The Media Lies: Effects of the Media on Body Image Recent studies have shown that approximately 75 percent of adolescent females wish to be thinner and over 35 percent of them resort to drastic extremes to achieve the new “thin ideal.” (Body Dissatisfaction in Early Adolescent Girls) Today in our culture, this ideal of body image is portrayed in every aspect of our lives. We see a representation of attractive, extremely thin women in magazines, television shows, movies, commercials, etc. The new body image, which today is described as being perfect, is a new, unrealistic standard of skinny. This type of representation presented by the media compels female adolescents to view themselves in negative ways which results in eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, or even depression. The new standard of the “thin ideal,” according to society, is simply unattainable and irrational. So the question still remains: How has the media altered female adolescence’s perspectives on the “perfect” body image, and how has this changed our female society? While women have made significant advances over the past decades, the culture at large never fails to place a strong emphasis on the way women look. The new standards for beauty are ultimately causing dramatic influences on adolescent females and their body image. Anyone who is familiar with American culture knows that these new standards for beauty is proliferated through the media. No matter the source, we are constantly surrounded by all kinds of media, and we continue to construct ourselves based on the images we see through the media. The more young girls are surrounded by the “thin ideal” kind of media, the more they will continue to be dissatisfied with their bodies and themselves. Thi... ... middle of paper ... ...fect on Women's Body Image - Hamilton College." Hamilton College. Hamilton College, 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. McLean, S.A., S.J. Paxton, and E.H. Wertheim. "Mediators Of The Relationship Between Media Literacy And Body Dissatisfaction In Early Adolescent Girls: Implications For Prevention." Body Image 10.3 (2013): 282-289. Scopus®. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Clay, Daniel, Vivian L. Vignoles, and Helga Dittmar. "Body Image And Self-Esteem Among Adolescent Girls: Testing The Influence Of Sociocultural Factors." Journal Of Research On Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell) 15.4 (2005): 451-477. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Sofia, Fernandez, and Pritchard Mary. "Relationships Between Self-Esteem, Media Influence And Drive For Thinness." Eating Behaviors 13.(n.d.): 321-325. ScienceDirect. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Anonymous. Personal interview. 16 March 2014.
Over the past five years the way media has depicted the perfect woman to have a specific size has caused many women to have problems with body image in their everyday life. The specific size that the media portrays is a super thin woman, who has very little fat, and is tall and slender. One health issue low self-esteem can be caused by how the media portraying the super thin woman making females feel bad about what their body type is and how they look when they compare themselves to the media’s portrayal of the super thin woman. Another health issue that females can develop is disorders. Disorders are serious problems and cannot be overseen. Overseen disorders can cause many health problems and even death. Weight issues is also another health related problem caused by the media’s portrayal of the super thin woman.Weight issues can be caused by excessive dieting and eating disorders. An abundance of females have problems with their weight every day. Whether it is the female feeling like she is too fat or even in some cases the female feeling like she is too skinny. In the United states, the media’s portrayal of body image has been a key factor in many females’ lives and distorts the perception of how the females’ picture themselves and how they treat their bodies based on the media’s portrayal of the “perfect woman.”
The media has had an increasingly destructive effect on young people who are becoming worryingly obsessed with their body image. The media is saturated in sexual imagery in which young people have to face every day. The sheer volume of sexual imagery in the media today has resulted in the vast majority of young people to become hooked on looking as near to perfection everyday by using the latest products and buying the latest fashions. This used to be enough but lately the next step to achieving perfection is cosmetic surgery. Everyone wants to look attractive, especially teenagers who are not only put under massive strain to succeed but to look beautiful and climb the ranks of the social ladder, and it seems that the only way to achieve the much desired beauty is to turn to drastic measures.
Girls are now led to believe they are not as good as what the “ideal” women based on looks. Even though, “on average the model weighs 23% less of what the average women living in the United States really weighs” (.) Young women are striving for an outcome that can be unobtainable based on body structure, and are left insecure when their goal is not reached. Eating disorders such as, “anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are the result and the top three eating disorders among the teen community today” (.) The idea of perfectionism takes over their mind to knit pick themselves until girls, unfortunately, fall for things like anxiety disorders, depression, and turn to substances that hurt the body, not help it. In a People Magazine survey, it showed that “80% of female respondents feel that women in movies and television programs made them feel insecure about their bodies” (.) The “look” they are creating is not only unhealthy, but it is spreading an unhealthy image to girls just maturing and is damaging their ego in the developing years of t...
One's body is what makes us who we are. Every single person is unique due to an individual physical trait. Even though everyone has an opinion about what his or her perfect body would be, changing one's personal features would take away from individuality. I personally would never have plastic surgery because when I look at myself, I do not see a tall, skinny young man with a funny looking nose and big "bug" eyes, rather I see a beautifully sculpted masterpiece that God has made just for me. I take pride in the fact that there is no one else on this earth exactly like me. Not just my inner beauty, but my outer beauty makes me different from everyone else. Life would be so boring if everyone looked exactly the same. I personally could not be more content and happy with my body image. What’s body image? Body image is how people picture themselves and how they think other people picture them. It is basically how you feel about your body, and it includes your perception, imagination, emotions, and physical sensations. Mass media has been able to shape popular culture and often influence public opinion. However, when abused, the power of media can harm the general population. Images portrayed by the media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals. Stereotypes formed by the media that include thin, tanned women, and wealthy, muscular men have led to a decline in self-acceptance. The majority of media today often present the perfect body to the public, hoping that consumers will strive to achieve fitness using a certain product or idea. While this form of advertising may somewhat increases a product's market share, many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of f...
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
Young girls in today's society are constantly being bombarded by the onset of media exposure. Often time adolescents struggle with their body image because it does not resemble the ones portrayed in the media. Media uses ultra slim individuals to portray the image of beauty onto society. The images portrayed in beauty magazines send distorted and warped ideas of what an acceptable body image is to influential adolescent woman. (Laurie, Sullivan, Hill & Davies, 2006; 356). The standards of body physic set by the media are unattainable for the many subjectified adolescent woman. A study was done in a variety of Jr...
No one is born with the instinctive sense of what constructs beauty and ideal body shape. Instead we are brought into a world that teaches us how to embody cultural standards of beauty by which we must adhere to. The average teenage girl spends a considerable amount of time watching television shows and advertisements plastered with thin body ideals. Therefore, television presents a considerable amount of information and images to suggest how we need to look, in order to succeed in life and be popular. They are very boisterous when it comes to forcing thin ideals on young women but seem quiet when it comes to the negative effects. This paper was written to explore the relationship between television viewing and young women’s perception of their bodies.
Almost everywhere a person looks, they are bombarded with pictures and advertisements. Whether one is simply glancing at a magazine while waiting in line at a store, or just watching commercials on television, advertisements can be seen everywhere. It is quite evident, by looking at the thin waisted and skinny pictures of young women, what the media considers to be the ideal body figure. The perception of the ideal body type that society has produced, plays a huge role in our country’s obsession with thinness and appearance. The United States’ obsessions exhibiting slim, thin models as beautiful, gives a distorted impression leaving many young women the wrong idea about beauty and body image.
According to Psychology Today, body image is the mental representation a person creates. Body image can be distorted by mass media and can influence a person's behaviour. Distortions of body image are widespread among females and, to a lesser extent, among males. Mass media is a big part of the 21st century. Whether it is through television, magazines, newspapers, online, or billboards, we are inundated with advertisements on a daily basis. Magazine advertisement have a negative influence on the body image among young adult men and women. "Exposure to fashion magazines is related to women's greater preoccupation with being thin, dissatisfaction with their bodies, frustration about weight, and fear about deviating from the thin standard." (Turner et al 1997). According to Norman (2011) males common body concerns included height, muscularity, fatness, skin complexion, fashion sense and style. There are consequences of living in a society in which media promote a thin body image, such as, the desire to alter their physical appearance cosmetically or surgically or to slide into the grips of anorexia or bulimia.
The media controls the minds of young individuals and how they see themselves. The media teaches that a so-called “perfect body” means a “perfect person,” which is far from the truth. The majority of models shown on different media platforms are 98% thinner than the average American woman. Due to the overwhelming amount of these thinly portrayed women in the media, there is a higher expectation for all women (and men) to be thin. “Body image is a way that someone perceives their body and assumes others perceive them” (NEDA, 2016). On average, a teenagers and young children spend at least seven and a half hours on social media daily. Media and or social media displays body image with a negative sensation (Walder Center, 2017).
Nowadays, media has influenced the public and society especially on body image. Body image can be described as a representation of how a person feels about and sees their body. People’s self image can be affected by their own perceptions and by the feedback from the person of those around them (McVey, Murphy & Harrison, 2008). A poor body image can causes many negative psychological and physical effects. Today, not only western culture, people from all over the word has an obsession with being skinny, look perfect and also wanted to look like their idols that they have been admired especially from the media. Public should be aware that the mass media does not only give bad effects to the body image such as influencing people to change their appearances and wasting money,
One’s body makes us who we are. What is body image? Body image is how people feel about themselves. Social media today often presents the perfect body to the public, while also promoting “unrealistic standards of beauty” (Pittman). Everyday millions of bone thin models are plastered upon magazines, in television and within movies for the average public to idolize. The media has gone too far, and has greatly impacted the self-portrayal of millions due to their portrayal of what a “good body” looks like.
Is the media helping or hurting the way women view their bodies? The media has a powerful influence in women's everyday lives. The media constantly sends messages of what women should spend their time and money on; Putting a picture in women's minds daily of what they should look like. False images of young beautiful women are airbrushed and altered to perfection to hide every flaw. It is impossible for young women to live up to the standards the media has created. Young women have been negatively influenced by these advertisements every day; something has to be done. Young women are striving for a perfection that does not exist; this then affects their self-confidence and causes them to see their own bodies in a negative way. Researchers have found that in the United Sates, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak). Therefore, Average women watching these extremely thin actresses compare themselves to a body that is not the minority standard. Seeing these special case bodies does not make women feel good in their own skin. The pressure from the media on women is giving women a complex about their bodies. Women are going to extreme measures to obtain the perfect look that they see on the magazine covers. These daily influences are affecting women's thoughts on the way that they look. These influences should be positive not negative. The ideal body showcased by the media should be realistic, attainable, and real; not made on a computer.
In today’s society, young women are constantly reminded of what the standard definition of beauty is and what your body should look like in order to be considered beautiful. For instance, flipping through a beauty magazine or watching a music video and you’ll note that all most of the females all have a small structure. This message can have a negative impact on one’s self esteem. Media outlets give off the impression that having the “ideal” body is the key to having the perfect life, perfect marriage, success, and overall happiness. For instance, many weight loss infomercials emphasize that losing weight and becoming skinny will improve all those aspects in life. These messages have the potential for adolescents to develop an eating disorder in order to achieve things that we all desire. Although that message may be unintentional, the rapid growth of media allows adolescents to have access to both negative and positive messages that can influence body image.