How Does The Body Image Affect Society

Perhaps no time in history have body image standards had such an enormous impact on society. With today’s mass media people can be subjected to thousands of images and messages daily, portraying the “ideal” body image. The people most often portrayed and effected by these messages are young women. Females can feel constant pressure to live up to these ideals which are most often unattainable. This pressure can cause detrimental physical and mental states. To fully understand this problem we must first ask ourselves, “Why?” Why has the female body been pushed to the forefront of society and media? It is undeniable that it is merely a marketing ploy. The beauty sector is a multibillion dollar a year industry.

Companies such as Revlon, Cover Girl, Maybelline, L’Oreal insist that girls must look a certain way if

The same can be said for virtually all mainstream shows on television. It is a constant barrage of beautiful people that viewers are being exposed to. And, unfortunately, it is becoming accepted that society should look like TV. There is essentially no one in this medium saying that it is okay to be yourself, to look how you look and feel good about yourself at the same time. What are the effects of all this? Major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, social phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa to name a few. The impact that today’s body image standard is having on women is immeasurable. Eating disorders and low self esteem are at an all-time high. The problem isn’t getting better either, in fact it’s getting worse. Girls are now being reached by these messages earlier in life. The younger they are, the more susceptive to the image they are. Women are essentially growing up from birth with this unrealistic image of what they should look like embedded into their