While struggling is part of life, there shouldn’t be pressure to accomplish tasks without struggle or give off the impression that one had most things come easy to them. The expectation to be flawless and excel in every aspect of life is perpetuated by social media and is awful for the confidence and mental health of young women. This idea of achieving “effortless perfection” is completely unrealistic and is doing more harm than good to women in society. One solution to this problem begins with changing the way social media is utilized.
The idea that one can achieve “perfection” without having to work hard and face difficulties along the way is unrealistic and harmful to young women who appear to be putting up this front. Young women, especially those that use social media, are most affected by this mirage of perfection. Social media provides a feed of curated beauty standards and trends that force young women to compare themselves to others. In a study from 2010, it was shown that viewing these types of images on Instagram resulted in an elevated need for women to compare themselves to other women. The women perceived themselves as falling short on certain standards displayed.
The reality is that most of the content on social media is curated and it fails to go beneath the surface. By perpetuating this idea of effortless perfection online, it only further exacerbates the problem and can have detrimental effects on mental health. Researchers found that 29% of girls who spent three or more hours per day on social media engaged in self-harm and 31% of girls who spent five or more hours on social media were depressed. While this idea of effortless perfection is negatively applicable to beauty standards, it can have similar impact on other areas of a woman’s life such as in academia or one’s career.
In academia, this idea of effortless perfection is even more pertinent and has led to the unfortunate suicides of many students all over the country. In 2014, a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, Madison Holleran, took her own life and her tragic story fueled a new perspective on the effortless perfection myth. Madison’s Instagram profile was filled with beautiful images that displayed a picture-perfect life and one would never have suspected that she was struggling. This is a widespread problem that is especially prevalent at rigorous and competitive universities where students already compare themselves to their classmates. Suicide rates among 15 to 24 year olds increased in 2007 and anxiety and depression are the most common mental health diagnoses among college students.
In order to compete and excel in male dominated fields, women also feel the need to perform higher in comparison to male peers. In the workplace, there is pressure for a woman to take on more responsibilities and maintain a guise of effortless perfection in order to be a substantial competitor. In one of the largest studies done on this topic, researchers found that men are 30% more likely than women to be promoted to management roles. The percentage of men and women is almost equal in entry level jobs, however, the percentage of women that climb up the ladder and make it to the C-Suite becomes even smaller as women only make up 1% of the workforce within that level. The rate at which women get promoted to higher positions is disproportionately less than men, already setting the finish line farther for women.
Enduring struggle is part of growing as a person and unlocking potential. But, in the world of influencers, content creators and social media celebrities, this effortless perfection myth only contributes to this unattainable and unrealistic expectation that one should be flawless. While there are many factors that contribute to the effortless perfection myth, social media and idealized content is at the forefront. In order to combat this, there needs to be a shift in the way that social media is used along with more honest and open conversations that stop the cycle of harm this myth creates.
