Let's say I have a friend named Mitch. Mitch tries and tries to attract any female he can, but he gets rejected all the time. His problem? He doesn't meet their physical requirements. He is overweight and doesn't have a chance of getting that perfect muscular body anytime soon. Knowing this is the reason for his rejections is very unsettling. It lowers his self-esteem and he no longer feels confident enough to roam the streets. He feels ugly and unnatural. Comparing himself to the guy in the magazine makes him feel worthless and unsatisfied with himself. He becomes stressful, and he is pressured into getting a better body. When exercising and working out doesn't get him results fast, he tries other things. After trying a number of fad diets, …show more content…
All of this a result of a chain reaction caused by society's unreasonable body expectations. Ultimately, body expectations are harmful and provoke negative emotions and effects on people who do not meet them. When those affected by body standards do take action, it is costly to achieve. The most common forms of taking action are working out at a gym, and plastic surgery. In an article titled “Why We Sign Up For Gym Memberships But Never Go To The Gym”, Stacie Smith writes that a gym named Planet Fitness charges "between $10 and $20 per month" with on "average, 6500 members per gym. Most of the gyms can hold around 300 people. Planet Fitness can do this because it knows that members won't show up". Basically, the gym knows that most people will put off going to the gym, or will start to give up on it and stop going. This is why even though thousands of people are subscribed to a gym, the gym can only hold about one-twentieth of its members at one time. Combine the cost of everyone in one gym, there are upwards of ten thousand dollars being spent, with only a portion of that money being worth it. However, there is a second route for …show more content…
But how can body expectations be bad when they motivate people to work harder at getting the ideal body? One cannot doubt, that some people definitely have a story about using body standards for motivation. For example, my dad was overweight, and you could tell just by looking at his stomach protrude through his shirt. He wanted to look better and more fit, as he was in the market for finding a girlfriend to settle down with, and with a little hard work and time, he lost the majority of that excess fat. So, back to the question, if body standards help people, how are they bad? Well, this story does not apply to most, it only applies to a very small portion of those affected by expectations. Those who do not take action are likely to get really hurt and have a lower self-esteem and confidence level. Those who do take action will most likely not get the results they want in the time they want and will turn to unhealthy fad-diets, substance abuse, and other methods to get that lean body. Some who do get the results they want may have a distorted view and over-exercise or under-eat, causing more damage. Almost all of these results are unhealthy and can cause injury or even death. A study titled “Prevalence of BDD” talks about body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), where it says that BDD affects “1.7% to 2.4% of the general population — about 1 in 50 people". This number could be higher since many people are reluctant to unveil
Customers usually make decision of purchase by comparing the “value” of a product or service, which can be looked as the benefit–sacrifice ratio. Many customers find the prices of most health club and gyms too high because they see little value in some of extra amenities, in other words, they find that the benefit they receive is not valuable, comparing to the sacrifices they make; in this case, the benefit-sacrifice ratio in this case is pretty low. Therefore, Planet Fitness offers good value membership, which means high benefit-sacrifice ratio for customers, comparing to other major gyms.
A major threat to the business is the fact that UW-‐Oshkosh students already pay for a gym membership that is included in their tuition. It is important that we do everything possible to promote Planet Fitness and draw this group in. We will minimize this threat by offering student discounts and gearing our promotions towards the younger demographic.
When you look in the mirror you see your imperfections. You see your perceived flaws; things that nobody else recognizes about you and you think that there has to be some way to change it. In today’s world, society places impossible standards on the way you’re supposed to look and recently young American males in their teen age years have become increasingly self-conscious about their physical appearance. In the article “The Troubled Life of Boys; The Bully in the Mirror” author Stephen Hall investigates the changes and causes of the increase in males becoming concerned with wanting to be more muscular.
This country places great value on achieving the perfect body. Americans strive to achieve thinness, but is that really necessary? In his article written in 1986 entitled “Fat and Happy?,” Hillel Schwartz claims that people who are obese are considered failures in life by fellow Americans. More specifically, he contends that those individuals with a less than perfect physique suffer not only disrespect, but they are also marginalized as a group. Just putting people on a diet to solve a serious weight problem is simply not enough, as they are more than likely to fail. Schwartz wants to convey to his audience that people who are in shape are the ones who make obese people feel horrible about themselves. Schwartz was compelled to write this essay,
While both genders suffer from body Dysmorphia the percentage rates of genders don’t really differ from each other, but the flaw each gender suffers from does differ. Females are typically the ones
With America’s obesity rate on the rise a CrossFit gym that welcomes beginners, thoroughly teaches and explains each exercise and can offer a group atmosphere that’s welcoming to individuals who have never worked out before could help decrease the obesity rate. The group aspect of CrossFit is beneficial because it’s a motivator to keep attending workouts and to reach the goals you have personally set. Attending a CrossFit gym could also be a motivator because not only is the coach pushing them to get through the workout but the other members of the class are pushing each
...ternational Journal of Eating DisordersVolume 29, Issue 4, Article First Published Online: 28 MAR 2001." Body Image in Boys: A Review of the Literature. Wiley Online Library, 14 Mar. 2000. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Veale, D., Gournay, K., Dryden, W., Boocock, A., Shah, F., Willson, R., & Walburn, J., (1996). Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Cognitive Behavioural Model and Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 717-729.
Black, Tamara. 2008. Exercise and Fitness in a U.S. Commercial Gym.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.
...o weight problems and a tiny waist may become overwhelming at times, but when you look at all of the factors that play into your choices of fad dieting or healthy diet and exercise the choice becomes a lot easier. Fad dieting comes with the risks of disease, diminished appearance, and doesn’t even provide the long term desired affects. Healthy diet and exercise helps cure the body and keep it going strong, enhances the beauty you already possess, and has long lasting results that give you the body of your dreams. So when your looking at the skinny bodies on the magazines stating that “they lost 15 pounds in 4 days”, try to remember what those 15 pounds may have cost them. When your looking at the person that worked hard with proper diet an exercise and has that certain glow about them remember that although it is tough at first, it is better done the healthy way.
No one wants to be or feel like they are overweight, unhealthy, or unattractive. When someone in the general public looks in the mirror or steps on the scale, and they are not satisfied with what is being shown, one of the first ideas to bubble to the surface is dieting. There are so many dieting solutions out there and one of the most popular are the fad diets. Dieting should be about getting healthy and losing weight in a healthy way. Fad diets however, are about losing a lot of weight in a disproportionally short amount of time. Due to the loss of weight that the dieter wanted, when they reach their goal weight, they stop doing the fad diet and go back to their regular diet. This causes the weight that they shed to be put back on again in a disproportionally short amount of time, which is also just as unhealthy. This cycle of losing and gaining weight is only one of the many dangers of fad diets.
People react differently depending on their own traits. Studies have shown that women identify the media as the major source of the perceived social pressure to maintain a thin body image. Male body image suffers as well. When men are exposed to unrealistic male bodies, they can suffer from the same symptoms as females. People should not let the media negatively influence their bodies. The public needs to view the media for what it’s worth…pure entertainment. Media’s depiction of a “normal” body type portrays a standard of beauty that is unattainable. Both women and men are suffering from trying to reach these unattainable goals and are suffering from low self-esteem, depression and eating disorders. This is a huge epidemic and hopefully one day it will change. The media needs to promote healthy lifestyles and show men and women of all shapes and sizes that they can feel good about themselves. The “real size” people in the world, will then be able to stop feeling pressured by the media to obtain a certain standard body
After reading this paper, there should be a better understanding of how the media incorrectly portrays these ideas. First, I’m going to focus on how the media destroys people motivation by displaying misleading photos in their advertisements. Most gyms, workout facilities, and athletic wear clothing get models that are very physically fit to advertise their company in their commercials, which is understandable because you do want the best to advertise your product. But when using people that look like they have been in the gym working out for over ten years, it can be very discouraging to the person that is just trying to start working out. And even more discouraging, most gyms will use models that use supplements that help improve their body size and strength.
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
...things like Hamburger or sausages, than to peel and boil potatoes, cook vegetables and make a meatloaf. Finally, poor people don’t have enough money to join fitness centers. Fitness centers as everyone knows, cost a lot. Especially that he or she needs a personal trainer, which will also coast them much more money to pay. In addition to that, anyone who joins a fitness center needs to go on a certain diet, and this means those poor people need to buy healthy special food, which they certainly can’t afford.