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So, I wasn't planning on writing this, but my scheduled post had broken down, so I decided now would be a good time to post this. I know I am going to get so many questions asked by my mom and dad, but I just think that I have to say some things to be honest to my readers. I just needed to share this because hopefully it will help many people understand the flaws of society, and not of themselves. I have always been insecure about my body. Ever since I remember, I have always looked at my body with hatred because I couldn't accept that everyone has flaws. I know everyone thinks about themselves this way but I also know, this is a horrible feeling. Why do we feel so insecure about our bodies? Is it because society has an ideal body image? I …show more content…
That is until I moved to Japan. I saw how skinny everyone else was, and felt as if I didn't fit in. I know that it's not healthy to think that way, but I couldn't help myself. I was comparing myself to others. When I lived in Italy, I had never heard what a thigh gap was. However, when I came to Japan, it seemed as if everyone wanted one because that is what determined if you were skinny or not. Which, for the record, is not true at all. It has to do with which body type you have, and your bone structure. I, of course, believed everyone and kept a thigh gap in mind each time I took a picture, and pushed my legs apart to create the illusion of having thinner legs. Can you believe that a 6th grade did that? That is horrifying! All because of society's ideal body …show more content…
According to DoSomething.Org, "Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media." This is the real horrifying news. Can you believe what our society has done to some of these people's minds? To MY mind? People always say, "It's the inside that counts," but if we see all these things on the internet about being a specific size, then of course, we may not believe that the inside is the only thing that
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.
Another aspect of the ‘ideal’ body concept to explore is, what will the future hold for womens body image? At the moment future of the ‘ideal’ body looks bleak, with women trying to achieve something that is only naturally achievable for 5% of the population. Some experts are predicting the return of ‘recession curves’ where we deal with the uncertainty of the economic downturn with putting on extra weight, whilst others believe a truly full-figured ideal is still a long way off, largely due to the obesity crisis, which invariably carries with it negative health associations with being fat.
Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies. This can mostly be contributed to societies standards of what men and women are “supposed” to look like. This image is often affected by family, friends, social pressure and the media. Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media (“11 Facts”). "Body image" is the way that someone perceives their body and assumes that others perceive them, but the athletes who have a specifically hard time with body images are ones such as dancers, ice skaters, and gymnasts. The perfect body of a gymnast is someone who is about 5 feet tall
Every culture has a “perfect body image” that everyone compares their own bodies to. Girls especially have the mental thinking that they have to live up to the models on TV and magazines. In the United States the skinnier the girls, the more perfect their image is perceived. The “perfect body image” has an intriguing background, health and psychological problems, and currently few solutions.
The “skinny” look has not always been in style. In fact, in the 1800’s women wanted to be
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 powerful social system where everyone must have a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so 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.
Enough light is not being shed on body shaming. The media and society is far too busy creating ways for women to look like a super model. Absolutely nothing is wrong with wanting to be a super model. The problem is that too many women, especially young girls, are not being taught to love themselves and embrace their natural beauty. Having younger nieces terrifies me, because at the ages of 4 and 6 they already like the idea of wearing lipstick and hair extensions.
Throughout time, the most controversial subject among female’s health has been body image. Society and our culture molds females’s brains into believing that being thin is what will fulfill complete happiness. Being thin means you are more successful, loved, attractive, and overall truly beautiful. Thin women are seen as having an altogether perfect life. However, there is another female figure that is seen as undesirable, hopeless, mainly disliked by most. This type of woman is the curvy or larger female. If one were to go out on the street and gather a group of men and women and show them the thin vs. large female and which one is more attractive, most would say the thinner is. Thus, we deny the larger women because they do not fit societies norms. Thin women are timid to turn into this other that is not widely accepted. To this extent, society and our culture have constructed a monster.
The human body is one of the most complex and yet beautiful things on the earth. We live in a time where our perception of the way we view the body is driven my social stereotypes. In todays world we are supposed to live by the standards of this unwritten code. All of this affects the quality of life we live in. It ranges from the workplace; our personal relationships to the way strangers perceive a person. At this very day in age we are categorized due to being born male or female and things that should be talked about are considered taboo to others.
The overwhelming idea of thinness is probably the most predominant and pressuring standard. Tiggeman, Marika writes, “This is not surprising when current societal standards for beauty inordinately emphasize the desirability of thinness, an ideal accepted by most women but impossible for many to achieve.” (1) In another study it is noted that unhealthy attitudes are the norm in term of female body image, “Widespread body dissatisfaction among women and girls, particularly with body shape and weight has been well documented in many studies, so much so that weight has been aptly described as ‘a normative discontent’”. (79) Particularly in adolescent and prepubescent girls are the effects of poor self-image jarring, as the increased level of dis...
People feel increasingly pressured by the media about their bodies. Each day we are bombarded by the media with all sorts of image related messages about the “perfect
Having a lack of self acceptance can cause men and women to spend a meaningless amount of time loathing on their imperfections, which can also degrade their self-perception on their bodies. Women who have a hard time looking at themselves in the mirror are in a constant battle with their inner demons, telling themselves that they are not beautiful enough. For example, in the article, "Out-of-Body Image" by Caroline Heldman, she says how, "[Women] are more likely to engage in "habitual body monitoring"-constantly thinking about how their bodies appear to the outside world . . ." (65). Women can spend a futile amount of time feeding negative comments to themselves about their appearance, which can heighten their chances of becoming bulimic and anorexic. Once women start to over-analyze their bodies, it can become difficult to reverse their mindset to generate positive feedback about themselves. Likewise, when men lose their confidence in their self-image, their self-perception can get misconstrued and suddenly they can only recognize their flaws. For example, in the article, "How Men Really Feel About Their Bodies," the author mentions how in general, men are in a constant competition against other males to improve their bodies so that they can survive in the male society ( Spiker, 73). Men are always under intense scrutiny regarding their bodies because they are engendered to be physically strong and built, and that is where the stigma begins in the male society. In order to sustain in the male domination, men are constantly trying to rebuild their bodies to match perfection. When men see others that are more built, their self-perception slowly starts to degrade their confidence, and that is when they have the difficulty of accepting themselves. As a result, men and women who lack self acceptance start to obsess over their
When we start developing a desire to achieve this unattainable standard, the poor self-image monster gains the ability to manifest itself in our minds in many ways, and not just by making us feel bad about our figures. It can cause us to have depression, develop a tolerance of abusive relationships, commit to self-mutilation, and have many more harmful mental issues. To me this is what makes it a monster, something that is harmful and destructive and if we are not careful, we will unwillingly give it permission to take over and thrive, therefore, destroying us and even those around us completely.
Women have always had the pressure to have their body looking perfect always, which is unrealistic. Women come in all different shapes and sizes but are trying to fit into this certain mold. There was a study conducted at UCLA, that included 260 students, and its purpose was to see the differences in body imaging between men and women. When asked if they were terrified of getting fat, 27.3 percent of women said yes while only 5.8 percent of men said yes. Another question was if they felt fat though other people told them that they were thin. 35 percent of women said yes while only 12.5 of men said yes. This survey just shows how much pressure women have on themselves to have the perfect
The importance of body image and the idealisation of the ideal body have become more dominant in society today.