"Beauty is not what you see on the outside, it's what lies within." This is what we are taught throughout our childhood. However, by the time a person is in their teens, they have seen thousands of advertisements in the media, which stress the "perfect image." These advertisements send a message that this is how women are "supposed" to look. When women see these advertisements, many times they feel ashamed they do not look the way that the models do. But, should women feel like this? Most advertisements are not even directed toward beauty products. For instance, there are many commercials on television that focus on skinny, big-breasted, gorgeous women. However, the product being sold has nothing to do with the women themselves. If the product the advertisement is trying to sell is not a beauty product then why is the main focus on the attractive women? The answer to this question is: body image sells. American society has an obsession with the "perfect image" and advertisers flaunt this in persuading people to buy their products, knowing the negative affect on their viewers.
The definition of the "ideal body" has changed drastically throughout the years. Until recently, a well-rounded woman was considered most desirable, mainly because they were considered the most fertile. In the Victorian Era, if a woman was stick-thin, she was considered sickly. In the early 1900's the corseted, hour-glass look became fashionable. However, by the 1920's, the ideal body shape was quickly starting to slim down. The flat-chested, slim-hipped appearance was now in style. Yet, it was the full-figured shapes of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield turning heads in the fifties and sixties. This quickly segued into the scrawny Twiggy look. ...
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...mount of production, but have also modernized their style. Clothing for plus sized women use tot resemble a tent, now, they are sexy and revealing outfits. A high quality example of the new sexy style is the plus size clothing brands created by one of the most desirable celebrities, Jennifer Lopez. Her new clothing line is called JLO Lovelies, and it features plus size clothing for all ages.
Companies will always need a way to earn money, and as of right now, their way of doing that is by keeping women dissatisfied with their bodies. Companies do not earn money by telling their viewers that they are perfect the way they are, but that they need to purchase their product to achieve perfection. Therefore, even with the new demand for realistic sizes in models and clothing, women will still desperately desire the nearly unattainable image that the media sells.
Marilyn Monroe created a legendary image and was one of the most beautiful women of her time. Today, Kate Upton is almost the same size and some refer to her as “fat.” The ideal image fifty years ago was much more attainable than today’s standard extremely tall and thin models. What has changed in society to make us think this way? Modeling has changed drastically from an image that was curvy and healthy to an image that is very thin and hard to achieve.
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.
Researchers have used various abstract foundations for examining the relationship between media and body image ( Holmstrom, 2004). Here I review the theory that has been used by researcher in the area. Bandura’s Social cognitive theory (1994) assumed that “people learn and model the behaviors of attractive others”. The supporters of this theory suggest that young women find slim models in the media attractive and try to imitate them through dieting which leads them to eating disorders.
Mass media refers to the multiple platforms of communication that transmit information to a large number of people (Sociology Central, 1). Conventionally, mass media is a one-way communication that decimates only information, also known as traditional media – television, radio broadcast and print are such examples. With the advancement in technology and the Internet revolution it slowly evolved into another form – the new media, or social media. Now, it works on a two-way communication, which not only decimates information, but also provides a platform for feedback – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, are such examples (Sociology Central, 3).
Mass media is designed to reach large audiences through the use of technology. Its purpose is
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 .
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:
Does the fashion industry need skinny models to portray a clothing line? At a very young age, many people were introduced to models whether they are in ads, TV, or on magazine covers. This soon became a part of society to think that beauty is tall and skinny. But the truth is that the average American women is about 5’3 and weighs about 166pounds which is quite a difference to the average American model that’s 5’9-6’0 and weights about 110 pounds to 130. Looking at the statistics one might say that there is almost no correlation between the two. Meaning how can modern day women live up to these unrealistic ideas of beauty. I believe that this way of thinking can be changed by instituting varieties of shapes and sizes within the fashion industry.
A picture from Victoria’s Secret was shown and the tagline read “The perfect body” (Peterson). The body bra was advertised by three unrealistically thin, leggy, and large busted supermodels. Victoria's Secret customers were not happy with this advertisement and demanded an apology from the company, while the company did not apologize they did try to change the tagline but many of the customers still wanted their apology. This followed up with customers feeling insecure about their body, this advertisement in hopes to lead customers to spend more money on their product by felling pretty and or feeling the idea of a perfect body
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.
Women do this to try and pursuit the impossible standard of perfection. We should be able to look within ourselves for a sense of beauty and confidence regardless of what fashion advertising is saying. Finding your inner beauty is not easy for most young ladies. No advertisement should make you feel like your body is not good enough for this world. People worry about being so perfect that they don’t recognize the true beauty inside them. You need to be able to learn and love your body no matter what size or shape you are. An unrealistic photoshopped advertisement is changing us to believe that you can’t be happy until your body looks a certain
Society is now so used to seeing these models who have their beauty and superiority idolized that they feel all women must look this way. However, looking like a model is becoming increasingly unattainable. According to Bennett the difference between the catwalk and reality is so stark that the slightest change in a girls form makes them self-conscious because they are constantly sizing themselves up to models (Bennett). Today models are dramatically thinner and taller than they were a few years a...
Media, especially magazines, is known for taking things out of perspective when it comes to the way they view women. Sometimes they show unrealistic body images or they expect all women to act and look the same way, however things are starting to change and so should the way women are viewed through media. Magazines need to start including plus size women to model, not only to change the way things used to be, but to also give body empowerment to younger girls; they also to present models as who they are without using photoshop to make their bodies into something that can not be achieved.
...m, corporations will do anything to make a buck, including forcing women and girls to suffer health problems, low self-esteem, depression, and the adoption of subservient roles in society. Socialism would lay the basis for women's liberation. Advertising would no longer suffocate and distort women's sense of self-worth. A society based on equality and mutual respect would finally eliminate the second-class status women have held for thousands of years (Moore). If a women can't be happy with her body than she is not able to teach her children that their bodies are beautiful. Children are taught that fat is unlikable. They assume that all fat people eat all the time, are dirty, lazy, stupid, cheaters, and other negative images. Advertisers need to take into consideration the changing roles and sizes of women in society. Society is starting to accept other cultures, religions, and races, but they still don't accept people that don't have fit the “normal” body size. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if advertisements helped reinforce the many different definitions of beauty it would decrease the number of women who have poor body image, low-self esteem, and health problems.