THE IDEA OF BEAUTY IN SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT

AMONG ILONGGAS

A Research Proposal

Presented to

the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences

West Visayas State University

La Paz, Iloilo City

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts in

English Language Studies

January 2022
 Chapter 1

Introduction to the Study

Chapter One consists of five parts: (1) Background and Theoretical framework of the

Study, (2) Statement of the Problem, (3) Significance of the Study, (4) Definition of Terms, and

(5) Delimitation of the Study.

Part One, Background of the Study, presents the overview of the study, the reasons for

conducting this study and the literary theories upon which this study is anchored.

Part Two, Statement of the Problem, presents the general problem and the specific

questions that this study will answer.

Part Three, Significance of the Study, enumerates the persons who may benefit from the

findings of the study and explains its benefits.

Part Four, Definition of Terms, presents the conceptual and operational meanings of

important terms used in the study.

Part Five, Delimitation of the Study, presents the scope and coverage of this study.

Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study

Social media refers to websites and applications that allow users to share content or

take part in social networking. Smartphones, tablets, computers, and robots are just a few of

the technological advances that have emerged in recent years. Due to the advent of many

social programs available at the push of a button, communication has become easier and faster.

While it's true that social media has connected people around the world, it is also used to define

beauty standards for men, women, and the third gender as well.
 Modern beauty standards are influenced by a variety of reasons that include both

women and men trying out different styles in order to be socially accepted. It's no secret that

social media plays an important role in millennials' purchase decisions (Likhareva & Kulpin,

2018). Most millennials pertaining to 72%, buy beauty products based on what they see on

Instagram and other social media sites. To embellish or alter one's appearance either artistically

or to mask defects, makeup involves applying cosmetic items. A recent study by Jang-Soon and

Hye-Jin (2017) looked at the cosmetic preferences of 240 young guys. Their social success was

attributed in part to their beauty, according to the results. It is possible that these practices will

lead to body dissatisfaction, body alteration, and low self-esteem difficulties. Adolescent eating

disorders are linked to unrealistic representations of feminists, beauty, and success, as well as

body dissatisfaction in the media (Hesse-Biber et al., 2006). There are also surgery simulation

apps, as well as esthetic benchmarking applications, which let people imagine how they would

look after various modifications such as teeth whitening, eye bag removal, and whether the

individual looks old or young (Elias AS, Gill R, Scharff C., 2017).

A person's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health is impacted by social media

today more than ever. Men and women's beauty choices are influenced by the media's frequent

portrayal of ideal beauty and body image comparisons. In addition to fostering lean body

patterns, social media has had a substantial impact on perceptual, affective, cognitive, and

behavioral elements of body image through distributing anti-obesity messages. When an

individual has eating disorders, there is a skewed relationship between their eating behavior,

and their body form. Self-esteem and body dissatisfaction in adolescents are established

indicators of eating disorders since adolescence is a critical period for positive and negative

body image development. Persistent pursuit of perfect thinness can lead to negative feelings

that can lead to changes in eating habits, increasing the risk of weight difficulties and bulimia
and related illnesses. Women who are thin are portrayed in the media as more beautiful and

successful than women who are overweight.

Individuals' positive ideas and attitudes can be influenced by social networking sites

such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others (Perloff RM, 2014). Many people have a

"sense of belonging" after using the internet site. On social media portals, people are infatuated

with pictures of aesthetic bodies that aren't their own. On Instagram and Facebook, there are

many examples of people who have worked hard to improve beauty standards through sheer

devotion and hard work, whether it's through exercising and eating properly, or establishing

self-esteem and body acceptance through support groups and networks found on the web.

Blocking body shamers can help men and women around the world feel more confident.

Inspiring others to never give up and take charge of their lives by promoting weight-loss films.

People of diverse races, genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations are now included in social

media, making it easier to break down preconceptions and form supportive groups.

Because physical and mental health are inextricably linked, beauty is concerned with

both. Short-term decisions to change one's face and body form, regardless of genetic,

environmental, occupational, or dietary requirements, can have medium- and long-term

consequences.

The goal of this study is to examine the impact of social media on perceptions of

beauty standards, as well as more unrealistic trends gaining popularity that could change beliefs

and harm individuals in the long run. This is a developing area of research that is critical to the

factors affecting the idea of beauty, most specially among Ilonggas. Within this research is a

summarized literature on how social media influences aesthetic trends, body image and self-

esteem concerns. To a better exploration of this study, phenomenology is employed to

understand human experience as stated by (Moustakas, 1994). A principle identified by

(Husserl, 1931) Epoche is Bracketing in this type of research. It is described as a process

where it blocks biases and assumptions to explain a phenomenon not implicating its inherent

system of meaning. Thus, mitigates the potential preconceptions that may taint the process.

This study will use Transcendental Phenomenology to get a fresher data as (Sheehan, 2014)

noted, epoche is a conscious process of identification of naturally occurring thought patterns. It

is through epoche that one becomes able to perceive and receive that which is communicated

without tainting its purity with preconceived beliefs, thoughts, or judgments (Moustakas, 1994).

The transcendental is revealed primarily as “lived” experience (Walsh, 1988).

This study will employ Functional Approach/ Operational Theory, a theory of

Semantics, to assess the multiple meaning behind the in-depth interview gathered data. As this

study will be analyzed by Moustakas’ process of Transcendental Phenomenology: 1.) Ephoche,

2.) Phenomenological Reduction, 3.) Imaginative Variation, 4.) Synthesis of Meanings and

Essences, Semantics would play a significant role in understanding ‘meanings’ in the uttered

responses of the participants. Functional Approach takes ‘speech’ as it actually occurred, words

are considered as tools to identify the relationship between a linguistic item or pattern.

Statement of the problem

This study aims to analyze the idea of beauty in social media and as experienced by
Ilongga women which will be explored using Transcendental Phenomenology.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the beauty standards of today’s generation?

2. How do comments in the social media on beauty standards affect the confidence of the

person?

3. How does the idea of beauty as reflected in the social media improve one’s self-esteem?
 4. Do these beauty standards as seen in the social media result to people-pleasing?

Significance of the study

This study is beneficial to the people who are inquisitive in this field and gathers

embedded information that this study may provide into.

Furthermore, results of this investigation could be highly significant and beneficial to the
following:

Students. This study could serve an insight to the current generation’s view about the

proliferation of the social media’s influence. This could also help them equip their minds to

better understand the current social issue that is happening and may supplement a better

engagement to their own personal social media accounts.

Teachers. Data given will provide the teachers with information on how the social

media effects the women’s idea of beauty. This will help the teachers to initiate collaboration

among faculty and chairpersons to help plan the advancement of education in relation to the

social media and the behavior of students.

Parents. The results will enable the parents to be aware of what is happening in the

social media where their guidance could also uplift their children.

WVSU. This study will supplement a beneficial analysis and data in regarding to the

issue about the beauty standards this generation have.

Future researchers. This study will serve as reference for researchers who want to

study about the idea of beauty through verbal expression among Ilonggas. This will serve as a

guide to further develop the research with the connection to the variables used.

Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstandings, important terms are conceptually and operationally

clarified in this section.

 Beauty-- Beauty is a mental quality that only exists in the mind that contemplates it,

and each mind sees it differently. One individual may see ugliness while another sees beauty,

and each person should accept his or her own emotions without pretending to be able to

influence the feelings of others. (Hume, 1757).

In this study, beauty refers to the human qualities of a person which makes them

attractive and likeable, specifically the views of women in their idea of beauty.

Feminine Beauty Ideal-- is "the socially created idea that physical appearance is one

of a woman's most valuable attributes, and that all women should try to acquire and preserve

it." (Spade, 2010). Feminine beauty ideals are based on heteronormative views and have a

strong influence on women of all sexual orientations. From culture to culture, the ideal of

feminine beauty, which includes female body shape, differs. (Shaw, et. al. n.d.).

In this study, it refers to perception of women specifically the subjective view of the

respondents about their ideal standard in beauty.

Self-confidence-- Self-assurance in one's personal judgment, ability, power, and so on

is frequently referred to as self-confidence. Experiences of successfully completing particular

activities boost one's self-confidence. (Snyder, et. al. 2009). Self-confidence is not the same as

self-esteem, which is an assessment of one's own worth, but self-confidence is more explicitly a

belief in one's ability to achieve a goal, which according to one meta-analysis is comparable to

self-efficacy generalization. (Judge, et. al. 2002).

In this study, it refers to the self-confidence of the participants in accordance with the

effect of social media in relation to the way they portray themselves.

Social Media-- are defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the

ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange

of user-generated content” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).

 In this study, it refers to the subjected social media platforms where participants will be

taken from, where it would vary to the number of their followers.

Transcendental Phenomenology-- is a philosophical approach to qualitative research

methodology that seeks to understand human experience and was mostly developed by

Husserl. (Moustakas, 1994). It is based on the idea of putting aside any preconceived ideas

(epoche) in order to observe phenomena through clear lenses, allowing the true meaning of

phenomena to emerge organically with and within their own individuality. (Moustakas, 1994).

Delimitation of the study

This study will gather data from Ilonggas, living in the Province of Iloilo. Employing

convenience sampling, there will be a total of 5 respondents where one participant will be

chosen from each five district of the province.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

SOCIAL MEDIA BEAUTY EXPOSURES

Through digital devices, social media is used to facilitate communication and interaction

between people in the same country or throughout the world; it has connected

civilizations that are immensely diverse. Due to the enormous increase in mobile phone

ownership, it is gaining popularity. With almost five billion people owning a mobile

phone, two-thirds of the world's population currently has one (Garst, Kim, 2019).

Researchers have become interested in studying the effects of social media since it has

become so ubiquitous and popular (O'Keeffe GS, 2011) (Liu R-D, 2013). In this

research, we look at how it affects one's body image. The purpose of this paper is to

demonstrate that the primary use or purpose of social media is to share personal

information, comments, images, and videos. This result reveals that the majority of

people choose to share their images with the public. We shall back up this conclusion

with information from government agencies and a survey of Lebanese women who are

predominantly single. Then, using references to studies on the development of

personality traits, we will explain how adolescent experiences influence adulthood,

concluding that adolescent girls will follow the beauty standards of social media when

they become adults.

A Sociocultural Framework to Beauty Ideals and Their Media Representations

Body dissatisfaction is described as "a person's negative thoughts and feelings about

his or her body" (Grogan, 2008, p.03), whereas body image is defined as "a person's
perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about his or her body" (Grogan, 2008, p.03)

(Grogan, 2008, p.04). Body image refers to the entire body, as well as specific body

parts, body size, weight, and height. It also includes aspects that aren't well-studied,

such as skin color, hair type, facial type, and facial traits, to name a few. Body image

dissatisfaction (BID) refers to a person's self-perceived negative judgment of their own

body in comparison to what they view to be the idealized body (Cash and Szymanski,

1995; cited in Grogan, 2013, p.04). It refers to a person's desires for body qualities that

differ from how they now view their own, resulting in negative consequences such as

unhappiness with their own appearance (Paxton & Wertheim, 2011, p.76). Rather than

each individual, BID "lies in the communal context" (McKinley, 2011, p.53). To fully

comprehend the media's impact on body image dissatisfaction, not only among

adolescents, but also in general, it is necessary to first examine how beauty ideals are

produced and disseminated, the logic of these messages, and finally, the reasons and

ideologies that underpin them. This project's theoretical foundation is the sociocultural

framework, which states that beauty idealizations and pressure to adhere to them are

built and propagated across generations through culture. To put it another way, beauty

ideals are not only part of culture values, but they are also formed by society, sustained,

and transmitted through culture. Individuals may absorb these ideas, which may have

an impact on their contentment with their own appearance.

Influence of the Media

There are many different types of media available all around the world. The usage of

the media is very prevalent in Philippine society. Almost everywhere Ilonngas go, they

are bombarded with images of gorgeous individuals, pricey must-haves, and the latest
trend. The most effective approach to disseminate these images that symbolize

sociocultural ideas is through the mass media (Tiggemann, 2003). Society's concept of

beauty and attractiveness is one of the most significant notions promoted through the

media. Everywhere you look, you'll see an ultra-thin attractive woman and a lovely

strong man. As the media's power grows, the pressure to adhere to these standards

grows as well. Women are finding it increasingly difficult to live up to the media's

portrayal of female attractiveness. According to Hawkins et al. (2004), the majority of

women portrayed in the media are 15 percent under the average weight of women, and

there is evidence that these women have gotten thinner over time. Women are not just

pressured to be slender due to the beauty standard, but positive characteristics are also

linked to this attractiveness ideal (Greenberg & Worrell, 2005). The media places

pressure on both men and women to adhere to society's appearance ideal. Men, unlike

women, are encouraged to be muscular rather than slender. Men's concerns about

muscularity have been proven to increase as a result of media exposure, and they feel

compelled to become more muscular (Botta, 2003; Hatoum, & Belle, 2004). The media

frequently presents powerful, attractive men as being popular and attracting attractive

women. Both men and women are subjected to society's demands that they comply to

certain appearance norms.

Internalization of Sociocultural Ideals

When sociocultural standards, such as the thin-ideal, are internalized, they become the

most powerful. Accepting or agreeing with social standards of beauty is known as

internalization of sociocultural ideas of attractiveness. These ideals can sometimes be

assimilated without one realizing it. Because the media plays such an important role in
disseminating society's ideas, it's no surprise that increasing media consumption leads

to increased internalization of the thin-ideal (e.g., Miller & Halberstadt, 2005;

Tiggemann, 2003). Once that ideal is internalized, it affects how a person views their

body and how they compare their body to society's standards. The thin-ideal, however,

does not affect everyone. Because some people do not internalize this ideal, media

exposure has a lesser impact on them. According to Posavac, Posavac, and Posavac

(1998), there are two reasons why the media does not have as much influence on some

people. They imply that (a) their bodies are similar to those of media models, or (b)

physical appearance is less important to them because they are confident in their skills

and abilities. Even though some men and women are unaffected by the thin-ideal, many

others are, and their self-esteem might be a strong indicator of how much the thin-ideal

affects their lives.

Body Satisfaction and Self-Esteem

Body satisfaction has also been linked to self-esteem. When one is low, the other is

usually low as well. The way a person feels about his or her physique is a big element

of how they feel about themselves. Many people in today's culture are dissatisfied with

their physical appearance. Researchers have discovered that as self-esteem declines,

so does body dissatisfaction (Bessenoff, 2006; Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006; Hawkins et

al., 2004). Given the link between self-esteem and body satisfaction, it's no surprise that

the media has a similar impact on body satisfaction as it does on self-esteem.

According to Watson and Vaughn (2006), the huge level of body dissatisfaction reported

in many people, especially women, is due to sociocultural pressures to comply to the

ideal body image, which is reinforced by the media. Exposure to media can not only
promote body dissatisfaction, but it can also lead to a greater willingness to expose

oneself to media that feeds that dissatisfaction (Aubrey, 2006). How an individual

compares themselves to such media representations has an impact on body

dissatisfaction and self-esteem.

Chapter 3

Research Design and Methodology

This chapter is composed of two (2) parts: (1) Research Design, and (2) Methodology.

Part One, Research Design, describes the research design employed in this study.

Part Two, Methodology, describes the participants of this study, the data gathering

instruments employed and the processes and procedures for data analysis.

Research design

This study will employ qualitative design. According to (Leavy, 2014) Qualitative

research is generally characterized by inductive approaches to knowledge building aimed at

generating meaning. Furthermore, this approach robustly investigates and learn about social

phenomenon; to unpack the meanings people ascribe; to build a depth of understanding about

some dimension of social life. This is especially appropriate to gather relevant data for the focus

of this study which are the subjective experiences of the participants. As (Leavy, 2017) states,

the values of qualitative design include the importance of people’s subjective experience and

meaning making processes.

According to (Moustaka, 1994), Qualitative research design focuses on the wholeness of

experience and a search for essences of experiences.

 The study will use Transcendental Phenomenology where it describes the experiences;

less focused on the interpretation to take fresh perspective under examination. According to

(Moustakas, 1994) ‘Transcendental’ means “in which everything is perceived freshly, as if for

the first time”. Moustakas’ Transcendental methodology provides a systematic approach to

analyzing data about lived experiences. It allows researchers to develop an objective “essence”

through aggregating subjective experiences of a number of individuals (Moerer-Urdahl &

Creswell, 2004). This would allow the study to meet necessary data it seeks to provide.

Methodology

To gather the significant data needed for this study, respondents will be identified,

research instruments will be constructed to assemble the textual description, and procedures

will be observed.

Participants

Convenience sampling will be utilized to determine the participants of this study which

are young adult Ilonggas who will be taken from every five district of the province of Iloilo, with

a total of five respondents.

Research Instruments
To further gain essential aspects to the lived experience of the participants, the study

will use in-depth interview through audio call. The guide questions include the following: (1)

How do you perceive the idea of beauty as a woman? What you do you think are the

characteristics that you must possess to be beautiful. (2) Are you affected by the reactions and

comments of people on your photos? What is your take about this? (3) How do you believe that

your idea of beauty motivates you and boost your self-esteem despite the beauty standards as

portrayed on social media? (4) Do you feel obligated to change for what the social media

thinks? What are your thoughts about this?

Data Gathering Procedures

This study follows the procedures illustrated by Moustakas (1994).

Figure 1

Research Data Gathering Procedure

Identify the phenomena

Collect data from the respondents through

in-depth interview

Subjecting the responses to Transcendental

Phenomenology

Assemble the textual description

Assess the transcripts

Analyze the data

Draw conclusions
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