”INGEN VILL JU HA EN SHORT GUY”. En kvalitativ intervjustudie om hur unga män uppfattar och upplever sig påverkas av utseendenormer på Instagram

Abstract

Throughout history, beauty ideals have existed as a societal construct, but the recent phenomenon lies in the rapid and widespread dissemination of these ideals through social media. Platforms like Instagram encourage user interaction, fostering a specific type of content. The openness of these platforms allows users to react through likes and comments, creating an environment that promotes certain appearance and beauty standards. However, this openness also has the potential to celebrate diversity and serve as a platform for positive change. From a societal perspective, appearance ideals on social media contribute to a larger societal issue where beauty often outweighs other qualities. With a record 4.59 billion social media users worldwide by the end of 2022, platforms like Instagram, the third largest globally, play a significant role in shaping how people perceive their bodies. Analyzing how social media users perceive and are influenced by appearance ideals becomes crucial for media and communication research, given the substantial impact of these platforms. Interestingly, more men than women use Instagram, challenging previous research focused on women. Existing studies highlight that the thin ideal is predominantly sought after by women on social media, contributing to body dissatisfaction and an increased risk of eating disorders. Despite limited research on men's perceptions of appearance ideals, the significant number of male users necessitates explicit research questions to understand how young men perceive and are affected by appearance ideals on social media, addressing a relevant research gap. Therefore, the purpose of the essay is to examine how young men perceive the prevailing beauty standards on social media, specifically on the platform Instagram. Additionally, the aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how young men experience the impact of these beauty standards highlighted on Instagram. We employed qualitative interview studies using focus groups to achieve our objectives and address our research questions. Our study adopted a theory-building design with an inductive approach. This methodology allowed us to develop already existing theories based on the collected data. Through the results we obtained from our focus groups we discovered that young men perceive beauty standards both in society and on Instagram. Young men are both concerned about their own appearance and how others perceive them. These beauty standards are most prevalent on Instagram, expressed through fitness-related posts and content promoting a specific lifestyle. This indicates an interconnectedness between appearance and lifestyle ideals. The study's results also demonstrated that the young men in the focus groups experienced that they were affected by these beauty ideals on Instagram, with the impact being both positive and negative. Some participants felt motivated by the ideals, while others found it challenging and difficult to attain. Based on our results, we analyzed the respondents’ answers and connected them to previous research as well as our three theories: masculinity research, hegemonic masculinity Connell, 1996) and male role models (Anderson, 2002). During the analysis we also brought in our own thoughts and ideas. The study concludes that young men are aware of appearance ideals in both society and on Instagram, depicting a stereotypical image consistently identified by respondents. Notably, our findings reveal an interesting observation: appearance ideals on Instagram extend beyond fitness-related posts to include lifestyle-related content, highlighting the interconnectedness of appearance and lifestyle ideals. The study suggests that societal pressures and self-perception influence young men's desire to conform to these standards. Surprisingly, respondents noted a decrease in societal pressure over time, which makes us wonder if the potential influence of beauty standards is bigger on even younger men than our study examines. Despite assumptions about physical activity influencing a concern for appearance, the study found varied attitudes among the participants. Notably, less confident individuals tended to be more concerned about appearance, challenging assumptions tied to hegemonic masculinity. Our study complements the previous research that primarily focuses on women, as it shows that even young men experience the influence of beauty ideals on social media. Some respondents even reported a positive effect because they see these ideals as motivation for self-improvement meanwhile the previous research only showed a negative effect by beauty standards on social media. Overall, the study contributes valuable insights into how appearance ideals manifest on social media for young men, challenging previous gender-centric assumptions in the research landscape