Is Instagram emerging as a site for self-objectification of women? A systematic literature review

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of almost everyone's lives, blurring the lines between its users to some extent on the basis of age, place of residence and occupation. Gender inequality as a barrier too to some extent has also been overcome through the use of social media, particularly in terms of accessibility and use of technology among women. Hence, it becomes pertinent to understand how women are using social media as it allows them to read or watch content as well as enable them to produce content. The present study conducted a systematic review of literature using the keywords, Instagram, women and self-objectification following PRISMA guidelines. Instagram was studied as it has emerged as the most popular image based social networking sites, while women and self-objectification were chosen as mass media so far has presented stereotypical images of women. This review of existing literature shows that using Instagram can lead to body dissatisfaction, body surveillance, drive for thinness, low self-esteem and life satisfaction, and increased level of anxiety and depression in women. Hence, programs on media literacy need to be initiated to increase awareness of latent effects of media among users of media, particularly of social networking sites. More nuanced studies on self-objectification by women who use social media should be conducted in every part of the world, especially in the Global South.