Popular television personality Melissa Doyle understands how toxic unachievable beauty standards portrayed on social media can be for young girls and boys.
Speaking with Now To Love at the Dove #DetoxYourFeed event, Melissa reveals she has been very honest about the glamorous illusions on photoshoots with her children Natalia and Nick.
Dove talked about toxic social media standards.
(Image: Instagram)“I’ve always tried to be really open, because I’m lucky, I work in the media so I do a photoshoot and I would always show the kids what was involved,” she began.
“I’d show them the beautiful edited glossy cover and then I’d show them the happy snaps on my phone and what it really looked like.”
The kids have also seen it first hand in their home as Melissa “puts on [her] face”, gets her hair done and selects the perfect outfit with the help of professionals. People social media too often portrays an image of perfection either for vanity or to be trendy.
Social media can be extremely toxic on a young woman’s health and perception of themselves.
(Image: Instagram)“We all want to have good images and there’s nothing wrong with it, but just understand what’s real and what’s [not],” she said.
“That’s not just someone jumping out of bed and facing the day and it’s not always necessarily natural.”
According to research from the Dove Self-Esteem Project, 52 per cent of young girls constantly check how they look in photos and wished they looked better and 48 per cent said they often wished they looked like someone else.
Navigating the social media minefield can be extremely difficult for parents with impressionable children. Melissa suggested to those with children on social media outlets, including TikTok or Instagram, unfollow accounts that don’t inspire or make the child feel worse about themselves.
“It’s about making sure that young girls know the difference between what is real and what is fake. And I think the thing I like the most about this campaign is its actually practical,” she said.
“There’s steps that parents can take or caregivers or friends or whoever the person is that’s having this conversation.”
Melissa’s children are growing up fast, but Melissa has begun loving their “evolving relationship” and different conversations.
However, Melissa still tells her daughter to “clean her room.”
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