Media Influence On Body Image Essay

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The Media’s Influence on Body Image Everybody is born to be different. Therefore shouldn’t we all have a different perspective on what is “beautiful”? Our body is what makes us who we are and a person different from everyone else. At one point or another, we have all looked in the mirror and wish to change the way we look. Why can’t we be happy with the way we look? Many believe that the media is to blame. Unattainable ideals of beauty presented in the media are creating problems in society. The messages that media sends out to viewers are setting unrealistic standards for both men and women; this is causing emotional and physical problems for people. To help end this problem, advertisers and the fashion industry should make an effort to …show more content…

And whether we know it or not, the media exposes us to so many images that are “perfected” with the help of technology. Most of the pictures we view in the media of these perfect people are either use of models and actresses that are underweight or close to it, or by making the models and actresses fit their idea of ideal thinness and beauty through digital manipulation. But do we really understand how serious this issue is? These photos are changed to fit unrealistic ideals. These unrealistic ideals that we see are so hard to maintain and achieve, causing problems all across the world. Why does the media continuously send out these unhealthy standards to us? The media industry as a whole is a multibillion dollar industry, and the fact that people are constantly being told that they need to look better, feeds into the bottom line of these industries selling the perfect image. Sad but a person will spend endless dollars on trying to perfect themselves, the companies that create the fantasy of the ideal female body, just keep getting …show more content…

The media illustrates these standards through the models we see every day. For females the body image is very slim but curvy and an importance on having large breasts; however, for men the standards are to be tall, and trim but muscular and toned. Wither many people realize this or not, this problem has been going on for decades. The media’s idealized portrayals of beauty have always placed standards for people. In 1920s they idolized the female body as being narrow hipped and flat-chested. Over time a new image was valued, in the 1950s there was emphasizes on proportioned hips and breasts. Icons that were portrayed changed over the years; for example first, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth to 1950s icons Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield, then to 1960s stars such as Ann-Margret and Raquel Welch. The 1960s made a mark of a new beginning of new body image trend. The new body image was popularized by the English model and actress, known as Twiggy. Twiggy was about 5’8” tall, and weight almost 90 pounds. This had made a significant difference to the 1950s beauties because they were about 5’6” and 120 to 130 pounds. Ever since Twiggy’s trademark still to this day set a body image standard for women which is unhealthy and unrealistic. Standards of beauty are being imposed on women as well as

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