Unrealistic Body Image

1080 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How media has affected body image over the years

“Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does” - DOVE Campaign for Real Beauty
People need to be informed on an issue in light of the fact that unrealistic beauty standards, set by the society, are harmful and can cause a “schema that combines three fundamental components: the idealization of slenderness; an irrational fear of fat; and a belief that weight is a central determinant of one’s identity” (Lintott 67). Our society promotes a specific body image as being attractive: being thin. It is represented throughout mass media, both in the physical and online worlds. The media exposes society with unrealistic body types, pushing individuals, especially women, to look like them. Today, negative body image encourages women to engage …show more content…

These factors end up resulting in serious eating disorders. Today, there is an increasing rate of eating disorders than there used to be. The eating disorder symptoms are becoming more common among young women. It is alarming to think that eating disorders and detrimental dieting has become normalized in our society. The two authors, Ninoska DeBraganza and Heather A. Hausenblas, in their article, “Media Exposure of the Ideal Physique on Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Mood”, looks at how the media make women judge their bodies. They argue that “the encouragement of thinness leads to eating disorders within young women and there is a strong connection between the media and advertising (DeBraganza 709). In addition, they continue by stating that, “advertisements and images of women” are taken in ways that inspire female audiences to “follow a specific mindset when looking at other women and themselves” (DeBraganza …show more content…

The optimal beauty has been revealed through an assortment of body types; however, Fiona MacCallum notes in her article, “Altered Images: Understanding the Influence of Unrealistic images and Beauty Aspirations”, that the thin ideal has been a “sign of femininity,” stressing women to display a specific body figure (MacCallum 6). This ideal has ended up influencing women to lose weight since the 1800’s, and today, models are much thinner. In 1980, “a fashion model was 8% thinner than the average woman. In 2015, that percentage has risen to 23%” (MacCallum 7). In the current society, agencies are actively seeking out thin

Show More
Related

  • Dangers of Advertisments in Jean Kilbourne' Killing Us Softly

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a brilliant update of the Killing Us Softly series, Jean Kilbourne explains the dangers of advertisements and how they objectify women. Advertisements intelligently portray women in a sexual and distorted way in order to attract the consumers’ attention. Media sets a standard on how young women view themselves and puts them at risk for developing an eating disorder. Kilbourne’s research has led her to educate those who have fallen victim to achieving the “ideal beauty” that has evolved in today’s society.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Media on the Body-Image of Preadolescent Girls

    1991 Words  | 4 Pages

    Advertisers use women that are abnormally thin, and even airbrush them to make them appear thinner. These advertisers promote a body image that is completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b). It has been instilled in these advertisers’ minds that a thinner model will sell more (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Media has a direc...

    Read More

  • Leslie twiggy Hornby

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Twiggy to Kate Moss, the fashion industry has been attached to idealizing extreme slenderness, encouraging real women to hate their bodies and at extreme, develop anorexia or bulimia. If these models are exemplars of ideal beauty, then the measure for women is that to be beautiful, starvation level is required. It appears that the media and the fashion industry would have the public believe that ultra thinness symbolizes beauty when in reality, the standard represents infertility, and premature death. The public has to realize that Twiggy is different.

    Read More

  • White Washed World

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Media is a wide term that covers many information sources including, television, movies, advertisement, books, magazines, and the internet. It is from this wide variety of information that women receive cues about how they should look. The accepted body shape and has been an issue affecting the population probably since the invention of mirrors but the invention of mass media spread it even further. Advertisements have been a particularly potent media influence on women’s body image, which is the subjective idea of one's own physical appearance established by observation and by noting the reactions of others. In the case of media, it acts as a super peer that reflects the ideals of a whole society. Think of all the corsets, girdles, cosmetics, hair straighteners, hair curlers, weight gain pills, and diet pills that have been marketed over the years. The attack on the female form is a marketing technique for certain industries. According to Sharlene Nag...

    Read More

  • Media's Role in Promoting Eating Disorders

    1864 Words  | 4 Pages

    The complications that accompany body image have long been an issue in society. Body image is the sense of how an individual views his or her own body as compared to others in society, or what is considered to be the ideal body image. There are many different factors that effect ones body image, but a major influence is the media. The media has long been associated with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder where an individual participates in self-starvation, and bulimia is an eating disorder where an individual will eat as much as he or she wishes and then purges the previously eaten food. These are two destructive eating disorders that are associated with a negative body image. This comes to question, does media have an influence on creating a negative body image, which may inherently lead to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia? Anorexia nervosa and bulimia affect various age groups but is extremely common in adolescence and emerging adulthood. During this stage in an individual’s lifespan there is a lot going on with ones psychological development as well as body. How an adolescent views his or her body image be highly impacted by how the media portrays what the ideal body image is. According to Berger (2015), “as might be expected from a developmental perspective, healthy eating begins with childhood habits and family routines” (p.415). If proper eating habits are not implemented negative body image and eating disorders that are associated with media becomes further predominant in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

    Read More

  • Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders

    2668 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Anorexia Essay

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... creation is just a doll” says the article “Beyond Thin”. But with people in pictures and magazines it’s different. A study in Europe links the fashion industry's use of super-thin models to the self-identity problems of many young women.

    Read More

  • Anorexia Essay

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the main external factors in the development of an eating disorder is the media. The media objectifies both men and women throug...

    Read More

  • Socio-Cultural Influences on Eating Disorders

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it is clear that, although virtually all women are exposed to these socio-cultural influences, only a very small proportion develop clinical eating disorders (Mazzeo and Bulik). Every article believes that socio-culture have an impact on eating disorders. Although, researchers believe that is not the only reason, and the easiest statement to make. Eating disorders are far more complicated than it just being blamed on the media. Bagley, Mazzeo and Bulik all state that media play a role in the development but are not the main reason to developing an eating disorder. In all of the research done thus far media is a part of eating disorders, but not the only culprit.

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders : Eating Disorder

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eating disorders are described as an illness involving eating habits that are irregular and an extreme concern with body image or weight. Eating disorders tend to appear during teenage years, but can develop at any age. Although more common in women, eating disorders can affect any age, gender or race. In the United States, over 20 million women and 10 million men are personally affected by eating disorders. There are many different causes of eating disorders such as low self esteem, societal pressures, sexual abuse and the victims perception of food. Eating disorders are unique to the sufferer and often, their perception of themselves is so skewed, they may not be aware they have an eating disorder. Media, for quite some time now, has played a significant part in eating disorders. Magazines with headlines ‘Summer Body’, or ‘Drop LB’s Fast!’ attract the attention of girls who may be insecure with themselves. Television productions such as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or American’s Next Top Model, show airbrushed and photoshopped women who have body types that may be unachievable. Those who are suffering from eating disorders can suffer dangerous consequences, and it is important to seek help.

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Body Images

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most fashionable, sought after magazines in any local store are saturated with beautiful, thin women acting as a sexy ornament on the cover. Commercials on TV feature lean, tall women promoting unlimited things from new clothes to as simple as a toothbrush. The media presents an unrealistic body type for girls to look up to, not images we can relate to in everyday life. When walking around in the city, very few people look like the women in commercials, some thin, but nothing similar to the cat walk model. As often as we see these flawless images float across the TV screen or in magazines, it ...

    Read More

  • Media And Eating Disorders

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ninety percent of the eating disorder cases occur in women ages twelve to twenty-five and many researchers believe the media is to blame. Though there is no single cause of an eating disorder, multiple studies cause an eating disorders to the media. With being vulnerable to the “thin ideal” in mass media, there is an increased risk of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. (“Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders”)

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders

    1895 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everywhere one looks today, one will notice that our culture places a very high value on women being thin. Many will argue that today’s fashion models have “filled out” compared to the times past; however the evidence of this is really hard to see. Our society admires men for what they accomplish and what they achieve. Women are usually evaluated by and accepted for how they look, regardless of what they do. A woman can be incredibly successful and still find that her beauty or lack of it will have more to do with her acceptance than what she is able to accomplish. “From the time they are tiny children, most females are taught that beauty is the supreme objective in life” (Claude-Pierre, p18). The peer pressure for girls in school to be skinny is often far greater than for boys to make a team. When it is spring, young girls begin thinking “How am I going to look in my bathing suit? I better take off a few more pounds.”

    Read More

  • Unrealistic Advertising And Eating Disorders

    2096 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is said that “over 24 million people suffer from some form of an eating disorders, and the root of these problems are often linked to rampant advertising that portray skinny, overly-bronzed, hyper-sexualized women as the ideal woman” (Powell). Even though there is no lone cause of disordered eating, research shows that media does in fact contribute to eating disorders. Research also shows that, “many of the models shown on television, advertisements, and in other forms of popular media are approximately 20% below ideal body weight, thus meeting the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa” (Serdar). Although eating disorders are not directly linked to the effects of media, they are certainly discussed a lot.

    Read More

  • Obese Discrimination Against Women

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the 1960s the term “thin” never went away. As more women felt the need to be thin, “eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia became increasingly common”(Krammer, Sprague). Statistics show that 30% of the adults in America are obese, and this shocking numbers is only growing. The term “good looking” today is defined by what is seen in magazines, movies, and and on social media. Models also set an image that isn’t necessarily healthy because it was found that “in magazines that feature ultra-slim models (some critics have suggested these models are virtually anorexic) the models are highly likely to have a BMI well below “normal” levels”(Krammer, Sprague).

    Read More

More about Unrealistic Body Image

Open Document