How BDD Affects Young Women Like Me
By Guest Blogger Sophia Villegas
Women worldwide experience Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). According to the National Organization for Women Foundation, 50% of teenage girls are self-conscious about their bodies and 26.2% report being dissatisfied.
By age 60, 28.7% of women feel dissatisfied and 32.6% feel self-conscious about their bodies. These statistics are disheartening. No young woman, or any woman, should feel like their body is not good enough.
Why Women Dislike Their Bodies
Some reasons young women dislike their bodies are the idealized images they see in magazines, on TV shows, and on Instagram. These pictures of what the female body should look like are ingrained in many young women’s minds. From a young age, women are told they should be a certain weight, height, size, and even color. This is wrong.
The media edits and cherry-picks the models that fit society’s beauty standards. The truth is very few women will ever actually look like the girls on TV. Their bodies are real, but they are not the majority. Women and girls need to appreciate how they look, instead of replicating what they see in the media.
Fighting Back Against Media Images
Women need to call out these beauty standards on social media. We need to keep saying positive affirmations to our younger sisters. We can only beat a scary thing when we come together.
Lexie and Lindsay Kite, PhD note that “Positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks.” (Kite and Kite, p.10) Lindsay and Lexie Kite are leading experts in the study of body image and the harmful effects of objectification. We women need to help each other realize that our bodies are so much more than how we look.
My Personal Experience with BDD
I care so much about this because I have experienced hating my body. I know exactly what it’s like to hide away and refuse to let people take pictures of me. I used to cry every morning deciding what to wear because I hated my body so much.
Some days I wished I would get into a horrible accident, so parts of my body would need to get ‘fixed’. Maybe my stomach would need to have a piece removed and as a result I’d be thinner, more desirable. Thoughts like this tore me apart.
These thoughts made me hate other girls and women around me too. The images I viewed online made me feel like this. Now, I am happier with my body. I’ve realized that I am so much more than how I look.
How to Feel Better About Your Body
Getting better is more than telling yourself you are good enough. No matter what we do, issues like BDD and negative body image will be around. As Dr. Phillips says, “In reality, BDD has nothing to do with vanity. It’s a common and often severe mental disorder.” (Phillips)
The best step we can take is to get off social media. Don’t pick yourself apart in the mirror every morning. Find treatment methods that work for you. If possible, talk to your doctor if any of these BDD symptoms feel familiar.
Reaching out is hard, and daunting, especially with a disorder and feelings of hatred like these. It can make you feel even more alienated thinking you are fighting this battle alone, but no one is ever truly alone. In the darkest hours you will find light. You can win this battle. Find ways to love yourself and get help.
About Guest Blogger Sophia Villegas
Sophia Villegas has been researching BDD extensively and has personal experience with battling BDD. For more information about BDD and getting help, please refer to the International OCD Foundation BDD site.
Works Cited:
“Get The Facts” The National Organization for Women Foundation. 2025.
Kite, Lindsay, Lexie. More Than a Body: Your Body Is an Instrument, Not an Ornament. HarperCollins Publishers, 2021, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
Phillips, Katharine. “Who Gets BDD?” The International OCD Foundation. Boston, MA. 2025
