Whoever controls the media, controls the mind. Jim Morrison. Since World War II, the media has increasingly advertised a slimmer and thinner body image for the ideal body type. The media has become more influential in our lives, so much that it influences how each person feels about their own image. Studies show that Body image is closely linked to self-esteem. Low self-esteem in adolescents can lead to eating disorders. The most common eating disorders in American are Anorexia Nervosa, a serious psychological disorder characterized by a lack or loss of appetite for food and Bulimia Nervosa, illness in which a person binges on food then uses different methods for example vomiting or abusing laxatives to prevent weight gain. Advertising is defined as a form of communication in order to persuade its audience to take interest in a product or to buy the product. However, instead of a commercial just simply stating the facts about what the product does and its side effects producers instead use another method, such as semi naked actors, models and famous athletes who all have something in common, most are thin. Commercial media must create a fantasy world that we hope, in some way, can become ours. Advertising, predominantly for fashion and cosmetics, has a powerful effect on how we see ourselves and how we think we should look. Media images of the unattainable thin body can be found almost anywhere. The media influences how we think, act and dress and new advances in technology has helped advertisements and its effects to begin in younger ages. Today you cannot read a magazine, newspaper, turn on the television, listen to the radio, or shop at the mall without being hit with the message that fat is bad. 69% of girls in 5th – 12th gr... ... middle of paper ... ...eved February 2, 2014, from http://milkenroar.com/blog/2013/12/05/thin-gods-image/ News, A. (2013, March 25). ‘Thigh Gap’: New Teen Body Obsession? ABC News. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/25/thigh-gap-new-teen-body-obsession/ Rader, J. (2012, August 28). Does the media cause eating disorders? Health Care Communications. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Main/Articles/Does_the_media_cause_eating_disorders_9417.aspx Teen Health and the Media. (2009, October 10). Teen Health and the Media. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts 'Thigh gap' trend raises health concerns. (2013, October 4). USA Today. Retrieved February 2, 2014, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/04/weight-loss-thigh-gap/2924733/
Gibson, Megan. "NewsFeed." Thinterest When Social Networks and Body Image Collide Comments. Time.com, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Achieving a thigh gap is society’s latest trend, particularly in today’s youth. The thigh gap has become widespread among social media sites – namely, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. It is through these sites that the concept of Hot Dog Legs arose. Models all across the runways sported thigh gaps, and it soon became an obsession for teenage girls. The thigh gap does not exist outside the world of media.
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
Smolak, Linda, Michael P. Levine, and Ruth Striegel-Moore. "Media as Context." The Developmental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders: Implications for Research, Prevention, and Treatment. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1996. 235-53. Print.
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.
National Eating Disorder Association (2006). The media, body image, and eating disorders. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Deanne Jade believes that the media does its part to keep us informed on "valuable information on health and well-being," (Jade 8). I agree however I feel that is done in such a manner that girl feel as if they must exhaust the media’s advice on fitness and health and use these methods in order to obtain the picture perfect body image that they see on TV and in magazines. A cou...
“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.
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
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.
Levine, Michael P., and Sarah K. Murnen. "Everybody Knows That Mass Media Are/Are Not [Pick One] A Cause Of Eating Disorders": A Critical Review Of Evidence For A Causal Link Between Media, Negative Body Image, And Disordered Eating In Females." Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology 28.1 (2009): 9-42. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Strasburger, V., & Donnerstein, E. (1999). Children, Adolescents, and the Media: Issues and Solutions. Pediatrics, 103(1), 129-139.
The media have been criticized for portraying the thin women as “ideal” .This research plans to look at the effects of media on the body image of women. This cumulates the findings of empirical studies that observe the effects of media on body image. This study will also look at the different social comparison theories that relate media and body image. It will also investigate the different sources of media that have an impact on the body image of women. It also scopes to find out which sources have a greater consequence than the others. Furthermore it also researches about how the women could be prevented from comparing their body image from that of the models and actresses portrayed in the media.
Rader, Jonathon. "Does the media cause eating disorders?." healthcarecommunication.com. N.p., 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
The advertising involved targets young teenage women and features models that portray desirable items, and the “norm” is for these women to be slender and beautiful (Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012). Research has been done to prove that the media’s pressure on being thin causes women to be depressive and have negative feelings about themselves. Women’s views are skewed and perceived incorrectly of what the typical female body should be (Haas, Pawlow, Pettibone & Segrist, 2012). Body image for women has always been stressed for them to look a certain way and to try to obtain “physical perfection.” But due to the pressure on women to be this certain way, it is common for the mass media to be destructive to the young, impressionable girl.