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The negative impacts of idealistic beauty standards
The negative impacts of idealistic beauty standards
How media influences diet
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The Unrealistic Concepts of Female Beauty Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In the eyes of society, women like Pamela Anderson, Tyra Banks and Carmen Electra are the epitome of perfection. What girl would not want to look like them? Unfortunately, a number of girls want to be just like them. Every year, millions of people are hurting themselves trying to be carbon copies of these sex symbols. The media presents society with unrealistic body types promoting people, especially women, to look like them. In this day and age there have been an increasingly high rate of eating disorders. The trend of turning to these eating disorders to maintain that perfect, “accepted” body type are now very common amongst women of all ages.The trends that influence these women include entertainment industry in our society, the peers and friends of women whom are all included in the same social group, and the pressure in athletics to maintain the perfect body weight in order to perform to the standard that will allow them to rise to the top. The first and most common influential cause of women turning to eating disorders is when women look at the beautiful people and begin to compare themselves to society’s entertainment business. Television and magazines are two of the most powerful methods of communication entire society. Women's magazines contain many more advertisements prompting weight loss than men. There was rise in eating disorders and advertisements promoting weight loss in in women's magazines body image has certainly changed over the decades. The media keeps dispensing images, but they don't realize the negative effects its causes on women and girls. Time and time again, you hear this confession in the conversations between wi... ... middle of paper ... ...he trend of eating disorders to lose weight. How do we change our thinking and feeling habits in order to unite our various parts and eliminate the negative views of the media? When will women stop turning to eating disorders in order to be as skinny as a friend in their social groups? Will athletes realize that by turning to eating disorders to lose weight they are actually making themselves weaker? There needs to be action taken on the petty trends that influences women to obtain eating disorders. The entertainment business, peer pressure, and supplements throughout the sporting community must be altered so that the intensity of pressure placed upon women will be lessened. The only way our culture will change is if we stop believing in the social attitudes which make us fell not good enough and start believing in ourselves and our right to our individual body.
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.
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.
Some may say that the media does not have much of a substantial influence on young adults, but some at risk teens have cited that their reasoning behind their development of eating disorders are in response to the many adverts and images that are represented in social media culture. The media in today’s society continuously advocates images of falsely induced perfection women all around the world. The industry that controls what people see on television and in advertisements knows that only a small percentage of average individuals possess these attributes or fit their set high standard of beauty. The idea that one can never be “too rich”, or “too thin” is prevalent in the media as well as in most media oriented images. Social media’s use of unrealistic models send an implicit message, that in order for a woman to be considered up to an acceptable standard, they must be in some sense of the word unhealthy, most people who are being portrayed in advertisements are well below the range of being considered healthy. To understand the reasoning behind why women and even men take this idea of body image to extremes, the term body image needs to be examined. Body image is how an individual feels when they look in the mirror or when they picture themselves in their own mind. It encompasses it what some one believes about their own appearance (including memories, assumptions, and generalizations). Never showing goals or putting emphasize on education or academic achievements. Objectifying the body and making it seem as though appearance is the only achievement to be set in one’s life place little room is placed on young men and women to have more focus on more educational goals.
Paragraph 1- Girls can become victims of eating disorders because of society's promotion of an ideal thin female body. Models and stars shown in the fashion industry, magazines, movies, and other forms of media often appear very thin. These models are not a true reflection of the average female. Many are unnaturally thin, unhealthy or airbrushed. One former Victoria Secret model was shocked by the waiflike models that were shown on the runway during designer shows. A study referenced in the the article “Do Thin Models Warp Girls Body Image” describes how studies of girls as young as first grade think the culture is telling them to model themselves after celebrities who are svelte and beautiful. The same studies showed girls exposed to fashion magazines were most likely to suffer from poor body images. Psychologist and eating disorder experts agree the fashion industry has gone too far in showing dangerously thin images that women and young girls may try to emulate. The use of super slim models and stars, is sending the wrong message to young impressionable girls. These harsh influences lead us to think that thin is ideal body size. Seeing super thin models in the media plays a role in anorexia. Society’s promotion of a thin female body contributes to eating disorders for females striving to achieve this ideal bod...
One of the main external factors in the development of an eating disorder is the media. The media objectifies both men and women throug...
The Globalization of Eating Disorders by Susan Bordo was a powerful article addressing the subject of eating disorders. The purpose of Bordo’s article was to bring the issue of eating disorders into a new light. Bordo proposes the claim that the increase of eating disorders is attributed to the images and media surrounding us. She provides specific examples and evidence of this to be true. She also not only shows the spread of this epidemic in women, but men as well.
“The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it is clear that, although virtually all women are exposed to these socio-cultural influences, only a very small proportion develop clinical eating disorders (Mazzeo and Bulik). Every article believes that socio-culture have an impact on eating disorders. Although, researchers believe that is not the only reason, and the easiest statement to make. Eating disorders are far more complicated than it just being blamed on the media. Bagley, Mazzeo and Bulik all state that media play a role in the development but are not the main reason to developing an eating disorder. In all of the research done thus far media is a part of eating disorders, but not the only culprit.
Eating disorders are described as an illness involving eating habits that are irregular and an extreme concern with body image or weight. Eating disorders tend to appear during teenage years, but can develop at any age. Although more common in women, eating disorders can affect any age, gender or race. In the United States, over 20 million women and 10 million men are personally affected by eating disorders. There are many different causes of eating disorders such as low self esteem, societal pressures, sexual abuse and the victims perception of food. Eating disorders are unique to the sufferer and often, their perception of themselves is so skewed, they may not be aware they have an eating disorder. Media, for quite some time now, has played a significant part in eating disorders. Magazines with headlines ‘Summer Body’, or ‘Drop LB’s Fast!’ attract the attention of girls who may be insecure with themselves. Television productions such as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or American’s Next Top Model, show airbrushed and photoshopped women who have body types that may be unachievable. Those who are suffering from eating disorders can suffer dangerous consequences, and it is important to seek help.
Next, media has an overwhelming power over women’s opinion of their own body. Everyday, the media does not have a problem displaying women that are extremely skinny, which may be a product of an eating disorder. Young women begin depriving themselves from food because they view these women on advertisements as acceptable and desirable to society.
Among women in the U.S., is a constant reminder with the underlying message being “be skinny or die trying”. There is a plethora of diet plans, pills, and meals, and women seem to get the idea that they need to change some sort of physical attribute about their body. Most grown women are aware of anorexia and the effects it can have on the body. Nonetheless, the problem lies within the four walls of the women’s homes. Contained by those walls are the daughters of the women, and they, unlike their mothers’ don’t understand the actual effects of not eating enough. All the young teens understand is that they are not as skinny as the other girls they are surrounded by on a daily basis. –Research shows that by the age of 7, many children have already decided that it isn’t okay to be fat. – The datum that it has already crossed the minds of seven year old girls to want to be thinner, should be an automatic red flat to the media, and society, to tone down the signals they are sending young girls in America. -69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.- Social media and other forms of media cause more problems with anorexia than people assume. In a particular instance, the clothing store, Urban Outf...
“There’s no magic bullet; there’s no pill that you take that makes everything great and makes you happy all the time. I’m letting go of those expectations, and that’s opening me up to moments of transcendent bliss. But I still feel the stress over ‘Am I thin enough? Am I too thin? Is my body the right shape?” –Anne Hathaway. It seems as if every young girl’s desire is to become a model. Eating disorders affect an increasingly large number of people, especially young women, in today’s modern societies. One study even found that some girls are more afraid of being fat, than of a nuclear war or getting cancer. The most common types of this disorder are anorexia, bulimia, and purging, each having a discrete effect on different people. Right now, one percent of all American women- our sisters, mothers, and daughters, are starving themselves to death.
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.
We live in a world where the media makes us believe that looking good is important, especially for women. Young women today, are caught up in their body image and some of them turn to eating disorders because they think it will help them get the body that “perfect” in the eye of the public. According to the findings of Reinkin and Alexander (2005), the number of female college athletes from 1971 to 2000 increased by more than 500% (Reinkin & Alexander, 2005). Female athletes are more prone to eating disorders than men because, they are expected to look a certain way and look attractive. In the research of Greenleaf, Petrie, Carter and Reel (2009) it states:
The human body is one of the most complex and yet beautiful things on the earth. We live in a time where our perception of the way we view the body is driven my social stereotypes. In todays world we are supposed to live by the standards of this unwritten code. All of this affects the quality of life we live in. It ranges from the workplace; our personal relationships to the way strangers perceive a person. At this very day in age we are categorized due to being born male or female and things that should be talked about are considered taboo to others.
A tall, glamorous runway model is every girl’s dream. Long beautiful legs, lean body, and beautiful shiny hair is what an average young woman views as an ideal image for a female. If you don’t resemble the images of those stunning Victoria Secret models and Fashion Week models, you suddenly become ashamed of your own body. It is a great life to have with the high pay, fame, drinking champagne on a yacht with famous celebrities and even being on the Vogue cover page. Fashion Modeling Industry has been the most influential source in our young women’s lives. Young girls and young women are seen eating as little as they can, even starving themselves at times to resemble those models. What they don’t realize is that they are contributing to the 2.7 percentage of 13- 18 year olds suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Susan Albers, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic said exposure to thin models is a great trigger in maintaining an eating disorder. When watching America’s Next Top Model or flipping through a Fashion magazine, these young women don’t apprehend that those models are either naturally slim or they are suffering from an eating disorder themselves, in other words, hostages in the dark hell hid behind those runway curtains. The growing number of young anorexia and bulimia patients, and the number of websites such as thinspiration, where girls put up pictures of their thin bodies clearly suggest that the fashion modeling industry do not at all bear any responsibility in providing healthy, realistic physical role models for young women.