Self Objectification Theory
explanatory Essay
752 words
As Grogan (1999) explains, one’s estimation of his or her appearance referred to as body image. Body dissatisfaction develops when negative judgments about one’s physical body contradict the ideal perception of the perfect body (Szymanski & Cash, 1995; Grogan, 1999). Having issues with body image and dissatisfaction during the most critical developmental period may place adolescents at a high risk of developing eating disorders. The effect of social media on body image and eating behaviors can be explained by a number of theories. The sociocultural theory, which is described by Thompson, Heinberg, & Tantleff-dunn (1999), can provide a structure to better understand the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction along with eating disorders. This theory …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that body dissatisfaction develops when negative judgments about one’s physical body contradict the ideal perception of the perfect body.
- Explains that studies have supported the sociocultural theory, such as tiggemann & miller's findings that social media represents a strong socio-cultural influence on the lives of adolescents.
- Explains that the objectification theory has been tested to explain the relationship between body image and disordered eating in both genders.
- Explains that social media platforms set up a perfect stage for the processes of social comparison. tiggemann & miller (2010) studied the relationship between body image and media exposure, particularly, internet appearance-exposure.
- Explains that lindner, tantleff-dunn & jentsch (2012) provide a framework to better understand the process of self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison that leads to body image disturbance and eating disorders.
Therefore, when a female takes the perspective of others about her body image into consideration, the self-objectification process starts to develop. The self-objectification process is a form of self-consciousness, and it is hypothesized that feeling distressed about body image results from excessive body observation, and leads to the development of eating disorders (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Furthermore, the social comparison theory as explained by Festinger’s (1954), states that individuals show a tendency toward comparing and evaluating themselves in relation to others regarding particular attributes of body …show more content…
Tiggemann & Miller (2010) studied the relationship between body image and media exposure, particularly, Internet appearance-exposure. They found that thin-ideal internalization and appearance-comparison were significant mediators between Internet appearance exposure and weight dissatisfaction among teenage girls. Not only female adolescents are susceptible to experience this phenomenon, but also male adolescents. One study aimed to fill the gap to improve the understanding of whether adolescent boys experience decreased body dissatisfaction from higher social media exposure to the same degree as girls. This study found that social media sites have detrimental consequences on the appearance-related concerns for boys to the same extent as girls (De Vries, Peter, de Graaf, & Nikken, 2016). In parallel, two experimental studies intended to examine the potential impacts of exposure to attractive or unattractive Facebook profiles pictures on body satisfaction level on male and females. Findings showed no significant differences between both genders after observing the same Facebook pictures. Participants from both genders reported poor body satisfaction after being exposed to more attractive users than less attractive ones (Haferkamp & Kramer,
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- Examples Of Social Media And Body Imageargumentative essaySocial media is the reason why kids and adults are feeling unsure about appearances and even personalities.”Experimental studies have linked exposure to the thin ideal in mass media to body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and disordered eating among women.”(Media-Saturated).
In this essay, the author
- Explains that social media is the reason why kids and adults are feeling unsure about appearances and even personalities.
- Explains that anxiety is the feeling of being anxious all the time or feeling like one cannot breathe.
- Explains that social media has such a huge influence on today's generation and it goes by destroying lives without being detected.
- Explains that 8-18-year-olds are engaged with some form of media about 7.5 hours. exercising has a great impact on the body.
- Argues that social media has the tendency to show only the photo shopped pictures, because it sells more apps to the viewer’s.
- Explains how social media can inflict bad eating habits and cause major problems. most female models are 5 feet 11 inches, and usually wear a size double zero to zero at around 107 pounds.
- Explains that the pressure of being mass media is a lot, but adding in the fact that men have to be strong and not falter.
- Explains that social media is attacking males' pride and appearances, and that it is less socially acceptable for men to admit to caring what they look like.
- Concludes that social media is the main cause of distorted views on the human body. although putting warnings on it might limit the level of risks, that still is not a permanent solution.
- Cites mirror-mirror.org's "body image of women" as a source of information.
- Opines that we live in a media-saturated world and do not control the message.
- Explains that using many social media platforms linked with depression, anxiety risk. american psychiatric association.
1127 wordsRead More - Influence of Media on Body Imageopinion essayThere is a prevalent belief that the media in our society plays a role in influencing and developing body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. From an early age, we are taught by society that looks matter. We are constantly being exposed to beautifully thin women and strong toned men that could unconsciously train our minds to think this is the only right way to look. Because of these perceptions of what beauty is supposed to be, the media’s influence has been proposed as one source that contributes to eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in people of all ages.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that magazines and advertisements have the most influence on body image because of a perfected picture that results from digital editing. target's photoshop fail illustrates how society is based on beauty and physical attributes.
- Analyzes how one interviewee sees the media as a positive influence and used it to motivate him to change. watching an ironman athlete compete in an endurance race on television was considered inspiring.
- Suggests that the media should promote awareness for body dissatisfaction through their access to worldwide resources instead of bringing down those who don't meet the standard idea of beauty.
- Opines that the best solution is to instill in ourselves, our peers, and our children a sense of self confidence and self esteem so whatever the media puts out, that we will still be happy with ourselves.
- Opines that being confident in our own skin is key to defeating the pressure of the media.
- Opines that the media influences and develops body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in people of all ages. the media promotes the idea that being thin is a sign of beauty and that diets and food deprivation are normal
1365 wordsRead More - What Are The Negative Effects Of The Influence Of Social Mediaargumentative essayWith the ever increasing influence of social media in our daily lives, we are seeing more individuals suffer from the negative effects of being constantly exposed to images of "ideal" body types. In Beauty and Thinness Messages in Children’s Media Analysis it is stated that “Research suggests that young children have body image concerns, such as a desire for thinness and avoidance to obesity.” The analysis continues with saying that “Few studies have investigated how children’s body preferences and stereotypes are influenced by media aimed at children. Results indicated that messages emphasizing the importance of physical appearance and portraying body stereotypes are present in many children 's videos but relatively few books (Herbozo S, Tantleff-Dunn S, Gokee-Larose J, Thompson JK, 2004).” The reshaping of beauty standards are fueled by unrealistic expectations through media, as there has been a huge difference in the way people promote themselves through social media in the last few years. This can have major effects on people as it influences negative body image which, coincidentally, can lead people to develop things such as eating disorders. With that being said, social media, through the use of alter egos, gives
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how social media influences children's body preferences and stereotypes, citing beauty and thinness messages in children’s media analysis. the reshaping of beauty standards is fueled by unrealistic expectations.
- Quotes nicole hawkins, author of ways to overcome a negative body image, as saying that women and young girls are terrified to gain weight and are bombarded by television shows on plastic surgery.
- Opines that body image issues are a common problem in society that promotes unrealistic body expectations. the media has led to negative perceptions of people's body images.
- Explains that 15 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds were convinced that the images of models and celebrities in advertisements, magazines and billboards accurately depicted what these women look like in real life.
- Explains that celebrities promote fad diets through social media, which are believed to be easy alternatives that help people burn fat quickly, but fail to inform fans of the risks.
- Explains that fashion magazines promote thinness as the desired, and in turn, the prevailing norm. people are struggling to define themselves by what they see on the internet.
- Recommends promoting acceptance and body positivity to combat body shame and the altered perception of what beautiful is. beauty should not be defined by the looks of others.
1283 wordsRead More - The Negative Effects Of Social Media And Body Imageanalytical essayThe authors of Body Image (2016) stated “more than one-half of girls and one-third of boys as young as six think that they need to be thinner, and about one-quarter of children as young as seven have engaged in some sort of dieting behavior.” This should provide people, especially parents, with awareness that any child can feel like their body is not pleasurable at such a young age! However, as we grew out of our toys, we began to idolize celebrities. Watching them on shows, movies, songs, and articles many begin to compare themselves. The use of mass media has been abused causing pain to others. The images and visuals that the media displays make people want to strive to be someone else’s definition of perfect. As a result, this situation has led to many individuals encountering physical and mental problems; bulimia, anorexia and strict dietary plans can all be the harmful effects of social media. Bulimia Nervosa is when a person excessively eats and then diminishes the calories of the food consumed by using laxatives, extensive exercise, and vomiting. In comparison,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the impact of social media on people's perceptions of beauty. the idea of having the "perfect" body can be a damaging physical and mental chain of events.
- Explains that social media can cause many physical damages to both men and women. body image is how people picture and view their bodies, as well as how someone else sees them.
- Opines that the internet and other similar sources like magazines can have a hurtful effect on the mindset of human beings.
- Explains that social media can lead to depression, anxiety, ocd, and violence. many people dealing with depression have extreme thoughts such as suicide.
910 wordsRead More - Media And Social Media, Adolescents, And The Mediaopinion essayResearch shows “that regular readers of fashion and beauty magazines in early adolescence are more likely to suffer from a distorted body image during their teenage years” (“Children, Adolescents and the Media”), when they read beauty magazines they read articles and tips of how to look better and they try to them all to look and feel better about themselves. Research shows that “more than three-quarters of girls repot that television influenced their body image” (Mascarelli). Social media influences how we act and what we do Amanda Swartz once stated “Social media and mass media influence the way we react and interact with our world and potentially influence the perception of our own body image” (Mulliniks). In today’s worlds there are more ways to access websites to promote body image as a positive thing, “On the internet, there are now more than 100 pro anorexia websites that not only encourage disordered eating but offer specific advice on purging, severely restricting calories intake, and exercising excessively” (“Children, Adolescents and the Media”). It’s not a bad thing to eat healthy and work out to be fit and healthy but it’s another thing to eat less and work out excessively. Teens always compare themselves to others, either their peers, models and celebrities, “People are on Facebook or Instagram and they’re constantly comparing themselves to other people” (Mulliniks). Also reality television shows, show only the glamorous about what is happening, like “when teen moms become celebrities, the message to avoid teen pregnancy is lost” (Kroll). When teens watch shows like Teen Mom they don’t see the entire negative about becoming pregnant as a teen they see that the teen mom got famous and is on the show. Social media, media, magazines, and TV give teen’s unrealistical facts about body image, pregnancy and
In this essay, the author
- Explains that girls are unhappy with their body image due to the pressure from society and media, such as the death of a fashion model, luise ramos.
- Opines that the media is trying to stop teens from thinking that being thin is the only kind of beauty. dove wanted the ads to change the way women and society views beauty and provoke discussion and debate about real beauty
- Analyzes how photoshop has been used in magazines and advertisements to distort and "perfect" bodies in such a way not humanly possible in real life.
- Explains that girls have to meet many expectations to fit into society, because of what they see in the media. they may give in and get surgery to look like a model they admire.
- Explains that the more time girls spend looking at the celebrity news, media, and social media influences them.
- Explains how media negatively affects the way girls view their body and change their appearance to look different due to the impact of media.
- Opines that retouched images of perfect celebrities make teens feel insecure and envious of their bodies. teens are expected to live up to unrealistic expectations, falsely advertized, to fit in among peers.
1806 wordsRead More - The Role Of Media On Body Dissatisfactionanalytical essayThrough the shaping of an ideal that measures thinness as a means of beauty and success, many individuals in today’s society are in discontent with their bodies. Young women are at particularly high risk for experiencing feelings body dissatisfaction because of the contributions of sex-role expectations and the various portrayals depicted by the media. As described by Tompson and Stice (2001) (as cited in Clark & Tiggemann, 2007), because many women cannot meet the unrealistic societal standard of a perfectly toned and slender figure, many feel a discrepancy between their actual and ideal self, causing a body dissatisfaction. Negative views about one’s body increase the risk of
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the role of media on the development of body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls.
- Analyzes grabe et al.'s meta-analysis to understand the complex relationship between media exposure, feelings of dissatisfaction, and its influence on the development of eating disorders.
- Explains the link between media exposure and body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls.
- Analyzes how rodgers, mclean, and paxton examined the longitudinal effects of media and social appearance influences on the level of body dissatisfaction experienced by grade school females.
- Opines that research has explored the specific role of different cultural influences, namely peer and media impacts, as evidence for the strong impact of sociocultural influences on a child's body image.
- Opines that understanding the underlying causes of discontent could help create a better environment to promote body satisfaction and decrease the risk of distorted thinking and unhealthy behaviors.
1091 wordsRead More - The Influence Of Body Images In The Media And Body Imageanalytical essayWhat exactly is body image? It is the way individuals think and feel about their body that can be affected by self-discrepancy. This is the representation in the self-concept of ways in which one falls short of some important standard (Higgins, 1987, 1989). It can be linked to social comparison which states that we seek to compare ourselves to others we believe are similar to ourselves, particularly to determine our own levels of abilities and successes (Festinger, 1954)
In this essay, the author
- Explains that body image is the way individuals think and feel about their body that can be affected by self-discrepancy.
- Analyzes how unrealistic and stereotyped images used by the media and fashion industries can influence young people's body images and impact on their feelings of self-discrepancy. too many girls strive to look like anorexic 12-year-old lingerie models.
- Explains that idealized images affect weight concerns, self-esteem issues, mood and depression, but are there other factors that can contribute to one's selfdiscrepancy and these negative psychological behaviours?
- Argues that the research sheds a more positive light on self-discrepancy. the viewing of these images could inspire or encourage youths to get healthy since increased feelings of body dissatisfaction might lead to an increased desire to look like the media-idea
- Explains that youths may have different reactions to the exposure of idealised images due to a number of reasons like personality differences, family, gender, age as well as school environment.
- Explains mission australia's youth survey 2012 found that body image was one of the top three issues of personal youth studies australia.
- Explains that media-internalization refers to the adoption of the social ideal as a personal standard of physical attractiveness, and comparisons with images presenting that ideal.
- Argues that adolescent girls are particularly sensitized to sociocultural ideals of attractiveness, since social comparison and body image self-discrepancy moderated the effect of exposure to thin-ideal advertising on negative psychological outcomes.
- Explains that women with high body image self-discrepancy are at greater risk for negative consequences from exposure to thin-ideal media.
- Explains that the research evidence becomes inconsistent when taking into account older teenagers. tiggemann and lynch (2001) found older women have less weight-related anxiety and fewer eating disorder symptoms.
- Explains that in later research, pasha and golshekoh (2009) found that internalisation of body ideals was the greatest predictor of female body dissatisfaction. youth central’s research on positive body image revealed that 62.8% of young people felt that media and advertising impacted upon their selfperceptions.
- Argues that self-discrepancy sets a false expectation of what the society only wants. as youths mature, they become less sensitised to idealised media images.
871 wordsRead More - Effects Of Media On Media And Eating Disordersanalytical essayMedia constantly portrays that the desirable look and the ‘ideal’ body type is being very thin or muscular, creating an overall assumption on adolescents that acceptance is achieved only through meeting a certain stereotype. Self-confidence built in younger generations nowadays, in comparison to generations before them, is exceptionally different in which media plays a major role. Recently, young individuals are interacting more through the computer screen with “likes” and texts. It’s easy to understand how messages that convey self-confidence are harder to come by. The potential effect that media has on these individuals, coupled with their desire to “fit in” and be socially accepted, has countless negative consequences. Studies show that 80% of 13 year old females have been, is on, or wants to be on a diet, 1in 4 college aged women have some form of eating disorder, and currently 10 million females and 1 million males are suffering from an eating disorder. Over 30 million Americans deal with an eating disorder during their lifetime, and children as young as seven have admitted having negative feelings about their weight. Therefore, media’s impact on young teens and adolescents is to an great extent, however, their desire to be socially accepted is built through stereotypes which leads them to suffer from eating
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how media's influence on adolescents' body image and eating disorders is undeniable, but there are solutions to this problem.
- Argues that media's influence on body image and eating disorders on adolescents is irrefutable; however, their desire to be socially accepted is built through stereotypes.
- Explains that countries such as italy, israel, spain, and france have become the latest countries to ban extremely skinny models from modeling in fashion industry.
- Opines that parents must have a control over possessions that impact the thinking and behavior of their child since they are responsible for guiding them.
- Concludes that the media has the power to damage the self-esteem of adolescents, which could lead to eating disorders and other health risks.
1097 wordsRead More - eating disorderexplanatory essayFor media, it plays an excessive role in the socialization of adolescents. Movies, TV, and the web provide teens with a window into prevalent culture which have shown to promote society ideal standards (to be thin) and measures of beauty through media materials. These platforms also provide dieting methods and diet foods that encourages adolescents to mimic, adopt and purchase by associating if an individual is skinny, he or she would be successful and happy (Yamamiya, Cash, Melnyk, Posavac. H and Posavac, S, 2005). Hence, media may be the primary cause of teenagers developing eating disorders because it creates the pressure to meet unrealistic beauty standards through establishments of expectation on appearance which leads to higher body dissatisfaction within adolescents. Yet, it may be an overstatement for media to be the main cause as media may not necessarily influence adolescents to be dissatisfied with their body and thus, resort to unhealthy eating habits to attain their ideal body. Instead, adolescents with body dysmorphic can look for magazines and other media channels and not the predicted inverse correlation (Field et. al, 2008; Holmstrom, 2004). With that, there is thus, inconsistent and little data that proves media is the direct cause of eating disorder development in adolescence.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that research data on the roles of media, peers and family raise the question on which is the main cause of eating disorders development in adolescence. these factors have explicit emotional, psychological and social impact on teens, leading them to adopt unhealthy eating habits.
- Argues that media plays an excessive role in the socialization of adolescents. movies, tv, and the web promote society ideal standards (to be thin) and measures of beauty.
- Argues that peer pressure is not as dominant as family pressure, and peers may not be the primary cause for eating disorders development in teens.
- Explains that family plays a vital framework in the healthy development of adolescents and can significantly partake in prevention of eating disorders.
- Explains the role of social norms and friends’ influence on unhealthy weight control behaviors among adolescent girls.
- Cites enayati, a., aneja, kitos, camargo, and taylor, c. b.
- Explains that fitness magazines and eating disorders: is there a relationship?
- Explains that griffiths, j. a., and mccabe, m. p. influence significant others on disordered eating and body dissatisfaction among early adolescent girls.
- Explains the relative influence of family, peers, and media on the development of eating disorders in adolescents: longitudinal findings from project eat.
- Explains holmstrom's metaanalysis of the effects of media on body image. johnson, c., & flach, a.
- Explains that feminist perspectives on eating disorders still killing us softly in fallon, katzman, and wololey. advertising and the obsession with thinness.
- Explains that the psychosomatic family model is a critical analysis of family-interaction concepts.
- Explains martnez-gonzález, gual, lahortiga, alonso, j., de irala-estévez, and cervera, s. parental factors, mass media influences and the onset of eating disorders in a prospective population-based cohort.
- Summarizes minuchin, rosman, and baker's work on pychosomatic families.
- Explains that family meals and disordered eating in adolescents: longitudinal findings from project eat.
- Cites peterson, a., paulson and williams, k.k. (2007). relations of eating disorder symptomology with perceptions of pressures from mother, peers, and media in adolescents.
- Explains that posavac, h. d., s. s, & e. j. (1998). exposure to media images of female attractiveness and concern with body weight among young women.
- Cites saraceni, r., russell-mayhew, s. (2007). images and ideals: counselling women and girls in a "thin-is-in" culture.
- Quotes kate moss in quotes: ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ and other career-defining statements from fashion's silent supermodel.
- Explains shoebridge, gowers, and gowers, (2000). parental high concern and adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa. a case-control study to investigate direction of causality.
- Describes s' findings on the effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions on women's body image.
636 wordsRead More - The Destruction of Our Self Worthopinion essayIn a nation that is plagued with obesity, it is easy to find ourselves being caught up in the desire to not place ourselves in that category. We will do anything and everything to avoid being overweight without recognizing the effects that follow. We focused on the skinny instead of the strong and the half size mold instead of the healthy one. Here is where I want to analyze the psychological the physical distress that comes from Eating Disorders, and where they stem from. Pinpointing also how social media has played a large part in shaping our views and ideas of the human body and our own personal self image.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the psychological and physical distress that comes from eating disorders, and how social media has played a large role in shaping our views and ideas of the human body and our personal self image.
- Explains that eating disorders often come with a heavy consequence that many fail to recognize. anorexia nervosa is inadequate food intake that leads to unhealthy body weight.
- Opines that eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are not the only ones that exist. overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risks for global deaths, with one in ten of the world’s adult population obese.
- Explains that eating disorders stem from emotional and mental instability. anorexia is rated the highest in the death rates of any mental condition.
- Explains that adolescence is crucial in the development of the mind and body. it is common and easy to be manipulated by others at this young of an age.
- Narrates how they became overwhelmed by the social ladder and social system of high school.
- Narrates how they lost weight and lost all privileges. they lost their parents' trust and regained all the weight that they had lost.
- Opines that society is to blame for the impossible height of the bar that is set and those who don't meet those standards struggle to fit in and belong.
1664 wordsRead More