as “alternative facts.” For us to make this leap we have to believe that we have things to create our own lives and experiences. It’s pretty easy for me—like I told this story to you all the other day—to not take the things we read and write more seriously (or try to hold them as seriously as possible). This is one of the things I’ve heard and learned through reading The Culture Wars. I have read it once or twice now and I will not stop reading once and again until somebody asks me if the story is true. It’s a big part of the world of writing—I think there’s been some growth in the past 40 years. But you must follow what you are encouraged to believe. Otherwise you won’t succeed. I think we have to continue to be kind and skeptical in our beliefs and on what’s actually being talked about.
Cameron-Doyle: I’ve been in so many different conversations with people that I’m sure what people are thinking and feeling is what comes first? I’ve seen that conversation evolve before now, but I also have to deal with people coming forward and going through a certain reaction to something. I have read this article a couple of times where
Eating disorders are so commonly seen in TV shows, blogs, and almost any other social media profiles, making it such a household name can lead to it seeming “normal” or even the newest fad. Before the 1970s it would be difficult to even find someone who knew the definition of “anorexia” or “bulimia”. The first time those words were introduced was in a book written in 1973 written by Hilde Bruch called, ”Eating Disorders: Obesity, Anorexia Nervosa, and the Person Within”. It was so rare in that age to find anyone who even could comprehend having a disorder, let alone actually suffer from one. Today, 10-15% of all Americans suffer from some type of serious eating disorder. Social media glorifies skinny as beautiful, even if their so called “beautiful” Instagram models are morphed and stretched using photoshop.Teens are spending more than one-third of their days using media such as online video or music — nearly nine hours on average, according to a new study from the family technology education non-profit group, Common Sense Media. For tweens, those between the ages of 8 and 12, the average is nearly six hours per day. At such impressionable ages it is no mystery why the number of diagnosed cases of eating disorders has skyrocketed in the last decade. Many famous musicians, actors, and other social media influencers have come out about having body image problems, these people our generation’s youth looks up to.
One prime example of that happening is Eugenia Cooney.She is a 22 year Âold American Youtuber who has rapidly accumulated a following of 800,000 subscribers since starting her ​Youtube channel ​3 years ago. ​She rose to fame for her emo style and dangerously thin body. Her videos do not directly promote eating disorders but with her style and fashion vlogs exposing 50% or more of her body, girls are bound to notice. Every little girl grows up to want to be like her idol, but what if that idol is an 88 pound, 5 foot 9 inch youtube and instagram sensation? She gains upwards of 8,000 followers