Lunar New Year is an Asians’ annual festival that is equivalent to the Western’s Christmas Day. During Lunar New Year, most Asians will go back to their hometown for a family gathering or have a few grand banquets with families and relatives. In the article “Being the Fat Girl in a Big Fat Asian Family”, Hui adds on that it is also an open season for “familial interrogation about weight issue and an endless barrage of ‘why aren’t you married yet?’ questions”. This situation appears to be common in the Asian communities. Therefrom, the article raises awareness of this cultural problem by pointing out the body issues and beauty standards of Asian cultures, which is regarded as falling behind the contemporary view of a healthy beauty standard. It may due to the fact that Asians are exposed to the obsessive beauty standard – a perfect physique since they are young. This standard came from “a media-driven culture that sees young girls idolize perfect pop stars and skinny celebrities from an early age” (Hui). Media itself acts as “a powerful tool to control over the dissemination of information in mass culture as well as influence and challenge the perceptions of Asian American identity and culture” (Dave 149). It triggers the young Asian girls to pressure themselves having an unrealistic beauty standard that is displayed by those pretty celebrities. Besides that, pressure from families and friends play a leading role in forming this problematic social norm in the Asian community as there is a cultural myth regarding the images of fat people are always lazy, unhealthy, unloved and unsuccessful. Hence, most Asian girls conform to the obsessive beauty standards in order to avoid the nasty comments and also keep away from the “fat They started to have an unhealthy relationship with foods in their early teenage, such as having disordered eating or go on a crash diet. In Hui’s case, she developed a stomach ulcer, always has stomach cramps and pain, her hair got thinner and was emotionally depressed. Her case became worse when she chose the “weight loss bandwagons, which included extreme juice cleansing, diet pills, herbal laxative teas and starvation” (Hui). Some Asian girls would even potentially go through a dangerous surgery to make their ideal face. In fact, the social norm that was driven by those advertisements showing a product with slim models draws a false assumption on Asian girls. As a result, it leads many Asian girls to achieve this unrealistic beauty standard that no one could ever
Approximately about a decade ago, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese women all had a distinctive look and features. Single eyelid, thin lips, short-bridged nose and oval shape face are few of the features that distinguish Asian women apart. However, these distinctive features are slowly fading away as the new westernized features are coming in. Through the mass media and their
The media has a crucial influence on adolescents. Golan, Hagay and Tamir (2013) stated that “Since puberty, by its very nature, is associated with weight gain, adolescents frequently experience frequently experience dissatisfaction with their changing bodies” (p. 1). Young boys grow up with the expectation of having to become a strong, muscular, masculine man. Young girls see skinny models and movie stars and grow up thinking that it is only socially acceptable and attractive if they are also skinny, or very thin. “In a culture that glorifies thinness some adolescents, mostly girls, become excessively preoccupied with their physical appearance and begin to diet obsessively in an effort to achieve or maintain a thin body (Golan, Hagay & Tamir, 2013, 1). Little girls play with dolls that have narrow waists, full busts, lots of makeup and their hair done a certain way. Advertisers and manufacturers are portraying a particular body image with the dolls, and this makes little girls form an opinion on how they should look. “Young girls may engage in conversations...
Societal constructs of bodily perfection have a massive influence on both genders and on all ages. If you look at any magazine, you will see women constantly being compared to each other, whether it is in the “who wore it better” section or in the “do’s and don’ts” part of the magazine, comparing body images and overall appearances. All parts of the media that encompasses our daily lives are especially dangerous for young and impressionable teens because they see people being torn down for trying to express themselves, and are thus taught to not only don’t look like “don’ts”, but also look like the “do’s”. This is dangerous in that women in the magazine set very high standards that teens want to emulate, no matter the cost to themselves or their health. Celebrities have the benefit of media to make them appear perfect: Photoshop and makeup artists conceal the imperfections that are often too apparent to the naked eye. Viewing celebrities as exhibiting the ideal look or as idols will, in most cases, only damage the confidence of both young teens, and adults, and warp the reality of what true “beauty” really is. It makes teens never feel truly content with themselves because they will be aiming for an ideal that is physically impossible to attain and one that doesn’t exist in the real
Using historical evidence, Seid illustrates how social norms have changed from fat women being of “disciplined habits”, “good health”, and “clean conscience” to fat women being “shameful” and “dirty” (Seid 170-171). This evidence is effective because it forces the audience to look at the issue of women’s bodies from decades ago to today. She proves that the expectations of women’s bodies have changed over the past few
Scholars with a more anthropological twist have written about the different social perceptions of obesity, e.g. the positive view of fatness among some indigenous peoples (Swinburne et al. 1996). In an article entitled, “An anthropological Perspective on Obesity “ (Brown and Konner 1987), the authors found that “cross cultural data about body preferences for women reveal that over 80% of cultures for which shape preference data are available, people prefer a plump shape” (cited in Sobal 2004, 383).
Sociocultural standards of feminine beauty are presented in almost all forms of popular media, revealing women with images that portray for what is considered to be the "ideal body." Such beauty standards for most women are completely unattainable; what is seen on TV Is another story, majority of models are considered to be well below what is known as a healthy weight. Media conveys a practical message using models that are not considered to be healthy and stating that in order for a woman to be considered beautiful, she must be unhealthy, or “thin.” The mindset in today’s society for many women is that you need to be thin, which is all too predominant and for females it makes it more difficult to achieve any level of serenity of their physical appearance. In the American culture, the “ideal body” for a female is represented very negatively, as it has dramatically changed. The number of people who are thin is starting to be the minority, while the people who are overweight/obese is going to other way and is the majority. Andre Dubus, the author of the short story "The Fat Girl," demonstrates each of these traditional behaviors towards the overweight main character, Louise.
From the identity map I created in class, I decided I would explore my personal connections more. The readings: “The Fat Girl”, “The Bluest Eye”, and “Between the World and Me” were the texts that stood out to me the most because they can all interlink with each other in one way or another. Naturally I would like to explore body image, race, beauty standards, and society’s expectations within the selections I chose. From the selections I chose to write my essay about I think “The Bluest Eye” is what connects the three stories the most because so much is challenged in this novel, though not all is overcome.
In today’s society, people are too focused on how celebrities look and their bodies. Children consume multiple types of media such as the computer and television, so they see celebrities very often. Many obese children develop low self-esteem due to this. In the article titled “The Effects of Childhood Obesity” by Lauren Marcus, she states, “Society, culture and the media send children powerful messages about body weight and shape ideals. For girls, these include the ‘thin ideal’ and an urging to diet and exercise. Messages to boys emphasize a muscular, ‘buff’ body and pressure to body build up…” (10). The media affects children that are obese because it makes them think they should look a certain way. The media portrays a body image that is almost unrealistic to any type of children especially that are obese; girls especially want to look like models or celebrities. The media is very powerful; the media can easily mentally affect children because they compare themselves to celebrities and models. Children also do not realize that celebrities are not perfect because most of the time their bodies are photoshopped. In an interview, Sarah Larson, a dietition states, “The average teenagers watches at least 500 hours of commercials not including social media”. So many children view television, and get depressed because they do not look like the celebrities. Also, on television, fast food restaurants ads are being promoted which causes children to want fast
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In our society today, people would rather see what celebrities are up to than what is going on with our health plan. Watching the news makes us aware of the latest trend, new gadget, who’s in rehab, or who has an eating disorder. In the eyes of society, women like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian, and Megan Fox are the epitome of perfection. What girl wouldn’t want to look like them? Unfortunately, this includes most of the girls in the US. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women emulate. The media has created a puissant social system where everyone must obtain a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so image obsessed with the approval of being thin and disapproval of being overweight, that it is affecting the health of most women. Women much rather try to fit the social acceptance of being thin by focusing on unrealistic body images which causes them to have lower self esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders, The media has a dangerous influence on the women’s health in the United States.
Physical beauty is constructed by the society that we live in. We are socialized from a very young age to aspire to become what our culture deems ideal. Living in the United States, as in many other Western cultures, we are expected to be well-educated, maintain middle-class or upper-class status, be employed as well as maintain a physical standard of beauty. Although beauty is relative to each culture, it is obvious that we as Americans, especially women, are expected to be maintain a youthful appearance, wear cosmetics and fashionable clothes, but most importantly: not to be overweight. Our society is socially constructed to expect certain physical features to be the norm, anything outside this is considered deviant. Obesity is defined as outside the norms of our culture's aesthetic norms (Gros). “People who do not match idealized or normative expectations of the body are subjected to stigmatization” (Heckert 32). Obesity is a physical deviance; it is one that is an overwhelming problem in our society as we are always judged daily, by our appearance. Those who do not conform to the standards of beauty, especially when it comes to weight, are stigmatized and suffer at the hands of a society that labels them as deviants.
In the essay “The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji,” the author Ellen Goodman claims that because of the influence of media, women in the Fiji islands have suffered eating disorders. As Goodman points out, before 1995, people believed their culture that big meant beautiful and bigger meant more beautiful in Fiji. And the Fijians were a reverse image of American culture. But after 1995, while American television came to the island, and it gradually entered their lives. Then the media made their belief totally changed, and they started to believe that fat is disgusting. And the Goodman shows her argument that due to the public media destroyed the culture of Fijian and caused a social issue about people were chasing to control their weight, but it also caused eating problem.
The overwhelming idea of thinness is probably the most predominant and pressuring standard. Tiggeman, Marika writes, “This is not surprising when current societal standards for beauty inordinately emphasize the desirability of thinness, an ideal accepted by most women but impossible for many to achieve.” (1) In another study it is noted that unhealthy attitudes are the norm in term of female body image, “Widespread body dissatisfaction among women and girls, particularly with body shape and weight has been well documented in many studies, so much so that weight has been aptly described as ‘a normative discontent’”. (79) Particularly in adolescent and prepubescent girls are the effects of poor self-image jarring, as the increased level of dis...
In order for women to feel comfortable in their skin, they get this mentality that they need to continuously go to the gym and resort to unhealthy weight losing methods to try and get this desired body type that may not be achievable. Even young girl compare themselves to models shown in magazines, and are scared to become “fat” once them have seen women with a body type that is socially accepted. Throughout history there has been this way that women and young girls are viewed in society, in which if they are not slender, than those ladies are considered unattractive. Media has played a big role in making many women believe that they were not pretty if they did not have a specific body shape, flawless skin, or perfect hair. It never truly showed what these models looked like from a day to day basis. Young girls would see models with these
Parag. 2 ) “ I tried to comfort a crying student after being called ‘mayor of Africa’ for having slightly darker skin.” “I watched my 28- year- old co-teacher starve herself.” “I saw high school students get handed pamphlets on plastic surgery.” These are just some of the real life experiences that show how young people deal with criticism. What may impact them the most is when their family members are the ones who tell them to alter their appearance. (Marx, 2015. Parag.6) says “When you’re nineteen, all the girls get plastic surgery, so if you don’t do it, after a few years, your friends will look better, but you will look like your unimproved you.” Criticisms as harsh as being told to be an “unimproved you” may destroy one’s self confidence. It can ruin people’s way of learning to live for who they really are. Women who “do not fit in” these standards would feel as if they’re outcasts due to the constant criticism. (Park, 2017. Parag.16-18) of her father seeing her as obese despite having a healthy body. Koreans perceive “stick-thin” bodies as the ideal body figure. They may set harsher body and beauty standards for women. Some would be forced to go on extreme diets, such as eating only an apple, a sweet potato, and a protein shake a day, from (The IU diet and her weight loss explained, 2017. Parag.3). Many young women experience bullying in their everyday lives just because of how the way they
Susan Bordo states in her article “Never Just Pictures”, that children grow up knowing that they can never be thin enough. They are thought that being fat is the worst thing ever. The ones responsible for this are the media, celebrities, models, and fashion designers. All of these factors play a big role on the development of the standard and how people view themselves. Everyone at one dreams about being the best they can in any aspect. But to achieve that most believe that one of the big factors is outer beauty. So people look at celebrities and fashion designers, and believe that to be accepted they have to look like them. That’s when they take drastic measures to change their appearance because they’ve been influenced by the Medias idea of “beautiful.” This feeling mostly happens in women but in recent years the gender gap has become smaller. Now men also feel the need to look good because of the media. On the TV, instead of having infomercials ...