Emily Thomas Mrs. Lamon English 101 24 September 2015 Being Different is Ugly In today’s world, beauty is mistaken for simply matching society’s extremely high standards for individual appearance. Therefore, people tend to think of being “beautiful” as only being an exact copy of what men and women are told by their surrounding community to be, rather than “the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind” (“Beauty” 1). Furthermore, beauty is not simply possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, or think about; beauty is merely the quality of mirroring the behaviors of others. The sociocultural standards of beauty for an individual are extremely unattainable, …show more content…
thus causing the extreme dissatisfaction people tend to feel towards themselves. “Body image is a complicated aspect of the self-concept that concerns an individual’s perceptions and feelings about their body and physical appearance” (“Female Body Image and the Mass Media: Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard” 1). The way females view themselves is influenced by the media beginning at a young age. Countless studies and surveys have proven the reality of the twisted idea that to be a woman, you must fit the required extremely high standards set for them to live up to. “… Studies have found that nearly half of females ages six to eight have stated they want to be slimmer” (“Female Body Image…” 1). Within our modern society, the media has such an underestimated brainwashing effect on people’s minds; often times the plague of teaching children to fit a set societal standard goes without any realization. Children are exposed to the stick-thin accepted look through television, movies, and magazines. “…Women who reported greater exposure to television programming during adolescence were more likely to experience high levels of body image disturbance than females that did not report such levels of exposure” (“Female Body Image…” 1). The society we are living with is a quite repulsive one since we do not know how to sell a product or service unless it is being indorsed by a woman with a girl’s body. The outrageous beauty standards are very clearly prominent, yet no one ever thinks to take a stand against the large corporations who insist on insulting women who are shorter than six feet tall and weigh more than one-hundred twenty pounds. “Researchers have called female’s concerns with their physical appearance ‘normative discontent’, implying that body dissatisfaction affects almost all women at some level” (“Female Body Image…” 1). Instead of accepting females “normative discontent’ with their bodies and simply calling it a societal pattern for insecurities in all women, perhaps we should put an end to the constant body shaming towards women who don’t fit the accepted appearance. While the scientific reasoning behind the insecurities of a woman's mind is still unverified, studies do suspect there is a direct relationship between insecurities and media.
"Many of the models shown on television, advertisements, and in other forms of popular media are approximately twenty percent below ideal body weight, thus meeting the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa" ("Female Body Image..." 1). We are trapped in a constant cycle of raising the image standards higher and lowering the age in which insecurities begin. "[Tiggeman (2003)]... found that women who read fashion magazines displayed higher levels of thin-ideal internalization, which is a powerful risk factor for development of weight anxiety and disordered eating patterns." Not only is the media-set beauty standard unrealistic, it is dangerous to the mental, as well as physical, health of those influenced. The numbers of eating disorder patients have skyrocketed over time, almost as if it is a direct relation to media use and the involvement of media in an individual's life. We live in a society that is centered around celebrities and hearing the press talk about a woman gaining five pounds like it is breaking news. With all our focus aimed towards their every move and appearance, it is hard not to become obsessed with our own. The problem of self shaming and unhappiness with one's body is stemmed from the distorted image we have been given by our society of what one is required to be. "Most companies that target women in the media actually attempt to foster social comparison with idealized images, in order to motivate women to buy products that will bring them closer to the ideal" (Female Body Image..." 1). Rather than finding the extreme insecurities which are an immediate result of news, television, movies, as well as advertisements sickening, large companies and corporations actually feed on to the virus overtaking the female mind by convincing women to buy their product in order to make
themselves closer to perfect. Traditionally, beauty has been defined as merely possessing traits that are satisfying to one or more senses. However, throughout the growth of media, beauty has been redefined as a stick thin model with a BMI equivalent to her shoe size. Perhaps if we spent half the time we waste on being a part of the Kardashian-crazed, hashtag infested society we have built, we would come together to realize the true beauty of not only women but also the beauty behind not worrying about our number of followers as well as the beauty of learning that you aren't the ugly one, society is.
know beauty in any form”(86). We are so conditioned to see female beauty as what men
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.
At no time in history have women been so pressured to be thin. Inner beauty and personality is no longer enough. Women all over the world look at themselves and can only find imperfections. Media constantly shows thin, youthful, and “perfect” women, whom in reality have just as many imperfections as the average woman. Body image in the media tends to be a controversial topic on whether or not it has a negative effect on women in today’s society. “. . . this obsession has contributed to an increase in eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression among women in the United States” (Point: Body Image In The Media Is An Unhealthy Picture). What the public sees as beautiful has constantly changed over the decades. These changes have transformed the messages of the media to “you must be this size or you are not beautiful.” Many women have spent and wasted their lives with diets and starvation in order to reach the standards the media sets. A controversy has evolved from the question as to whether media is the real cause of these problems. Women now see themselves in a negative light due to the change in what is seen as beautiful in society and a constant use of airbrushing in advertisements. This has resulted in an increase in eating disorders and self esteem issues.
“From children's toys to TV programs, images of the idealized body have permeated every level of our visual culture” (Swinson). As the Advertisement industry continues to grow, the focus on looks is increasing as well. With around half of the advertisements using beauty as an appeal to sell their products(Teen Health and the Media), the pressures to be 'perfect' are causing women to become dissatisfied with their looks, driving them to turn to unhealthy measures. The average teenage girl gets a significantly greater amount of media time each day compared to the amount of time they spend with their parents, this is usually around 180 minutes of media per ten minutes spent with their parents (Heubeck). With so much time spent on media influenced activities, and the constant exposure to unhealthy models, it is no surprise that women are being influenced. Most female fashions models wear a size two or four, while the average American wears a size twelve or fourteen (Mirror-Mirror).When advertisements manipulate the photos of their models, it alters the way that women view themselves. Advertisers should not be allowed to promote unhealthy body images because it leads to an increase in self-consciousness, eating disorders, and suicide.
Long slender legs, slim figure and size zero hips , that stunning runway model on America’s Next Top Model is the motivation for staying in shape. Appallingly, this motivation is the primary cause of life threatening eating disorders in our young women today. According to a research, 95 % of those suffering from eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25, the primary audience of Fashion modeling television shows. 70% of girls from grades 5 to 12 say magazine images of fashion models influence their ideals of perfect body. 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 stay fit. 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 are suffering from an eating disorder themselves. Our young women are growing up in a society where they are not comfortable to eat what they crave without regret. To worsen the situation, Victoria Secret models pose in their bikinis in advertisements, building up guilt in young minds. The fashion modeling industry is a leading contributing factor to the increasing number of eating disorders in young females today. Fashion modeling industry is the main source which exposes underweight models on runways and advertisements. Rather than sending the positive message beauty is health, the industry is giving out negative directives to its audience. It is influencing them to believe that being size zero is the only de...
Media has a heavy influence on women’s perception of themselves and conforming to the world has grown into a normal occurrence. Girls want to be deemed beautiful by society so badly that they will conform to any idea presented by the media (Piercy). Technology has made it near impossible to avoid images of stick thin models and advertisements on getting thin quick. Media has made women conform to their idea of the perfect body and the perfect weight. Magazines are read by millions of women every day, and they do not portray real images of models. They are air-brushed, photo shopped, and computer generated versions of those women (Eating Disorders and Media Influence). Cheri K. Erdman expresses, “Even the models we see in magazines wish they could look like their own images.” Magazine articles on having the best hair and the best skin conform women’s minds to the idea that being “perfect” is their only option. “Does...
In today’s society, technology is used on a daily basis; whether watching television, using social media, or reading a magazine, people are influenced by what they see. As a result of this, some people develop an eating disorder because their view of what is attractive is distorted because of what is shown in media. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females” (ANAD). The common misperception is that eating disorders are a “woman’s disease” although one out of ten people who have an eating disorder are male. Although it is by no means the only cause, it is believed that media effects how women perceive themselves, but most people don’t consider that media effects how men view themselves.
A recent psychological study revealed an astonishing truth about the media’s powerful impact on female self-esteem: Seventy percent of women feel depressed after looking at a fashion magazine for three minutes (Women’s Health, Taft College). The media’s excessive use of photoshopped models brainwashes females into believing that they must obtain impossible-to-reach beauty standards that lower their self-esteem, and the desire to fulfill such standards can cause potentially life-threatening mental disorders such as depression, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.
Through the use of imagery, the display of life-styles, and the reinforcement of values, advertisements are communicators of culturally defined concepts such as success, worth, love, sexuality, popularity, and normalcy. Of particular concern over the past two decades has been excessive use of sexual stereotypes, especially of women. Women are directly affected by this advertising, beyond the mere desire to purchase the product or service described. The influence of the media on people is tremendous, and the effect of advertisements that direct images of beauty, and the perfect slim figure have a harmful effect on a great deal of the world's population, especially women. The media has portrayed the “perfect body image” so successfully, that women’s self-image, self-esteem and even their health is affected. Looking at the media, it’s almost impossible to ignore the many images of thin, beautiful women. In many women’s magazines, nearly every other page is covered with an advertisement that displays a person with the “ideal body”, a slim figure, a happy face, and trendy or chic clothes. Most of the advertisements in magazines try to present models as realistic representations for consumers, particularly women, to compare themselves. Not only do magazines try to portray the “perfect image,” but also television advertisements try to achieve this representation of the perfect body. Television broadcasts events and shows like “Miss America,” and “Baywatch” that represent unrealistic body types for ordinary women. To accomplish the goal of looking like the models being displayed all over the media, women think they need to diet. If it was dieting just for the fact of making women feel better, it would be all right, but the purpose of most people is different. When women compare themselves to models and pictures of people in advertisements, they believe the only way they will get noticed is if they also appear the in the same image of the models. To achieve this goal, they begin to starve themselves. They start to believe that by eating anything at all they will get fat and the most important thing to them is not to be fat. It becomes a compulsion to become thin and some women will do anything to get there. Women need to realize that what the media displays as the “perfect body” and what really is the healthy body are two different things. Even if a woman does get d...
In David Gauntlett’s article “ Women’s Magazines and Females Identities Today’s” she states, “...eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have one of the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric illnesses, and that ‘ the degree of thinness exhibited by [fashion models] is both unachievable and also biologically inappropriate, and provide unhelpful role models for young women’... The point remains that, for those who are psychologically predisposed to anxiety about the body, or control of the self, media images can play and unhelpful role.” (Gauntlett, 194). This doesn’t necessarily mean that every model is anorexic or faces eating disorders, but the concern of the influence of what kind of message is being sent to our younger generation. Young females around the world are starving themselves or going to extreme measures to exceed this image of a model that is advertising a high end brand, and they do these actions to become just like them. Although magazines may not intentionally send that message to young females, but in a sense females wouldn’t exceed that image unless they do
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.
The increase of eating pathology is partially due to the mass media. The unrealistic thin images of models in the media in comparison to female's actual self-image. The exposure to images of slender models could lead to restrained diet, and several other risk factors. According to an experiment by Field, they found that males that were looking to imitate models in the media, use products to enhance their appearance. Researcher Anschutz, Strien and Engels stated that approximately 20,000 television commercials are viewed by adolescent in the US every year. Companies use attractive, thin models to promote their merchandise. The social comparison suggest that person analyze their own appearance in an negative aspect after watching exceeding attractive people. (Anschutz, Van Strien & Engels, 2011)
Researchers agree that a medium that depicts cultural norms and beliefs of “ideal beauty” have a direct negative impact on the perceptions of young women’s self-image. According to Bissell and Rask (2010), women who are exposed to mediated images, which portray extremely thin models result in negative body image, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and overall dissatisfaction. The overwhelming pressures to be young, thin, and beautiful are the twisted expectations of the American culture. Kilbourne (1999) argues that, “…advertising is one of the most potent messengers in a culture that can be toxic for girls’ self-esteem…” she further argues that advertisements contain “…glossy images of flawlessly beautiful and extremely thin women…” (as cited in Bissell & Rask, 2010). As a result of such advertising, many young women and teens have a manipulated perception of beauty. Research supports this claim by showing that the average US model portrayed in advertisements is 5’”11” and weighs 117 pounds; when in reality, the average US women is only 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds (Media and eating disorders 2006 as cited in Bissell & Rask 2010).
Magazines have been read since the seventeenth century and have influenced people when it comes to buying the newest products and advice on how to improve one’s life. Beauty magazines today hold women to a higher standard than ever before. For women to be indispensible in society they need to wear their makeup a certain way, dress in a particular fashion, and look utterly flawless. According to Kate Fox, a writer for Mirror Mirror, “Recent experiments have shown that exposure to magazine photographs of super-thin models produces depression, stress, guilt, shame, insecurity, body-dissatisfaction and increased endorsement of the thin-ideal stereotype. Magazines like Vogue and Elle are banned in many eating-disorder clinics, because of their known negative effect on patients ' body-image” (Fox 29). Granted, with the amount of exposure to magazines, women feel aggrieved with their bodies and do not consider themselves beautiful. Aesthetic people come in all shapes and sizes yet the ideal exquisite alters their translation of
When researchers asked one hundred eighteen female, college-aged students to look at twenty pictures in ads from women's magazines, they felt a sudden change in mood after the pictures were observed. There was notable depression in the women, a depression that has seemed to hit many women after leafing through women's magazines (Key and Lindgren 11). This depression is due to the fact there are so many negative messages being conveyed in advertisements that are published in women's magazines. But who can blame the women for their depression anyway? When the majority of the ads in women's magazines show super-skinny models advertising nice clothes, makeup, jewelry, etc., one might find themselves to be a little down. Skinny models portray their figures to be the cultural norm in Western society today. How often does one find a model in a woman's magazine that is over a size six that is not shown advertising plus size merchandise? The answer is not very often, or sometimes never at all. If women do not see their body type being depicted in advertisements, then they are bound to feel left out and depressed. The women will be led to believe that they are not desirable to the public; therefore they must do something about the way their body looks. Unfortunately many times women turn to eating disorders to try to take care of this problem. They become anorexic, bulimic, or other types of eating disorders in a strive for body perfection. All of this melancholy just because of what society teaches women is the only acceptable way to look.