<![CDATA[Abstract. The development of social media has brought about significant changes in how early adult women perceive their bodies, internalize beauty standards, and construct their gender identities. This literature review aims to examine the influence of social media on these dynamics, with a focus on women aged 18 to 25 in Indonesia and within a global context. The review encompasses both quantitative and qualitative studies from 2012 to 2024, which demonstrate that intense exposure to idealized body images and public figures on social media increases psychological pressure, body dissatisfaction, and self-objectification, social media also reinforces gender-based aesthetic expectations that tend to be patriarchal, placing greater psychological burdens on women to conform to narrow and unrealistic beauty standards. The negative impacts include mental health issues such as depression, social anxiety, and alienation from one’s own body. These findings underscore the need for the development of critical media literacy and gender-equitable interventions to mitigate these adverse effects while promoting more inclusive and realistic representations of beauty for early adult women. Keywords: Social media; Beauty standards; Early adult women]]>
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