By Karen Espig
No one would argue against taking good care of yourself in body and mind to aim to live a long and healthy life. But even by following the best practices, our bodies will physically age, and changes will occur. In a culture where youthfulness and beauty are extolled, ageing is being sold as something to avoid or even fear.
The obsession with looking younger has Americans (and the rest of us!) spending billions of dollars yearly on cosmetic procedures (yes, billions). The pressure to look younger than you are has led to many presenting “filtered” versions of themselves on social media, further skewing already unrealistic views of beauty and “normal”. The media depictions of beauty are evolving into something I don’t even recognise.
However, a more serious consequence is the cost to mental health.
Nurturing A Negative Body Image
A survey by the UK Mental Health Foundation of over 4500 adults revealed that 21% of the respondents had issues with body dissatisfaction–feelings of shame, low mood, or disgust being the result. The same study found that these self-averse thoughts were most often a result of images in advertising and social media.
Having a negative body image is a cycle that is difficult to shake. The more you don’t like some aspect of yourself, the more your attention is drawn to it, and the more you dislike it. At its extreme, it becomes body dysmorphic disorder, a serious mental illness where the obsession with perceived “flaws” in one’s appearance becomes an overwhelming and debilitating concern.
Having repeated negative thoughts about your body may give rise to depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Conversely, fostering a positive image builds self-confidence and coping skills, allowing for more rewarding personal and social experiences.
In 2022, over 7.4 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States. And it isn’t just the older folks doing it. In fact, the numbers drop after age 70. The percentage spread between those aged 17 to 35 and those aged 51 to 70 is only 10%, meaning even young adults are unsatisfied with their “youthful” appearance.
One alarming statistic I came across in my research was that 48% of plastic surgery patients stated that their significant other was the biggest influence in their decision to undergo the procedure. It is difficult to say whether that loops back to the patient’s worry about how their body looks to their partner or whether it is directly influenced by their other half.
Ageism And Social Disconnection
Age is often the first thing we perceive about a person, and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), half the world is ageist! Ageism manifests in older adults being marginalised in the workplace and social interactions—even though their age means they have so much to offer in terms of knowledge and wisdom. This often leads to depression and disconnection, with 14% of adults over 60 years of age experiencing mental illness, such as depression and anxiety.
As individuals grow older, they may wrestle with questions of mortality and purpose, and in a youth-obsessed culture, the fear of becoming irrelevant or invisible may lead to feelings of despair and hopelessness.
Influencers And AI
There are over 5 billion active social media users and 64 million influencer accounts on Instagram alone. A recent study from Flinders University in Australia revealed that viewing content from social media influencers negatively affects mood and body image, with sexualised images having the most negative effect. The results showed that viewing this type of content caused respondents to compare themselves with the influencers. Since much of this content is altered/filtered imagery, comparisons will likely make you feel worse about yourself.
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital de-ageing in cinema, we are no longer seeing “real” people. It is time to pause and acknowledge this new reality. It used to be that supermodel photos were tweaked in Adobe Photoshop, but now, they are often wholly computer-generated. Attempting to model our ideas of beauty using these presentations is a bizarre concept and will definitely not serve us well.
Culture and commerce around youth and beauty are reinforcing negative body images and fear of ageing, causing increasing rates of anxiety and depression across all age groups. The exponential growth of pictures in the media means we are exposed to more images than ever.
I don’t think I am alone in finding this a confusing time in terms of all the visual presentations we are exposed to in the media. I sometimes struggle to separate the real from the fantasy images out there.
Thanks to science and an advanced understanding of how our bodies function at their best, we are now living longer, more quality-intensive lives. It is about time we begin viewing ageing as a privilege because by not doing so, we are disrespecting our future selves.