Celebrity Worshiping
The writer, Zamena Manekia-Manji (Bujumbura, Burundi) is a writer for TMJ News. Born and raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and currently residing in Bujumbura, Burundi, her writing has evolved from fiction to Islamic, contemporary, and historical writings. She works in the history and Islamic events department at TMJ News, where she previously worked as a breaking News writer. Zamena is also a writer for 313juniors, a YouTube channel that works to produce Islamic content for little children, trying to improve her writing with each task. Through her words, she hopes to shed some light on Islamic History and share her thoughts on contemporary views through an Islamic lens, slowly doing her part towards building a better and stronger society.
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rowing up, I remember waiting for my salon appointment to sneak a read into the monthly magazines while my mum wasn’t watching, to update myself on my favorite celebrities’ lifestyles. Today, those updates, that have now gone on steroids, are on the tip of my fingers, and had I been born into the generation of being just a click away from following the world’s most famous celebrities and influencers, I’m not sure if I would ever be content with all the blessings the Lord has bestowed me with.
There is a fine line between idolizing and admiring celebrities. While some of us adore the talent and hard work of certain athletes/actors, some straight up idolize famous people to the point that they try to adopt a similar lifestyle to theirs.
With the presence of Instagram, celebrity idolization has only soared over the years. According to Brighter Kashmir News, Social media leads to comparisons and feelings of inadequacy which leads to fans becoming disappointed with their own natural looks. For example, several gym influencers lie to their fan base about the usage of drugs such as steroids, laying impossible standards, while feigning transparency.
Numerous studies have revealed that celebrity worship is linked with poor mental health and maladaptive behaviors while other studies showed how celebrity idolization is associated with poor psychological health, including anxiety and depression alongside anxiety in intimate relationship, for those who were categorized as intense personal and borderline-pathological behavior.
According to a YouGov survey, most Americans believe that the media has a negative impact on a woman’s body image. A staggering 6% of adults agree that the media endorses unrealistic body image for woman. Further than that, over half of those surveyed think that these unattainable body standards have also been set for men, which has led to poor eating habits and adopting health-hazard diets, sometimes leading to severe eating disorders and other mental health challenges.
Nearly half of girls between the ages of 13-1 wish they were as skimpy as the models portrayed in fashion magazines, according to the Girls Scouts Research Institute.
Celebrity influencers such as Kim Kardashian was known to infamously express gratitude when she was told she looked anorexic. When celebrities downplay the severity of eating disorders, “they are emulating dysfunction.”
Celebrities like the Kardashian family who have made a fortune from flaunting their physical bodies, present a narrative of developing a skinny frame, which could “define their worth.” This message is fictional, delusional and can be harmful for those who suffer with life-threatening eating disorders.
Dove once surveyed over 33,000 people across 20 countries known as the world’s largest beauty report. The findings revealed how firs and women are constantly pressured to achieve societal beauty standards.
According to the survey only 2% of women felt they were beautiful while 1 in 3 women felt pressured to change their appearance because of online images. 2 in 5 young girls felt compelled to modify their appearance based on images of influencers they saw on social media while 9 out of 10 women and girls were exposed to harmful beautify content on social media.
Men had also fallen prey to the unrealistic beauty standards with the survey stating that 65% of men and 68% of boys wished they were taller and 79% of men and 74% of boys didn’t think they were muscular enough.
Celebrity influencers also have a tendency of posting themselves drinking and smoking on social media, normalizing substance use they even make it appear attractive or cool which leads to a negative impact on teen mental health.
A University observed teenagers who frequently listen to music which refers to marijuana, finding that teens are more likely to use the drug than teens with less exposure to such detrimental lyrics.
For every hour that an American teen listens to music, they tend to hear over three references to different brand names of alcohol Researchers believe that this could likely cause teen drinking. Movie characters who smoke cigarettes influence teens to attempt smoking, concluding that media influence on can lead to risk-taking behaviors.
While a mere handful of celebrities and influencers can positively shape the norms of society, the majority of the rich and famous’s lifestyles have a negative impact on the society at large, from flaunting unrealistic beauty standards, to endorsing the LGBTQ concept, to even often promoting vulgarity and normalizing indecent dressing in public and more, whatever such personalities do, results in an impact on the society at large.
With great power comes great responsibility and despite several celebrities using social media as a tool to deviate millions from reality, the paradigm is finally shifting- massively, thanks to Palestine. As the world witnesses the most documented genocide by Israel on Gaza across social media platforms, many followers have demanded, lashed out and even condemned the celebrities, who have either stayed silent or unabashedly supported Israel, causing several pro -Israeli celebrities like Kylie Jenner to lose millions of followers overnight.
A number of celebrities have succumbed to the pressure from followers, and raised their voices in solidarity with Palestine, Despite the secular world’s attempts to eliminate morality, modesty and values in the society through the celebrities they’ve bought with a fat cheque, it took one Palestine, to revive humanity that somehow got lost in the world of delusional and selfish pursuits.
Sources:
https://olhscurrent.org/23826/opinion/stop-idolizing-celebrities/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-celebrity-worship-5219745
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