To me, as an aspiring visual arts teacher, it is important to highlight and problematise images that negatively impact girls’ mental health. My work visualises both sides of the reality and the illusion created by social media. The images that we are exposed to in contemporary life are often a cropped, touched-up version of reality.

I have examined the visual cultures of young girls with the aid of seven girls. They feel pressured through images from many different directions. The media, advertisements and social media present an ideal image and an illusion about how to be perfect according to the media norm. The lifestyles and physical ideals displayed only accommodate a select few, which they find both saddening and stressful. The title is a quote from one of the girls, summarising her view of social media. Another girl describes how dejected the ideals make her feel by asking “Am I not good enough?”