Around the world, there are still invisible shackles around women's bodies. On Xiaohongshu, one of the most popular content-sharing platforms in China, you will see numerous female blogger's selfies recommended by the algorithm marked with homogenous labels: "white, delicate, and skinny aesthetic style", "keeping fit", or "S-size figure". On various TV programs, you will routinely hear gossip news casually commenting on female celebrities' appearance and body shape, remarking acrimoniously on who has grown fat and who has become old and no longer sexually attractive.

Social media nowadays is filled with myths about female appearance. The female figure in current media is thinner than the female figure in the past and the male counterpart (Silversteinet al., 1986). An analysis of models' body standards in Playboy magazine revealed that thinness is increasing for centerfolds, many of whom meet the weight criteria for anorexia (Owen & Laurel-Seller, 2000). The media has formulated a rigorous beauty standard for women: being tall, moderately breasted, and extremely thin. Various studies have contributed sociocultural perspectives to offer analysis and solutions to this problem. Among them, one of the most influential theories is the objectification theory.

In this paper, I use the objectification theory as the basis of my argument, that social media perpetuates body shaming by promoting social comparison resulting from self- objectification. I will first introduce the mechanism of objectification theory, its application in social media, and how self-objectification leads to social comparison. Then I will illustrate my analysis based on the base study of Facebook, one of the social media with the largest number of users in the world. Finally, I will propose several solutions to promoting body positivity in social media.

Before delving into the analysis, a contextualization of the issue reveals just how
extensive and severe the problem is. Body shame refers to the experience when people perceive their bodies as unattractive and undesirable (Owen & Laurel-Seller, 2000). It occurs when people view their body negatively and perceive a discrepancy between a person's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Grogan, 2021). The dissatisfaction of the body and the accompanying feelings of inadequacy occur more commonly in young girls and can lead to more serious mental and physical illness, such as eating disorders and depression. Research in both Australia and America has found that higher levels of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating are distinct in adolescent girls (Tiggemann, 2005). Bearman's research has provided further evidence that about
50% of adolescent girls and undergraduate women reported body dissatisfaction (Bearman et al., 2006). Worse yet, considerable evidence has accumulated to show that the usage of social media is related to women's disordered eating (Ferguson et al., 2013). With social media taking over the world, especially among young adults, teens, and pre-teens, who are risking jeopardizing their physical health to cater to the ideal beauty standard, an urgent problem that needs addressing has been raised: how does social media perpetuate body shaming, and how can it be used to promote body positivity instead?

We will turn to objectification theory, a sociocultural framework that aims to understand the role objectification plays in women’s lived experiences. According to the theory, “females are typically acculturated to internalize an observer's perspective as a primary view of their physical selves" (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification functions through the everyday act of gazing. For women, who are the objects of such gazes, the internalization of external views leads to a separation of female bodies from their perceived senses of “self”, and a degradation of bodies merely as an instrument or object (Bartky, 1990).

The mechanism of gazing has become so ubiquitous and nearly inescapable, partly because in the patriarchal society, an attractive body appearance can oftentimes be translated into real practical value, such as income and welfare. One study has found that overweight girls are less likely to be accepted to universities (Wooley et al., 1979). As such, women are encouraged to pursue the ideal beauty standard dictated by the observers. This process of self-objectification is usually manifested as body surveillance which gives rise to women's shame and anxiety about their body images (McKinley & Hyde, 1996).

Social media plays a key role in the functioning of this self-objectification, exacerbating the problem with its expansive invasion into every aspect of our daily life and its unique features. Compared with traditional media like magazines, social media is more provocative. In social media, users are not only receivers of information but also its sources. Users can update and share information in a split second. Furthermore, social media serves as an outlet for self- disclosure. With easy access to photoshopping software and personalized content creation, users can customize an ideal self-image on the Internet through which they also establish their self-identity. In this process, users, especially women, become especially susceptible to the perspectives of other users. With sky-high demand for content catering to male appreciation, and the high rate of transmission, the idealized thin body images pervade social media.

In the context of social media, self-objectification also stimulates social comparison, which aggravates body shame. According to psychologist Festinger's foundational theory, people have a natural drive for comparison to determine their progress and position in life. Festinger categorized social comparison into upward comparison and downward comparison. Upward comparison occurs when people compare themselves with others who are believed to be better than them to some extent, while downward comparison goes in the other direction. Upward comparison derives from the desire to improve ourselves, yet downward comparison is centered on maintaining self-esteem (Festinger, 1954). Research has indicated that appearance-related comparisons are usually made by the female, and are generally defined as upward social comparisons (Leahey et al., 2007). Besides comparing with their peers or similar people, social
media users will also make upward comparisons with unrealistic objectified female figures, such as movie stars and supermodels. The more important an ability or behavior is to a person, the more pressure he or she feels toward reducing discrepancies concerning that ability (Festinger, 1954). In this way, in social media, as females internalize the objectified body image, the constant upward comparisons lead to body dissatisfaction and feelings of shame due to the gap between their perceived body and ideal body (Myers & Crowther, 2009). A case study of Facebook provides abundant evidence consistent with this mechanism.

As a paragon of social media, Facebook provides females with a medium for frequent social comparison. Facebook allows users to create personalized profiles and photo editing to present an idealized version of self. A prospective study suggests that the number of Facebook friends has a greater predictive effect on social comparison and body dissatisfaction. The research speculates that a larger number of friends offers more opportunities for social comparisons (Tiggemann & Slater, 2016). Another study focusing on Facebook photo activity reported that compared to non-Facebook users, Facebook users scored significantly higher on self-objectification and social comparison. The study also indicated that the time spent on Facebook is positively related to the tendency of social comparison (Meier & Gray, 2014).

Other studies have centered on the relationship between ways to use social media and body shame. Meier found that the time spent on photo activities on Facebook, such as sharing a photo album about themselves and viewing their friend's photo, is associated with greater self- objectification, appearance comparison, and body dissatisfaction (Meier & Gray, 2014). Smith provided further evidence that body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms are predicted by maladaptive usage of Facebook, which is defined as making negative social evaluations and comparisons when using Facebook (Smith et al., 2013). In short, there is an abundance of researches that have shown consistent results that Facebook perpetuates body shaming by promoting self-objectification and social comparison. So what are the solutions?

In response to the dominance of unrealistic body images in social media, a trend called
the "body positivity movement" that rejects inaccessible body images is now gaining traction. Body positivity refers to a mindset that "challenges the prevailing thin-ideal messages in the media and fosters acceptance and appreciation of bodies of all shapes, sizes, and appearances” (Cohen et al., 2019). Under the movement, positive body images contain six themes: body appreciation, body acceptance, and love, broad conceptualization of beauty, inner positivity, adaptive body investment, and protective filtering (Tylka, 2012). These themes place great emphasis on gratitude for the function and features of the body, acceptance of the flaws and imperfections of the body, appreciation of beauty beyond the restriction of objectification, and so on. Research has shown that watching posts of positive body images is associated with an improvement in mental well-being among female participants (Tylka, 2012).

The promotion of positive body content, however, hinges on media companies’ regulation and the public’s awareness of the issue. If retooled effectively, social media can become a meaningful platform for spreading positive body consciousness and educating people about the misconceptions of the ideal body and the danger of body shame. Social media companies can invite experts to give online seminars and produce their own public service-oriented content on how women unconsciously objectify themselves and comply with unrealistic beauty appreciation. In doing so, they will debunk the myth and teach users to appreciate and love their bodies. Previous studies have shown that the intervention and prevention programs are effective in moderating females' self-objectification and increasing positive feelings about their bodies, exhibiting the potential benefits of adopting similar strategies in social media (Thompson & Heinberg, 1999) (Irving et al., 1998).

In addition, users can form supportive and empowering groups or communities on social media where they can freely discuss their own experiences. Whether it is suffering from body shame or the life journey of seeking self-acceptance, telling and sharing stories is useful in creating resonance and thus reaching and helping more people fight the oppression of aesthetics. In these communities, users can also celebrate and appreciate each other's imperfect bodies to gain a sense of confidence, empowerment, and belonging. They will feel that they are unconditionally accepted by others by virtue of their inner qualities instead of how they look.

In conclusion, I have theoretically proven how social media perpetuates body shaming by promoting social comparison resulting from self-objectification and provided supportive evidence based on the case study of Facebook. I've also proposed three solutions to promote body positivity in social media: promoting body positivity content; implementing intervention and prevention programs, and establishing supportive and empowering communities. The findings systematically analyze the mechanism of body shaming in social media and have implications for the body positivity movement.

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