I was a 14 year old girl in the 90s and I share your surprise its only one in three. I would guess the majority of my peers were unhappy with their appearance at that time based on my experience and observations.
I was one too. I (objectively) looked just fine but I thought I was a disfigured ghoul.
The irony was that my conviction that I looked ghastly only made it worse. I permed my hair and teased my bangs and piled on the makeup and held my breath while I pulled on jeans that were too small for me.
If I'd really seen myself when I looked in the mirror I would have been better off. I didn't, I saw someone who was supposed to look like Cindy Crawford and was failing miserably.
As difficult as that era was, I worry that the present dynamic is somehow even worse than the decades-long ill of young women comparing themselves to airbrushed supermodels: young women comparing themselves to an endless stream of social media personalities who work tirelessly and deliberately to maintain a facade of contrived believability.
And to whom anyone who isn't keeping up the same level of image consciousness, won't compare.
"But she posted a video without makeup when that hash tag was trending, and I look nothing like that when I do the same," at the social media star's most flattering angle, filmed through a $5K lens attached to a $3K DSLR body, with ideal lighting, post-processed...
People who mock people in real life for not looking this is that way do a way more impact.
It is not just about what ideals you see. It is also and maybe more about what is said about those who fail that standard. How they are treated and how you are treated.
I was one too. I (objectively) looked just fine but I thought I was a disfigured ghoul.