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.
Van Vonderen, K. E., & Kinnally, W. (2012). Media effects on body image: Examining media
Derenne, J. L., & Beresin, E. V. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders. Academic Psychiatry, 30(3), 257-61. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.waketech.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/196508089?accountid=15152
Derenne, Jennifer L., and Eugene V. Beresin. "Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders." Academic Psychiatry 30. June (2006): 257-61. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.
Ever since the development of the media such as television, the internet, various fashion magazines and commercial advertisements, society focused more and more on personal appearances. Not only were runway models becoming slimmer but the viewers that watched and read about them were becoming more concerned with their weight. In the past fifty years the number of adolescent girls developing eating disorders increased just as television, advertisements, and magazines were becoming a social norm that was easily and often available. Today, more than ever, adolescents are worrying about weight, shape, size and body image and. It does not help that these children are growing up in a world filled with media material emphasizing dangerously skinny bodies as beautiful and perfect. Anne Morris and Debra Katzman, authors of “The Impact of the Media on Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents” argue that the media is corrupting individuals to develop eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. “Exploring the Role Society and the Media Play in the Development of an Eating Disorder and the Media Influence on Eating Disorders” claims that there are other factors leading to eating disorders other than media, such as genetics, or public and cultural pressure. "Body Image Within the Vandy Bubble" defends the argument by saying that although media is causing harm in society by portraying extremely thin women and that beauty and thinness go hand in hand, but there are media corporations that are positively informing individuals about healthy body image.
Holmstrom, A. (2004). The effects of the media on the body image: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48(2), 196-217.
As the "ideal" women’s body has become progressively thinner over the past decades, the eating disorder anorexia has become progressively more prevalent. Anorexia is a disease in which a person eats nothing beyond minimal amounts of food so that her body weight drops dangerously. It is no wonder with all of the cultural messages of thinness being aimed at women, that 90-95% of anorexics are female, 25.7% of all female ballet dancers are anorexic, and that the percentages are similarly high for female models and athletes (Malson, 1998). Six to eight percent of young women have been diagnosed. For some the disease takes a devastating and irreversible course; 20% of anorexic patients will die and as many as half of those will be from suicide (Sullivan, 1995). It is an extremely painful disease with many emotional hardships for all involved. Anorexia, like many psychological disorders in the DSM-IV, has medical, biological, personality, and social components and implications.
Previous research has shown, that women, in particular young girls, are highly likely to compare themselves and their body image with their peers. There is, however, yet to be studies shown that prove the correlation between peer interactions that influence body dissatisfaction. Body dissatisfaction can lead to dangerous eating habits, such as anorexia, bulimia and extreme dieting. Relationships between family, friends and fellow classmates are pertinent throughout adolescence as it is those surrounding the young female that have a great influence over her. Research compelling to the topic has focused on these particular factors, such as peer and parental influence but has not yet received the amount of exposure and attention.
An eating disorder is characterized when eating, exercise and body image become an obsession that preoccupies someone’s life. There are a variety of eating disorders that can affect a person and are associated with different characteristics and causes. Most cases can be linked to low self esteem and an attempt to, “deal with underlying psychological issues through an unhealthy relationship with food” (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood, with females being most vulner...
Mass media has evolved over the years and is heard to have many effects on body image. Does mass media have an effect on body image? To answer this question, I have explored academic articles for different social science disciplines. This particular discipline is Psychology. The discipline of psychology will show how body images affect people and what causes them to be affected. The articles being reviewed are Barlett, Christopher P., Christopher L. Vowels and Donald A. Saucier. “Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Media Images on Men’s Body Image Concerns.” Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology. 27.3 (2008) : 279-310., Hayes, Sharon and Stacey Tantleff-Dunn. “Am I too fat to be a princess? Examining the effects of popular children’s media on
Dittmar, Helga. "How Do "body Perfect" Ideals in the Media Have a Negative Impact on Body Image and Behaviors? Factors and Processes Related to Self and Identity." : Sussex Research Online. N.p, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
“We live in a media-saturated world and do not control the message.” NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS ASSOCIATION, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/media-body-image-and-eating-disorders. Accessed 11 November 2017.
Recently, a lot of controversy has been in the news about the increase in negative body image among women. This negative body image can lead to a number of different problems in individuals including low self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression. Some factors that can influence this increase in negative body image include age, gender peer influence, and family influence. One of the main factors that has been an influence on the way people view themselves is the media. According to Aubrey (2006), “a primary way that an objectifying culture is propagated is through the media” (p. 159). Everything from magazines, television, and celebrities can have an affect on the way people view themselves. The population that is most affected by this problem in our society is young women. Social comparison, which is when someone compares their own body to other’s bodies, is a common factor for thin-ideal internalization and dissatisfaction of their body (Bessenoff, 2006, p. 239).
The sociocultural approach to the issue of body image among women states that women receive harmful and negative cultural messages about their bodies. These messages can come from the media as well as from family and peer influences (Swami, 2015). By promoting the thin ideal for attractiveness, the media contributes to women rating their bodies more negatively and thus increases their likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms (Spitzer, Henderson & Zivian, 1999). In a meta-analysis studying the effects of media images on female body image, Groesz and Levine (2002) found that women’s body image was significantly more negative after viewing thin media images than after viewing average or plus size models. Harmful body messages from family can be direct, such as verbal criticism or teasing, or in...
Derenne, J. L., & Beresin, E. V. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders. Academic Psychiatry, 30(3), 257-261.
This study hopes to gain a more in depth view of a demographic that is believed to put a great amount of focus on body image in the way the...