Influenced Adolescence: The Effect on Body Image and Mental Health

Throughout history, the value of women has been defined by beauty. Even in years before the Common Era, figures like Helen of Troy or Nefertiti were famous for being beautiful. In the 1950s, patriarchal ideals enforced a traditional wife stereotype that praised a domestic wife who took care of house work. The concept of a trophy wife was popularized in the 1980s, where powerful men wanted younger and beautiful wives who served as a status symbol. These disparaging ideals set the tone for years to come. Peer influence and the more recent popularization in digital media makes toxic beauty standards even more accessible to young adults than ever before, causing teenagers to display signs of eating disorders and negative body image from younger ages than in previous years.

For far too long, beauty standards have been unattainable for most people. With differing standards involving body type, hair texture, or height among other qualities, women have been minimized to their appearance and criticized based on it. Some situations make it hard for young and impressionable women to escape the toxic cycle of familiar body image issues. Having a parent with a bad relationship with food makes it hard for children to escape body image issues even in an environment that is supposed to be comforting. For example, mothers, who are fundamental figures in children's lives, "can contribute” to “the possibility of their daughter being genetically predisposed to developing an eating disorder" (Carolina House). Given that anorexia shows the highest mortality rate out of all psychiatric disorders, it is alarming that anorexia nervosa affects up to 3% of young women (Hoek).

Along with maternal influence, social media, movies, and music all play a significant role in teenagers’ lives in modern day. Singers influence millions of teenagers through their music. A recently popularized genre of music uses lyrics which embody domestic violence, anorexia, depression, and alcoholism to convey moody themes. The harm lies in the manifestation of the “coquette” aesthetic that many teenage girls flock to, regardless of artists’ intent. Their own negative body image expressed through their music prompts many young women to examine their own flaws as role models do. Especially with the rise of digital media, volatile singers today influence a large teenage population, which is reflected by the romanticization of eating disorders, self harm, and mental health issues online.

Similar problematic ideals are not just demonstrated through music; they are also widely available on social media. In the 2010s specifically, models and passionate singers engrossed pro-anorexia Tumblr pages, with many who “[praised] a version of feminine smallness that shrunk hordes of 13-year-old girls down to [their] bones” (Hu). Today, toxic online communities like these still exist; they form and follow trends that are easily accessible to impressionable teenagers. Websites and blogs that make anorexia feel normal or valid should not be permitted online.

Ultimately, the reason that disordered eating is becoming a prevalent issue today is because of surrounding influences that make an impression on susceptible teenagers. Young women need guidance in their teenage years when they are most persuadable by social standards and peers need to regard preventable mental health struggles as their struggle as well.

Works Cited

Carolina House. “Eating Disorders in Mothers and Daughters: The Mother's Impact.” Eating Disorder Hope, Carolina House, 12 April 2024, www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/eating-disorders-mothers-daughters. Accessed 16 November 2025.

Hoek, Hans W. “The incidence and prevalence of eating disorders between 1975 and 2024: A commentary on Lee and chi.” The International Journal of Eating Disorders, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 11 August 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12501559/#eat24495-sec-0005. Accessed 16 November 2025.

Jadayel, Rola, and Karim Medlej. “Mental Disorders: A Glamorous Attraction on Social Media?” Journal of Teaching and Education, vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, pp. 465-475. Accessed 18 November 2025.