The Bad Guy, or Not? Social Media Influence on Self-Perception

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Recommended: How social media affects body image

Turn the TV on. There is a girl on the weather channel; she is skinny. Change the channel. A new series pop up, the main character is a girl with curves and she has the good-looking boy by her side. Go to the store and grab a magazine. The models on the cover do not have an over-weight looking body. The right thing to do would be blaming media for giving young girls the idea of a perfect body and also, proving them with the illusion that a body is what they need to have a good, happy, and full-filling life. But, is it really all media’s fault? In today’s world, people are misreading what media is really about, and they have started to blame it for the bad that is in the world. A bad that is changing people’s eating habits because of body dissatisfaction, other people’s influence and even, competition between themselves. Currently, the society has been under the influence of certain illness that is changing the way they eat. People have stopped worrying about their health and instead, they are trying to create a fake image of what they think is the perfect body. Eating disorders have take most of the youngest part of our society, they are being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia, or as they call them – Ana and Mia. “If Eating Disorders could be summed up in one word it would be extreme” (Parks 11). Let’s introduce Ana and Mia. Ana likes to yell at her friends when they want to eat a second portion of a cake and she will not stop kicking and screaming until she makes their friends stop eating; and maybe even then, she will not stop. Mia, is the insatiable friend, who would whisper on their friends ears: “Why would you eat just one portion of that delicious cake when you can have it all?” but as gluttonous as she is, Mia wou... ... middle of paper ... ...d Ferguson, Christopher J. "In The Eye Of The Beholder: Thin-Ideal Media Affects Some, But Not Most, Viewers In A Meta-Analytic Review Of Body Dissatisfaction In Women And Men." Psychology Of Popular Media Culture 2.1 (2013): 20-37. PsycARTICLES. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Ferguson, Christopher J., et al. "Mirror, Mirror On The Wall: Peer Competition, Television Influences, And Body Image Dissatisfaction." Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology 30.5 (2011): 458-483. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Forney, K. Jean, Lauren A. Holland, and Pamela K. Keel. "Influence Of Peer Context On The Relationship Between Body Dissatisfaction And Eating Pathology In Women And Men." International Journal Of Eating Disorders 45.8 (2012): 982-989. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. Parks, Peggy J., Teenage Eating Disorders. San Diego: Reference Point Press, 2012. Print.

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