BEYOND THE LOOKING GLASS

An exploration of the damaging effects the constant, distorted gaze on bodies through social media can have.

We have learned to brand ourselves by sharing a ceaseless scroll of our own image, and we have come to crave public validation of our appearance. At the same time, we have never had more access to the images of others, images that likely have been staged, edited, or even faked. And this leads to damaging levels of social comparison.
Never have we stared so constantly, so steadily at our own images. Since the age of social media, many of us have lived in a selfie-centric world, and the weight of the communal gaze has increased exponentially. Especially for young people, and among those, young girls, the collision of body image and social media in a screen-obsessed world, can lead to mental health issues.
This book is for readers ofJonathan Haidt and Lisa Damour.

Dr. Sophia Choukas-Bradley is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and one of the world's leading experts on how social media shapes young women's body image and mental health. She directs the Teen and Young Adult Lab and serves as Chair of Pitt's Developmental Psychology Program. Over the past 15 years, she has published more than 100 academic papers and received over $15 million in grant funding. A licensed clinical psychologist, she also serves as the Clinical Psychology Lead of the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.