By Olivia Celenza Page

That being said, is this content truly all bad? I’ve been watching lifestyle content since I was in seventh grade. I started off watching Bethany Mota and discovered more creators that made similar content from there. I consistently watched lifestyle videos with the goal of trying to be super productive. Young girls today are watching these videos which promote being ultra-productive. This can become harmful, especially when girls are younger because they shouldn’t have to worry about looking perfect while completing everyday tasks. But these videos suggest that you’re not good enough if you don’t. Add the additional layer of a lack of representation in this genre, and it then suggests that you must be white, skinny and wealthy if you wish to achieve this seemingly glamorous lifestyle. If you’re not, then you’re not worthy enough. At this point, I still enjoy lifestyle content: it often inspires me on days where I know I have a lot to do but am not feeling motivated. I tend to tune out the productivity narrative all of these videos have in which they push being as productive as possible. I take these videos with a grain of salt. If I like the journal idea they have, I’ll translate it to my own journaling. If they get up early in the video, and if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll get up early too. Overall, I think it’s okay to watch these videos, but we have to be aware of the underlying messages some of them give out, regardless of whether the creators are conscious of it or not. We must remember that all forms of social media are highlight reels. They show us the best points of someone’s day. It’s completely fine to be productive and get your stuff together, but it’s also okay if you have days where you don’t feel like doing anything at all.

Mikayla Tolliver is a second-year writing major who knows the value of some rest and relaxation. They can be reached at mtolliver@ithaca.edu.

Being the “G.O.A.T”

Society’s Pressure on Black Women Athletes // By Olivia Celenza, Contributing Writer

Picture this: You’re a young female athlete and the pinnacle of greatness within your field. You have spent your life dreaming of success and working to leave your mark. Where all your hard work, dedication and sacrifice will finally amount to something as you step onto the world’s greatest athletic stage. Throughout history, you’ve known the Olympics stand as a beacon of hope, uniting countries and cultures from all across our vivid mosaic of a globe through the celebration of completion and sporting, and you desperately want to be a part of it.

There is a suffocating amount of tension put on your shoulders to succeed. You MUST succeed. Failure is not an option as our society will praise you for your accomplishments yet chastise you for your shortcomings and failures. Not only must you be placed on a pedestal and treated as a machine, forced to continually perform at an unrealistically high level without regard to personal health or mental wellbeing, but you are also thrust into the spotlight, becoming the voice of the younger generations.

Millions of eyes watching you at every waking moment of your life, ready to scrutinize your every word and action, no matter how insignificant it may seem, all while being expected to represent your country, your people and your sport with infallible excellence. But no pressure, right?

Simone Biles. Over her extensive career, this powerhouse of a gymnast has twisted, vaulted and soared into America’s heart, becoming a household name and one of gymnastics’ most decorated Olympians. She began making a name for herself in 2013 where she won her first U.S all around title. Following her victory, Biles went on to compete at World Championships, where she has now claimed 25 medals, 19 of them gold, more than any other gymnast in history.

After asserting her dominance in the gymnastics world, Biles led the U.S. gymnast team to triumph at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and went on to win three more golds and a bronze. All the while being one of the hundreds of gymnasts assaulted by Larry Nassar, who's still on trial to this day.

With a growing collection of medals, world renown, and even namesake skills, the world was waiting in eager anticipation to see what the G.O.A.T was going to bring to the Tokyo Olympics. However, when Biles withdrew in the height of competition, due to emotional exhaustion that was hindering her ability to perform, the world collectively gasped, unable to comprehend the fact that a top athlete made the conscious choice to step away from the peak of an event, especially the Olympics.

And yet, in a way, it made perfect sense. Biles was saying “no” to the gargantuan pressures, both psychological and physically, that an event of such magnitude demands. In a variety of ways, she’s lucky. As a champion both on and off the floor, she has already proven her superior talents, supported by a lengthy history of accolades. She had the option of exit. But she wasn’t stepping down just because she could or “quitting” because things got hard. “There’s more to life than gymnastics,” Biles said to reporters after her withdraw as she placed mental health at the forefront of the conversation.

Of course while Biles normalized the topic, we cannot ignore

not ignore the ignition to her flame: the four time-Grand Slam Champion and a force to be reckoned with, both and off the tennis court. Born on October 16th, 1997, Naomi Osaka was introduced to the sport of tennis by her father, who was inspired by Serena and Venus Williams to make Naomi and her elder sister Mari Osaka to follow in their footsteps and become the next greats in the courts.

Fast forward to 2018, and with a few titles under her belt, Naomi took what appeared to be the most pivotal steps onto the tennis court as she came face to face with tennis’ most decorated and recognizable icon and personal hero Serena Williams. And while most would cower under the weight of the superstar and her insurmountable legacy, Naomi rose to the occasion, surpassing Serena in the upset of all upsets, becoming the first woman of Asian descent to win a major title.

However, when all was said and done, celebration didn’t seem to be in the cards for the young tennis star, who suffered from severe bouts of anxiety and depression surrounding media interviews. The next month, she then withdrew from Wimbledon, earning both praise and harsh criticism for taking personal time before competing in the Tokyo Olympics, where she would carry the honor of lighting the Olympic Torch and make it to the third round of competition.

To combat the “controversy”, Osaka wrote an essay for TIME and discussed the pressure she felt to cite mental health as her reason for withdrawing. "In any other line of work, you would be forgiven for taking a personal day here and there, so long as it's not habitual,” Osaka wrote. “You wouldn't have to divulge your most personal symptoms to your employer; there would likely be HR measures protecting at least some level of privacy. In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms — frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me. I do not wish that on anyone and hope that we can enact measures to protect athletes, especially the fragile ones."

In addition, Naomi has addressed the unrealistic expectations forced upon her to be the sole representative of the entire athletic mental health community.

“I feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson or face of athlete mental health as it's still so new to me and I don't have all the answers,” said Osaka. I do hope that people can relate and understand it's okay to not be okay, and it's okay to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel."

Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka he first and most likely not the last black female athletes who must continually push the narrative forward. The burdens placed on their shoulders is too great for a normal individual, let alone Olympic champions who have been pushing their limits from the moment they decided to embark on their athletic journey.

The “strong Black woman” archetype designates that Black women must be inhumanly resilient, independent and invulnerable. Because these women are strong, they’re also expected to never crumble under the unfathomable weight of the expectations set for them. So when they speak out and stand up for themselves, they’re perceived as problematic and polarizing figures disrupting sports culture. The sports industry has only even begun to recognize Black women athletes as leaders and symbols of resistance, and while this small step forwards is something to be celebrated, it is in no regards enough to rectify for their past actions of isolation and neglect.

They are living human beings not meant to exist for our entertainment. They are living, breathing human beings, who deserve a place at the table and to be treated with respect.

Olivia Celenza is a second-year exploratory major who loves watching the Olympics. She can be reached at ocelenza@ithaca.edu.

Reclaiming the Movement

The History of Body Positivity // By Sofia Nolfo, Contributing Writer

If you look under “#bodypositivity” on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, you will not see many fat people or people from marginalized communities spreading their messages. Instead, you will often see skinny white women posing in front of the mirror, quotes like “you are not fat, you have fat” on Canva templates, and videos telling you not to worry about the little pouch of fat on the bottom of your stomach because it’s “just your uterus.” To be clear, the insecurities of these women are entirely valid. Women live in a patriarchal society where we have been taught to hate our bodies no matter what they look like. However, the issue is they have taken over an entire internet movement that was created for the acceptance and liberation of fat people, although they are skinny women who benefit from thin privilege. This is the issue with the modern body positivity movement: the history has been erased, and the face of the movement is now people who do not need it to achieve equality in our society.

The body positivity movement has its roots in movements for fat liberation and acceptance, which have several different origins. One story goes that a man named Bill Fabrey was angered by how his wife, Joyce, was treated due to her size, so he started conversations about the unfair ways fat people were treated by society. He then went on to form the

form the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). Others believe the movement began with secondwave feminists in California who sought to spread awareness about the mistreatment of fat people. They pushed for fat liberation rather than acceptance. Black women were especially important voices in the early days of this movement, and activists such as Johnnie Tillmon and Margaret K. Bass spoke up about the intersectional discrimination they faced as fat black women. Regardless of who started the movement or where it began, it initially was a movement for radical acceptance and liberation of fat people. These activists wanted fair treatment of all people regardless of body size, and were not afraid to be loud and controversial to get what they wanted.

The introduction of social media in the 2000s gave a new platform to fat activist groups. Although many negative messages about bodies spread through internet forums and online news, it also gave a platform to fat activist groups. Communities of women of color sprung up on platforms such as Tumblr and Facebook during this time where users could share their experiences as fat women of color. It was an incredibly supportive and positive space. Things looked good for this movement on social media, at least until the rise of influencer culture that began around 2012. More people, including those who the fat liberation and acceptance movements were not aimed at helping, began to see the term “body positivity” thrown around now that the whole world had access to it. The movement began to shift. Quickly what had once been a radical movement to support marginalized bodies turned into a watered down movement of self-love and blind positivity, and the consequences have been huge for the original movement.

TikTok has specifically been a very strange place for the body positivity movement. There have been lots of trends on the app that claim to promote body positivity. However, these trends often have underlying fatphobia, or just miss the mark entirely. These trends are also often taken up by thin white women trying to prove to themselves that they are actually skinny. Danielle Pragdat, a 19-year-old college student from New Jersey spoke to me about issues she sees on social media regarding body positivity. She says she has been affected negatively by content surrounding bodies on the internet, and sees many issues with how the body positivity movement has been taken over by thin white women trying to create “relatable” content for their audience.

“There’s people who take pictures of themselves posing a certain way and making it seem like that’s ‘their normal self,.’” Pragdat says.

There have also been several trends where people post their exact weights to promote “normalizing” being at the weight they are at, even though people who have suffered from eating disorders have made it very clear that behavior can be triggering for them. When thin creators on TikTok and other platforms get called out for their actions, they often get defensive, saying “skinny people can have insecurities too!” and “it’s always body positivity until it’s for a thin person.” These reactions show a complete misunderstanding of the movement and show how watered down it has become. Again, anyone is allowed to have insecurities and vent about them, but when they do it under the guise of body positivity and perpetuate fatphobia while doing it, that is when it becomes a problem. It’s inaccurate to pretend that they are the ones being mistreated for their content while fat creators on the app get brutalized every day. When fat creators try to post about loving themselves, or what they eat in a day, their comment section is full of people trying to give them health advice or claim they are “promoting obesity.”

As much as social media has done to detriment the original movement, there are some benefits from the introduction of body positivity to social media. Danielle tells me that although in the past her social media feeds used to be full of people who would make her feel bad about her body, she now tries to only follow social media creators with real body positive messages.

“I want to educate myself to be part of the change”, she tells me. Even though algorithms tend to push white, thin creators, there are diverse communities having important, nuanced conversations about body positivity and introducing the idea of body neutrality. There are people doing the real work out there. There is a long way to go to get to a perfect place in the online body positivity community, and the only way to get there is to return the spotlight to those who started the movement.

Sofia Nolfo is a second-year CMD major who wants everyone to know that #bodypositivity is more than a social media trend. They can be reached at snolfo@ithaca.edu.

Is This Still In?

Social Media and Misogyny Drive the Trend Industry // By Erin Terada, Staff Writer

VSCO girl, Alt-girl, coconut girl, girlboss—all these style trends have circulated through social media and into the closets of Gen-Z girls. It is almost as if we cannot keep up with the trends and how fast they go in and out. As trends have risen and fallen, we are able to see that these trends are more than just clothes, but also raise questions about the ethicality of the fashion industry and how misogyny may contribute to the cycle.

Fashion trends have always been around throughout the decades. Each decade has several iconic trends that define that moment in fashion history. However, it seems that as fashion has circulated widely through the internet and social media, these trends become more amplified and therefore trend cycles move a lot faster than ever. Clothing brands have taken advantage of trending subcultures and styles, and begun to knowingly utilize numerous micro-influencers by sending them PR clothing packages in exchange for a post to be made. You may have seen women on Instagram promoting clothing from Fashion Nova, or women on Tik Tok promoting Princess Polly or Motel Rocks. This is in hopes that as the audience (potential consumers) scrolls through their social media feeds, they repeatedly see the same clothing pieces, making them think that these are currently trending pieces. These brands produce clothing that fit in with the current trending aesthetics, whether it be VSCO girls in 2019, or coconut girls of summer 2021.

A lot of popular clothing pieces we see throughout the seasons are considered micro-trends because many of these are not timeless pieces that can be worn into the next season. Timeless pieces are clothing pieces that are considered classic items that can be worn throughout any year and are implemented as staple’s in one’s wardrobe. Everyone’s opinion of a timeless piece is different, but some examples include a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, a little black dress, etc. Essentially, they are clothing pieces that have survived the trend cycle and are considered staples to one’s wardrobe. In contrast, microtrends often go out of style within the season. Because micro-trends are rapidly coming and going, this has fueled the fast fashion industry like never before by driving the production of new clothing styles faster.

Ithaca College senior Makayla Carozzolo is a journalism student who has researched the impacts of fast fashion and the current trend cycle and became conscious of how it influenced the industry and her own consumer habits.

“I’ve always bought things that I personally like and I refuse to buy things unless I love it,” said Carozzolo. “I definitely notice advertizing that push certain styles but if I don’t give into microtrends if I don’t love them.”

The fascinating thing about this generation’s fashion trends is that many of them coincide with different viral youth subcultures. As expected in this generation, many of these subcultures are influenced by social media and young people often strive to achieve a certain aesthetic of their liking. The variety of subcultures seem to come and go as the fashion trends do, but there seems to be another invisible force influencing the cycle even further—internalized misogyny.

We often witness an interesting phenomenon both online and in real life of hating and making fun of things teenage girls and young women like. In many cases, many of the perpetrators are women and girls themselves. When a trend is over popularized, it is then somehow considered out of style and “basic”, which pressures consumers into buying new clothes that are considered currently in style. The pressure to keep up with these trends and aesthetics are not only put on influencers who showcase them, but also to consumers as well. An influencer who is sponsored and has partnerships with clothing brands may be able to keep up easily because they are being sent free clothes, but this isn’t viable to many young women who are on a budget, even if they are buying from cheap fast fashion brands.

Philosopher Kate Manne, who is a professor at Cornell University, wrote in the Boston Review of the different types of misogyny that manifests in the political climate that we have today. Manne says that women can display misogynistic behaviors without being self-hating, which is a common misconception of women who have tendencies of internalized misogyny.

“But women may also be prone to police other women’s bodies and behavior, elevating themselves in the terms of patriarchal values or signaling their loyalty to patriarchal figures.” Manne wrote.

We see this type of policing especially on social media regarding style trends and fashion. Women and girls are put down by both men and women for being “basic”, or adhering to mainstream trends, products, and music. “Whoever the enforcers are, women who transgress are liable to be punished for any number of spurious reasons,” Manne wrote. “Or they may simply be subject to crude insults, mockery, and derision.”

The case of the VSCO girl trend is the prime example of how a style trend rose and fell due to the trend cycle and misogyny. Countless articles, YouTube videos, and posts on social media mocked girls who dressed like VSCO girls and bought products that were popularized by the trend. Another internet-popularized term for someone who displays internalized misogyny is the “pick-me” girl. The “pick-me” girl puts down other girls for the things they do and like for male validation, showing that they are “not like other girls.”

This behavior is not only harmful to young women and their self-esteem, but also to the environment because of how this misogyny contributes to fueling the fast fashion industry. Overconsumption of clothing was always an environmental issue, but has been put in the spotlight in recent years due to social media. Brands like Shein that sell microtrend pieces for a cheap and affordable price are often subjects of haul videos, videos where someone shows off what they’ve bought. Large

Shein hauls are attainable to both influencers and young consumers, promoting overconsumption even more.

Is there a way to end the cycle? Some say that until sustainable fashion is accessible to all, it is not right to demonize consumers of fast-fashion and microtrends. A better way to promote ethical fashion is to educate consumers about the harms of overconsumption and encourage buying and wearing timeless pieces that they can wear for years throughout multiple seasons. There is nothing wrong with following trends, but when mounds of clothing are being worn once and thrown away, it is a huge environmental issue. Carozollo said one way she keeps her shopping in check is by evaluating whether she’d wear a piece multiple times.

“I ask myself, ‘can I wear it hanging out with my friends, going to school, and going out?’” said Carozzolo. “If I can do that, then I know a piece is worth it.”

Another way to slow the pace of the cycle would be to stop policing women for their clothing choices when their personal style isn’t considered trendy or up-to-date. Without the pressure to constantly keep up with trends, this will allow individuals to find their own personal style that they might’ve not discovered yet, or to stick to an aesthetic that they love without ever feeling like it may go out of style.

Without having the pressure to conform, this would minimize the misogyny that also contributes to the trend cycle, which benefits both young consumer wallets and their personal wellbeing. It is becoming harder to keep up with fashion and style trends, and once this consumer mindset shift occurs, it is possible that fashion will be more inclusive and diverse.

Erin Terada is a senior journalism major that is tired of fast fashion. They can be reached at eterada@ithaca.edu.

Digital Age Women

Art By Carolyn Langer

Growing Up as a Woman Socialized on the Internet // By Brooke Willer, Contributing Writer

Content Warning: This piece contains discussions of eating disorders. If you are someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, there are resources to help.

National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA): https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org NEDA Help Line: 1-800-931-2237 The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness: https://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com

Before the internet, social spheres were limited to local communities. Through global networks and spread of communication, the need for proximity to exchange ideas has become essentially extinct. Humankind is now almost entirely connected, and with this comes a type of gender socialization never seen before. Socialization of the body, learning what appearances are acceptable and what gets you the most attention, is amplified on the internet.

Different ideas of what kind of woman is most “acceptable” in society promotes insecurity in the natural bodies. Encouragement and sexualization of the “mature looking woman,” is advertised by several social media influencers, which is mainly destructive to young women and girls. The opposite is true for the health and beauty standard in media which is commonly portrayed as thin and petite, promoting a “youthful” appearance. Other forms of media such as music, particularly by men, foster female standards and commodified depictions of women in their songs. The ideal woman is thick but not fat, idealistic but not realistic. It creates an endless chase, an endless competition for perfection. However, social media functions specifically to create the illusion that perfection is attainable. Reinforced by the media, the goal always stays moving. “They make it look so easy to be popular and loved online,” says one 19-year-old student. “I guess that’s what makes perfection seem attainable, but the goal really is always moving. I’m always stuck comparing myself to others online because social media is literally endless. I can scroll forever and repeatedly feel the same thing. I don’t know why I do it to myself, does anyone?” Social media provides a platform for young women to constantly seek out their desires, whether it be conscious or not. Thinspiration, otherwise known as thinspo, holds its grip on social media and has done so successfully for years. The popularity of pro-eating disorder content emerged on platforms such as Tumblr, with dangerous hashtags, tips and tricks, easily becoming a tutorial for young women. It can also be seen on YouTube, with former influencers such as Eugenia Cooney and Dr. Dray promoting pro-anorexia content to millions of subscribers. Comments under eating videos, such as those by muckbang YouTuber ‘Nickado Avocado’ contain comments essential to upholding the eating disorder culture on the internet, concerning content gone ignored by YouTube for years. The competitive nature of eating disorders is enhanced by comment sections such as those on YouTube and TikTok, which further cultivates a dangerous world. Eating disorders are a communicable coping mechanism and the social media monolith gives it an outlet. The terms of service online will completely ignore harmful rhetoric as long as it plays a r ole in increasing profit margin.Tumblr and YouTube’s dangerous content has made way for TikTok. Video content of exercise routines and ‘what I eat in a day’ intensifies the existing problems surrounding body image. A young woman already suffering from dysmorphic self image previously instilled by

parents, peers, brands and advertising industries, is immensely susceptible to the toxic sub cultures present on TikTok. New York Times statistics show that, “In June 2019, nearly half of the daily users in the United States were estimated to be 14 or younger.” It doesn’t take a computer science major for even younger kids to click a few boxes to verify their age. “I got all my socials when I was 12 or 13 I think, and I would say the youngest I’ve seen is about 6-8 year old primarily on tiktok,” says a student.

Others say they’ve seen literal babies. Susan Ice reports, “The incidence of eating disorders has doubled since the 1960s and is increasing in younger age groups, in children as young as seven. Forty percent of 9-year-old girls have dieted and even 5-year-olds are concerned about diet,” as noted in the American Psychological Associations article on rising eating disorders due to youth presence on the internet.

Along with concepts online such as thinspo and pro-ana content is a trend called “body checking.” One student defines body checking as “lifestyle influencers who like, preach healthy living and being “real,” but like they make these TikTok videos posing so that they look skinnier or so that you can’t see bloating.”

“It’s really normalized on TikTok and I find myself doing it a lot more now because of TikTok,” another student says. “I love TikTok. I go on it when I need to decompress and find some sort of comedic relief. There’s some funny shit on there and I feel like it gives me a community I’ve never had in real life. It sucks sometimes though, when I’m laughing at one video and then I scroll and suddenly my brain just overflows with self-hating rhetoric because of someone else’s body. It’s not fair because I know the person on my for you page is not responsible for my self image. They aren’t even responsible for it though, it’s all part of one system that is designed to screw us up.”

Though there are debates about topics like body positivity, and if the term “body checking,” is really a thing, most people would agree that social media plays a vital role in eating disorder culture among young women. The effects of growing up socialized on the internet are showing, both online and in present spaces all around. It may be possible for social media and in particular for social media users to cultivate a space of complete body neutrality, but until that day the real dangers will continue to present themselves to continuously younger generations.

Brooke Willer is a first-year exploratory major who is ready to shift the landscape of social media. They can be reached at bwiller@ithaca.edu