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The impact of media on self image, beauty and self esteem among women
Negative impacts the media has on body image
Negative impacts the media has on body image
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SA may be shifting as seen from a statement made by Thandi Ntshihoeoe’s in an article “Africans look for Beauty in Western Mirror”: “It’s embarrassing to be a fat African mama now…. We are more aware of our bodies since we got democracy; we want to be healthy, independent women, who look good.” According to Schuler (1999:1) costly cosmetic surgery has also become fashionable among the up-and-coming black professionals especially since SA’s beloved talk-show host Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, boasted having surgery to downsize her “African Trademark” buttocks.
When a society such as SA, where certain race groups were previously disadvantaged, shifts from a rural environment where there were basically no media, to an urban environment where there
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Additionally, these upward comparisons usually create a negative self-perception of the woman regarding her attractiveness (Morrison et al., 2004:573) and comparison to those such as media images create even more pressure to conform to idealised standards (Irving, 1990:103; Morrison et al., 2004:574). Women often believe that if only they had the perfect looks, consistently portrayed by the media, they would be perfectly happy (Featherstone, 2010:196). These findings concurred that it is of the utter-most importance to teach women not to compare themselves to the unrealistic standards of body image the media portray, but to realise that these standards are unrealistic. It is even more important that women should avoid pursuing these unrealistic …show more content…
Holstrom (2004:196) concludes that dissatisfaction arises when these media viewers begin to see the “above average” body image ideal as realistic, and also physically attainable. Usually women will not accept these new “above average” body image ideals as the norm if the media showed these images less frequently. For the media to affect women, these body images have to be increased over time through frequent and repetitive viewing. Excessive viewing of media imagery may promote the internalisation of the ”above average” body image ideal (Hendriks & Burgoon,
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
Yamamiya, Y., Cash, T. F., Melnyk, S. E., Posavac, H. D., & Posavac, S. S. (2005). Women's exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: Body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions. Body image, 2(1), 74-80.
...ce political and socially, the harsher the beauty myth is used against them. In this case, the punishment for rebelling against the majority culture by adapting a ‘subversive’ hairstyle, the thinner you have to be in order to still be considered beautiful. Furthermore, thinness in the Black community is difficult to achieve. Typically, Black body structure, food and eating culture doesn’t easily result in thinness. This is the price Black women pay for this new expression of self.
Cox’s work is exactly the type of discussion that is needed to move the discourse on black women’s bodies from being regarded as part of a stereotype to being regarded as individuals with beautiful differences. This is not a ‘re-mirroring’ of the ‘un-mirrored,’ but rather a creation of a new image, void of previous misconceptions but filled with individuality. The stereotypes concerning black women’s bodies needs to be abolished, not reinvented like Hobson suggests in “Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture.”
The ideal female beauty in American culture is predominately white (Bankhead & Johnson, 2014). Throughout U.S history, women’s mainstream beauty ideal has been historically based on white standards such as having blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a thin ideal body, straight hair, and thin lips (West, 1995; Yamamiya, Cash, Melynk, Posavac, & Posavac, 2005; Leslie, 1995). Therefore, the features of African American women tend to be viewed as undesirable and unattractive compared to the European standards of beauty (Awad, Norwood, Taylor, Martinez, McClain, Jones, Holman, & Hilliard, 2014). According to Ashe (1995), “African beauty, body and hair have been racialized, with slim/”keen” European features being the accepted standard of beauty since enslaved Africans was forcefully brought to the Americas.” The physical characteristics of Black women such as having broad noses, brown skin, full lips, large buttocks and course hair has been looked down upon throughout United States history (Byrd & Tharps, 2001). In effect, the standard of beauty of European features that were forced on slaves are internalized and currently seen in the standard of beauty of African Americans (A.A) (Chapman, 2007). These standards include African Americans perceiving light-skinned as being more favorable than dark-skinned (Maddox & Gray, 2002; Perdue, Young, Balam,
Van Vonderen, K. E., & Kinnally, W. (2012). Media effects on body image: Examining media
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.
Self-esteem focuses on personal body outlook as a whole. Body esteem is how one feels about his/her own body. Body satisfaction is an evaluation of how one thinks about his/her own body. In A Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Media Images on Men’s Body-Image Concerns, the conclusion from the study conducted was that “pressure from the mass media was significantly related to men feeling worse about their own bodies.” When someone’s esteem is lowered, depression can occur. This is an extremely dangerous negative effect from the media because this can lead to self-harm, or worse, suicide. From the study, it can be concluded that extremely muscular and “ideal” male body image types that the media portrays negatively affect how men think, feel, and see themselves on a daily basis (Barlett, et
The way a woman was perceived as beautiful has changed so much even over the last 50 years as I have discussed previously. If we look at Marilyn Monroe and compare her to Tyra Banks, who has made it her passion in life to stretch the definition of beauty (Pozner, 2013) the difference is uncanny. Marilyn Monroe is the most acclaimed sex icon of the 1950’s and she was not astonishingly slender. Meanwhile Tyra banks up until a couple years ago had always been immeasurably skinny. Women nowadays are required to be excessively skinny, toned, tall, and have flawless skin if they want to fit into the “most beautiful” column. Although Tyra Banks presumably believes that she is an exceptional advocate for young girls in the media, she is also delivering a skewed image of self-love through her show, America’s Next Top Model (Pozner, 2013). Every woman on that show either fits the media’s standard of an ideal woman, or they are ridiculed/questioned. The media is making it impossible to achieve such high standards. Even for black women, there is the stereotype that they have to have huge behinds and appear to be super ghetto like Nicki Minaj; even she received cosmetic surgery to enhance her bust and rear, as well as slimming her waist. She did all these things to appease her viewers. It is impossible for women to achieve these different standards
Dittmar, Helga. "How Do "body Perfect" Ideals in the Media Have a Negative Impact on Body Image and Behaviors? Factors and Processes Related to Self and Identity." : Sussex Research Online. N.p, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
In this age, media is more pervasive than ever, with people constantly processing some form of entertainment, advertisement or information. In each of these outlets there exists an idealized standard of beauty, statistically shown to effect the consumer’s reflection of themselves. The common portrayal of women’s bodies in the media has shown to have a negative impact on women and girls. As the audience sees these images, an expectation is made of what is normal. This norm does not correspond to the realistic average of the audience. Failing to achieve this isolates the individual, and is particularly psychologically harmful to women. Though men are also shown to also be effected negatively by low self-esteem from the media, there remains a gap as the value of appearance is seen of greater significance to women, with a booming cosmetic industry, majority of the fashion world, and the marketing of diet products and programs specifically targeting women.
As mentioned before, unrealistic media images are very prevalent. This creates the illusion that females who match the ideal seem like the norm rather than the exception. These perceptions and the constant comparisons lead to the cultivation theory which is known as the contributions media exposure makes to the viewer’s perceptions of social reality (Von Vonderen and Kinnally 53). The repetitiveness of these images influences the individual’s ability to understand that the images are unrealistic. Over time the nearly impossible standard of beauty is adopted and perceived as “reality.” People who watch heavy amounts of TV are more likely to see the real world according to what they have watched. Viewers often seek out programming that reinforces their beliefs, further strengthening their attitudes. If a woman has low self-esteem and views media that portrays emaciated models as beautiful, those negative attitudes will only be reinforced. A person’s level of awareness of the characteristics portrayed by the media is an indicator on how they will internalize these images. Females that are more aware of the media’s effects are more likely to be resilient to body image concerns and females that are unaware are more likely to show symptoms of body disturbance (Serdar). Therefore, if a woman is unable to determine that the media is unrealistic she will be more likely to internalize the images and be more prone to body dissatisfaction.
The media’s portrayal of the female body image has a negative effect on the female population, as shown in both literature reviews and this research. The dominant factors which affect body image are that of the frequent comparison to others, seeing models, celebrities, in the media as well as the general society around. The supposed ideal physical appearance and what is considered to be the ideal body plays a great role in the nega...
Men and women were not seen as equal human beings; instead it has been obvious that men were more likely to be on the upper hand. In 1987, it has been recorded that 2/3 of the people who were presented in the media were male. However, it is evident that the media usually presents and sexualizes women who are “young, fit and beautiful” hence probably creating self esteem issues more than confidence, especially in younger women who are religious towards the media’s expectations. This stereotype of a desired body shape only forces women to meet unattainable, perfect physical standards (Gill 2015).
Black Beauty is a story told from the perspective of a horse, of which the title is named after. The story chronicles his life, from birth to adulthood, and how he encounters different owners and faces challenges and hardships along the way.