Female Body Image and the Mass Media

1547 Words4 Pages

As Samantha Murray sat in the audience, she thought to herself:
I suddenly became acutely aware of my own fat bulges and folds. I imagined every eye in the room on me, shaking their heads in pity, revulsion and even morbid curiosity. I pulled my shirt surreptitiously away from the bulges of my belly and my hips, trying to separate the appearance from the reality. I shifted in my chair, and felt my cheeks burn hot and my stomach churn... And yet I was ashamed. I was aware of the disgust my body inspired, its complete unacceptability and invisibility in the sexual domain, apart from as a figure of ridicule. I felt hot tears sting my eyes, and I knew I had to get out. I squeezed my wide hips between the rows of chairs, and fled the room. (238)
In modern day society, many adolescent girls are self-conscious of their bodies, like Samantha Murray. In “Female Body Image and the Mass Media: Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard,” Kasey Serdar writes, the standards of the woman’s body are visibly set through forms of media; furthermore, the pressures are high to achieve these unrealistic looks (1). A plethora of self-esteem issues result from the media’s portrayal of unrealistically thin models. In addition, today’s society places a significant amount of importance on what the eyes perceive, rather than what is on the inside, as the article “Factors That May Contribute to Eating Disorders” states (1). As a result, eating disorders now begin at a younger age, since girls grow up viewing the “ideal body” as skinny; furthermore, images in the media affect the self-esteem of women so immensely that many develop eating disorders after spending time viewing these unrealistic images. Women should not feel the need to cha...

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...tories, Inc., 2014. Web. 28 March 2014 .
York, Christopher. “Eating Disorders: How Social Media Helps Spread Anorexia And Bulimia In Young People.” The Huffington Post. AOL Limited, 23 April 2013. Web. 19 March 2014 .
Zimmerman, Amanda and John Dahlberg. “The Sexual Objectification of Women in Advertising: A Contemporary Cultural Perspective.” Journal of Advertising Research 48.1 (March 2008): 71-79. Business Source Premier. EBSCOhost. Howland High School Lib., OH. Web. 28 March 2014 .

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Female Body Image and the Mass Media

The Sociological Impact of Media Body Induced Image on Women