- The toolkit was co-developed by the University of Portsmouth, charity The Girls’ Network and Aston University’s Dr Stephen Pihlaja
- The researchers spoke to a focus group of young women aged 14-16 to learn about their experiences of body image in social and traditional media
- Recommendations include education to identify manipulated images, promotion of body acceptance posts and encouraging individuality.
A media literacy toolkit, created to support young women struggling with body image, has been officially launched in Portsmouth this week.
The toolkit, which was created as part of a collaborative project involving the University of Portsmouth, charity The Girls’ Network and Dr Stephen Pihlaja from Aston University, was formed after a focus group of young women aged 14-16 shared their thoughts and experiences surrounding body image alongside social and traditional media.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth, Aston University, The Girls’ Network and some of the project’s participants came together at The D-Day Story museum in Portsmouth to celebrate the launch of the toolkit, created after a need was expressed by The Mental Health Foundation.
The project to develop the toolkit, which commenced in March 2024, brought together groups of young women to discuss their thoughts on social media interactions and the challenges they faced which impacted their perceptions on a healthy body image. The young women also discussed historical media content, which included 19th and 20th century magazine adverts, in order to recognise how the ‘ideal body’ has evolved over time.
The research further explored how manipulative social media can be in today’s society and the detrimental effect it can have to young people. In 2024, Instagram was reported to have over 35 million users in the UK, emphasising the influence of social media content and how this poses challenges of distinguishing reality from manipulated portrayals.
The focus groups also highlighted a number of key themes including social media usage and addiction, social media authenticity and content, body image expectations and mental health impact. This underscored how young women are often eager to spend less time on their phones, but the pressures of keeping up with social media makes this challenging.
Findings also revealed how social media usage and addiction plays a significant role. Its deep integration into daily life and how images are now highly curated and manipulated, causes confusion about what is realistic.
This reinforced reports expressing how appearance is being highlighted as one of the leading causes of unhappiness among young individuals with 31% of teenagers feeling ashamed of their body image. From societal pressures to photoshopped images, young women are being faced with a number of damaging elements causing them to struggle with their body image and the perception of what is healthy.
A number of key findings and recommendations from the report include the need for education in distinguishing reality from manipulated portrayals, and to expose editing practices (e.g. filters). Body acceptance posts should be promoted and emphasised in educational media literacy interventions or materials. Offline support networks should be encouraged, for example activities and networks outside of social media can foster self-confidence and mental wellbeing. The report identified a need to reframe posting motivations, for example from validation to enjoyment or memory-sharing, and break stereotypes by encouraging individuality and combating beauty standards may help reduce pressure to conform and promote diverse expressions of self.
The toolkit will be used by The Girls' Network charity and partner schools to support local young women with the aim of expanding beyond the Portsmouth area in the future.
Dr Pihlaja, senior lecturer in English, languages and applied linguistics at Aston University said:
“The project showed how young women are often eager to put down their phones and spend more time with their friends, but the pressures of keeping up with social media make it difficult to get away from it.
“Our toolkit focuses on helping young women better understand how their phones and social media manipulate users to make them feel and act in specific ways, and how to better combat that manipulation by being more intentional about what they use their phone for.”
Dr Helen Ringrow, associate head of the School of Education, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Portsmouth, said:
“I am really proud to have worked with The Girls' Network to develop vital resources exploring the complex and sensitive relationship between social media, media, and body image. Hearing how young women actually feel has helped us to make the toolkit more relevant, and it is encouraging to see how young women are thoughtfully and critically engaging with the world around them.
“At the heart of this project is the shared belief in the importance of empowering young women to thrive in all spheres of their lives. By fostering confidence, self-worth, and a critical understanding of media representation, we hope these resources will inspire them to embrace their full potential.”
Dr Charlotte Boyce, associate professor in Victorian literature and culture from the University of Portsmouth was also involved in the project, sourcing the 19th and 20th century magazine adverts for inclusion within the toolkit. This offered an extremely valuable insight into how beauty standards have progressed over time.
Dr Boyce said:
“While fashions may change, the pressures on young women to look a certain way are nothing new. Our research shows that as far back as the 1880s, girls were expressing discontent with their appearance and seeking advice on how they could lose or gain weight to achieve the 'ideal' body depicted in adverts and magazines.
“Our toolkit encourages girls to engage critically with historical and modern media representations and helps them to recognise how beauty standards are culturally constructed.”
- Notes to editors
About Aston University
For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.
Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming the Guardian University of the Year in 2020.
Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Helen Tunnicliffe, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7827 090240 or email: h.tunnicliffe@aston.ac.uk.
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