The Perfect Body Essay

969 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of beauty standards

Society’s version of a “perfect body” has driven this generation wild. It has corrupted the minds of everyone making the people think they have to be skinny and fit, but not too skinny and not too fit; this is especially true for women. Women and men have had to hear how their bodies need to look all their lives for example, how they need to have curves but not too many curves, and if you are flat chested, you need more. Society has contradicted how all generations appearances need to reflect their opinions of a right or wrong body, and it has caused many issues for the people themselves, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa. Society wants people to perceive its distorted reality by giving them false images that not every individual can attain. In today’s society, every day you are compared to another person or see another image making you want to strive to be like them. Peer pressure for being a certain body type can come in all sorts of ways like magazines, social media, television, and sometimes even in your own home. Having social media ranges on most ages, but eight to eighteen-year old’s are in contact with social media for at least seven and a half hours a day (Media, Body Image, and Eating …show more content…

In males eating disorders are on the rise, because they want leanness and the preferred body type (Statistics on Bulimia). Society has put such a strong pressure on us to always be in what they think is in “good shape”, when in reality what they call perfect is mostly edited. Most eating disorders begin, because of bullying, body shaming, weighing in schools, and pressure to be thin (Statistics on Bulimia). Society wants us to be their version of perfect, but in reality there is no such thing. Everyone is all different sizes, and we shouldn’t strive to be anyone else’s version of perfect, because it does not

Show More
Related

  • Media And Social Media, Adolescents, And The Media

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Research 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

    Read More

  • Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders

    2668 Words  | 6 Pages

    The media can impact people’s lives in many ways, whether it’s fashion, movies, literature, or hobbies. One of the impacts is how women view their bodies. Movie stars and models feel pressured to catch attention and to look good in order to have a good career in their respective field. People tend to judge how someone looks based on their body composition. The result of this “judgment” is that Hollywood is getting skinny. Since models and actresses serve as role models for people, people tend to want to look like them. The result of this seemingly harmless model of behavior is in an increase in eating disorders.

    Read More

  • Anorexia And Bulimia Essay

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the years the rise in body image dissatisfaction has grown as both male and female progress to adulthood. This factor can be contributed to societal standards that the media presents to the public daily. These standards continue to rise making the body image more difficult to attain. With these standards comes the push to seek the “perfect body”. This myth of true beauty commonly found in today’s society, is the price that adolescents buy into often sacrificing their health. The perfect body can often present a distorted view of one-self leading to unhealthy methods of weight reduction. The most common methods for weight reduction are the diseases Anorexia and Bulimia. The similarities and differences between Anorexia and Bulimia will be used to prove that the society’s pressure to fit a certain mold contribute to the onset of the disease.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Eating Disorders

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    Researchers and doctors find eating disorders to be very complicated to figure out due to the many different factors leading to eating disorders. The majority of these issues derive from media images portraying the “perfect” bodies bringing people to believe that they need to change their eating habits to become that “perfect” image. On average, people waste around 31 hours a week on the internet and spend anywhere from two to four hours a day looking up cosmetic surgery procedures and investigating dietary and weight loss plans in an attempt to get that model worthy body (The Telegraph). Men and women should be proud of whom they are and not be envious of others so much as to want to change their entire appearance; God made us all perfect through his eyes; why would anyone want to change that uniqueness about them?

    Read More

  • Our Society’s Unhealthy Obsession with Size ZERO

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    I can’t help but point the finger towards today’s super-skinny models that set these atrocious trends of ‘size zero’. We’ve all seen it: their flawless, faultless bodies plastered all over magazines. Girls end up looking up to these ‘idols’ and their minds become engrossed with this so-called idea of perfection. What is a ‘perfect’ body in the minds of young girls, I hear you ask? Well, let’s say a bunch of emaciated-looking people would be an understatement. It’s even more saddening to hear that some girls aren’t even aware of the risks and realities...

    Read More

  • The Media's Influence on Body Image Disorders

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is the perfect body type? Throughout our adolescence ages into the adult hood stage many of young women struggle to answer this question. Our idea of what the perfect body type is ever changing however it is always influenced by the Medias perception of what the perfect body image should look like. We all idolize these images we see on television and in magazines and some of us would do anything to look just like them. This image forces us to have self esteem issues.These advertisements are damaging both our mental and physical state of being Many young girls who take extreme measures to live up to the Medias perception of the perfect body type are more likely to develop one of the many body image disorders. The average age a girl starts to diet is eight ("Media and Eating Disorders" 1). When a girl becomes obsessed with dieting and looking better, they can easily become anorexic or bulimic. 79% of teenage girls who vomit are dedicated readers of woman's magazines ("Media and Eating Disorders" 2). The Medias standard of perfection puts stress and pressure on young girls to become skinner. Eating disorders, excessive exercise, and depression are a result of the Medias influence on their self image. The media have negatively influenced the self image of young girls by forcing their unrealistic perception of what women should look like onto them .

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Body Images

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In our society today, people would rather see what celebrities are up to than what is going on with our health plan. Watching the news makes us aware of the latest trend, new gadget, who’s in rehab, or who has an eating disorder. In the eyes of society, women like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian, and Megan Fox are the epitome of perfection. What girl wouldn’t want to look like them? Unfortunately, this includes most of the girls in the US. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women emulate. The media has created a puissant social system where everyone must obtain a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so image obsessed with the approval of being thin and disapproval of being overweight, that it is affecting the health of most women. Women much rather try to fit the social acceptance of being thin by focusing on unrealistic body images which causes them to have lower self esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders, The media has a dangerous influence on the women’s health in the United States.

    Read More

  • Female Body Image and the Mass Media

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue, as mentioned above, is largely due to the fact that the media, and its air brushed models, urge women to change their appearance to become more attractive or healthy while gaining popularity and confidence with their new looks. As absurd as it may seem Celia Milne, the author of Pressures to Conform, upholds this idea and states “90 percent of Canadian women are dissatisfied with some aspect of their body” and that “they will go to frightening lengths to achieve their body ideal” (Milne 4, 9). Where does this dissatisfaction arise, and why should people who already have a normal body mass index (BMI) be intent on loosing weight? The answer lays in the media as it presents young women with idealistic body images that, although they may appear achievable, are entirely unrealistic. Despite this glitch, most women will continue striving towards perfectionism due to peer pressure, or media influx, thus becoming trapped with a goal that they can never reach. Dieting, excessive exercising, and weight loss programs are several of the healthy options that thi...

    Read More

  • Esther Greenwood Character Analysis

    2021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nowadays, girls grow up viewing stick-thin celebrities on their televisions and believe that their bodies are abnormal if they do not look the same. Eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and plastic surgery are at an all time high. Generations of women are burdened with depression,

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Eating Disorders

    2731 Words  | 6 Pages

    Eating disorders are more serious than people think; they are caused by genetic, biochemical, psychological, cultural and environmental factors. Researchers have yet to find an exact reason behind these causes, but they can identify many different factors that make people vulnerable to eating disorders. Eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia are not always an obsession of being thin. People of any gender, age or weight could have an eating disorder—and all for different reasons. People that suffer from these illnesses use food and unhealthy behaviors like dieting, starving, bingeing and purging to cope with unpleasant and overwhelming emotions and stressful situations. I believe that the media, shrinking pants sizes in clothing stores

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Body Image

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    People feel increasingly pressured by the media about their bodies. Each day we are bombarded by the media with all sorts of image related messages about the “perfect

    Read More

  • Perfect Bodies Research Paper

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    "You are bold, you are brilliant and you are beautiful," she told herself. "There is no other woman like you." (Ashley Graham) The 1960s was the time where "being skinny" was the new curvy. For decades models had curves and wore the most modest clothing. The 1960s was the turn over and a new beginning. Girls in today's time are pressured to have perfect bodies because of society. The world around girls is very cruel and expects them to have perfect bodies in order to be accepted. Not only does society pressure girls but girls pressure themselves because of the people around them.

    Read More

  • The Ideal Body Essay

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ways that society and social media has instilled into many teenage girls and boys that the ideal body is one that is skinny or muscular, has a flat stomach, thigh gaps, long skinny legs, big butts, and big boobs. People that are built this way are considered beautiful and are looked highly upon while those who are thick, fat, and have chunkier thighs and stomach is looked at by everyone as being a disgusting piece of trash that’s worthless and shouldn’t have a part in everyday life unless they change the way they look. Many young adolescent then proceed to take extreme precautions to try and lose all of the unwanted weight to achieve their ideal body. The steps they take to lose weight quickly leads to the development of eating disorders

    Read More

  • The Influence of Self-Assessed Body Image on Confidence and Self-Esteem

    2460 Words  | 5 Pages

    Research in psychology today seems to be drawn towards particular fields of interest especially when it comes to understanding human behavior. One of the most common research topics for social psychology is body image and the perceptions that are related to age groups, genders, and ethnicities. Young people today are pressured by society to make physical appearance a dominant factor in their everyday lives, and the pressure is found not only through media influence but friends and family as well (Pavica, 2010). These pressures can affect many different aspects of a person’s life and significantly influence their actions. The aspects affected by body image can include popularity among peers, social comfort, and the attitudes an individual comes to commit to behavior (Lewis & Rosenblum, 1999).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Eating Disorders

    2018 Words  | 5 Pages

    One could be looking at a perfectly healthy girl and she could look at her own reflection and see a “fat” or “unacceptable” body-image staring back her her. It might even be a high school boy who does everything he can to maintain his weight because the guilt he feels after eating could possibly ruin his chances of maintaining his “perfect” weight. A middle-aged woman can be so upset with herself that she eats continuously but never does anything to stop it or change her ways. The many types of eating disorders are truly a disease not a choice. Sarah Schuster says, “These disorders are real--not a fad, not a lifestyle choice--and are about so much more than being thin, despite what many think.”

    Read More

More about The Perfect Body Essay

Open Document