The Media Lies: Effects of the Media on Body Image
Recent studies have shown that approximately 75 percent of adolescent females wish to be thinner and over 35 percent of them resort to drastic extremes to achieve the new “thin ideal.” (Body Dissatisfaction in Early Adolescent Girls) Today in our culture, this ideal of body image is portrayed in every aspect of our lives. We see a representation of attractive, extremely thin women in magazines, television shows, movies, commercials, etc. The new body image, which today is described as being perfect, is a new, unrealistic standard of skinny. This type of representation presented by the media compels female adolescents to view themselves in negative ways which results in eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, or even depression. The new standard of the “thin ideal,” according to society, is simply unattainable and irrational. So the question still remains: How has the media altered female adolescence’s perspectives on the “perfect” body image, and how has this changed our female society?
While women have made significant advances over the past decades, the culture at large never fails to place a strong emphasis on the way women look. The new standards for beauty are ultimately causing dramatic influences on adolescent females and their body image. Anyone who is familiar with American culture knows that these new standards for beauty is proliferated through the media. No matter the source, we are constantly surrounded by all kinds of media, and we continue to construct ourselves based on the images we see through the media. The more young girls are surrounded by the “thin ideal” kind of media, the more they will continue to be dissatisfied with their bodies and themselves. Thi...
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Media is infamous for having a tremendous effect on teenage girls. The mass media have long been criticized for presenting unrealistic appearance ideals that contribute to the development of negative body image for many women and girls (Harrison & Hefner, 2006). Whether it’s the influence on their choice of friends, school, or their self image, media has played an important role in affecting those decisions. A growing number of experimental studies have demonstrated a causal link between acute exposure to "thin-ideal" images (i.e., images of impossibly thin and attractive female beauty) and increased body dissatisfaction (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). It has recently been brought up that media influences girls in preadolescence, which is highly likely since most young girls idolize Barbie (Rintala & Mustajoki, 1992). “Were Barbie a flesh-and-blood woman, her waist would be 39% smaller than that of anorexic patients, and her body weight would be so low that she would not be able to menstruate” (Rintala & Mustajoki, 1992). Most young girls wish that they could look like Barbie when they grew up, but if they knew the reality of having her measurements their perceptions would probably change. Children frequently fantasize about who they will be, what they will do, and how they will look when they grow into adulthood.
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
Researchers have used various abstract foundations for examining the relationship between media and body image ( Holmstrom, 2004). Here I review the theory that has been used by researcher in the area. Bandura’s Social cognitive theory (1994) assumed that “people learn and model the behaviors of attractive others”. The supporters of this theory suggest that young women find slim models in the media attractive and try to imitate them through dieting which leads them to eating disorders.
Girls are now led to believe they are not as good as what the “ideal” women based on looks. Even though, “on average the model weighs 23% less of what the average women living in the United States really weighs” (.) Young women are striving for an outcome that can be unobtainable based on body structure, and are left insecure when their goal is not reached. Eating disorders such as, “anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are the result and the top three eating disorders among the teen community today” (.) The idea of perfectionism takes over their mind to knit pick themselves until girls, unfortunately, fall for things like anxiety disorders, depression, and turn to substances that hurt the body, not help it. In a People Magazine survey, it showed that “80% of female respondents feel that women in movies and television programs made them feel insecure about their bodies” (.) The “look” they are creating is not only unhealthy, but it is spreading an unhealthy image to girls just maturing and is damaging their ego in the developing years of t...
The media has had an increasingly destructive effect on young people who are becoming worryingly obsessed with their body image. The media is saturated in sexual imagery in which young people have to face every day. The sheer volume of sexual imagery in the media today has resulted in the vast majority of young people to become hooked on looking as near to perfection everyday by using the latest products and buying the latest fashions. This used to be enough but lately the next step to achieving perfection is cosmetic surgery. Everyone wants to look attractive, especially teenagers who are not only put under massive strain to succeed but to look beautiful and climb the ranks of the social ladder, and it seems that the only way to achieve the much desired beauty is to turn to drastic measures.
One's body is what makes us who we are. Every single person is unique due to an individual physical trait. Even though everyone has an opinion about what his or her perfect body would be, changing one's personal features would take away from individuality. I personally would never have plastic surgery because when I look at myself, I do not see a tall, skinny young man with a funny looking nose and big "bug" eyes, rather I see a beautifully sculpted masterpiece that God has made just for me. I take pride in the fact that there is no one else on this earth exactly like me. Not just my inner beauty, but my outer beauty makes me different from everyone else. Life would be so boring if everyone looked exactly the same. I personally could not be more content and happy with my body image. What’s body image? Body image is how people picture themselves and how they think other people picture them. It is basically how you feel about your body, and it includes your perception, imagination, emotions, and physical sensations. Mass media has been able to shape popular culture and often influence public opinion. However, when abused, the power of media can harm the general population. Images portrayed by the media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals. Stereotypes formed by the media that include thin, tanned women, and wealthy, muscular men have led to a decline in self-acceptance. The majority of media today often present the perfect body to the public, hoping that consumers will strive to achieve fitness using a certain product or idea. While this form of advertising may somewhat increases a product's market share, many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of f...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In our society today, people would rather see what celebrities are up to than what is going on with our health plan. Watching the news makes us aware of the latest trend, new gadget, who’s in rehab, or who has an eating disorder. In the eyes of society, women like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian, and Megan Fox are the epitome of perfection. What girl wouldn’t want to look like them? 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 puissant social system where everyone must obtain a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so image 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.
Media influence the way teens see themselves. TV, movies, magazines and the internet all bombard teens with unrealistic images which are air-brushed versions of models who weigh 23% less than the average woman and influence about what their bodies should look like. It even reinforces unrealistic body weights, encouraging “10% body fat for young girls but realistically 22% body fat is healthier. Nevertheless, millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold.
Society is greatly affected by the media’s outlook on different aspects of life, it has a large effect on body image. Body image in America has been a growing problem for years as more young women feel the need to do anything they can to stay thin, trying to live up to what society has taught them is beauty. Many of these ideals have been presented through the media, social and general alike. However, there are also positive sides to the media and they are now doing positive things to improve body image in young women today.
Young girls in today's society are constantly being bombarded by the onset of media exposure. Often time adolescents struggle with their body image because it does not resemble the ones portrayed in the media. Media uses ultra slim individuals to portray the image of beauty onto society. The images portrayed in beauty magazines send distorted and warped ideas of what an acceptable body image is to influential adolescent woman. (Laurie, Sullivan, Hill & Davies, 2006; 356). The standards of body physic set by the media are unattainable for the many subjectified adolescent woman. A study was done in a variety of Jr...
The media have been criticized for portraying the thin women as “ideal” .This research plans to look at the effects of media on the body image of women. This cumulates the findings of empirical studies that observe the effects of media on body image. This study will also look at the different social comparison theories that relate media and body image. It will also investigate the different sources of media that have an impact on the body image of women. It also scopes to find out which sources have a greater consequence than the others. Furthermore it also researches about how the women could be prevented from comparing their body image from that of the models and actresses portrayed in the media.
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...
Is the media helping or hurting the way women view their bodies? The media has a powerful influence in women's everyday lives. The media constantly sends messages of what women should spend their time and money on; Putting a picture in women's minds daily of what they should look like. False images of young beautiful women are airbrushed and altered to perfection to hide every flaw. It is impossible for young women to live up to the standards the media has created. Young women have been negatively influenced by these advertisements every day; something has to be done. Young women are striving for a perfection that does not exist; this then affects their self-confidence and causes them to see their own bodies in a negative way. Researchers have found that in the United Sates, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak). Therefore, Average women watching these extremely thin actresses compare themselves to a body that is not the minority standard. Seeing these special case bodies does not make women feel good in their own skin. The pressure from the media on women is giving women a complex about their bodies. Women are going to extreme measures to obtain the perfect look that they see on the magazine covers. These daily influences are affecting women's thoughts on the way that they look. These influences should be positive not negative. The ideal body showcased by the media should be realistic, attainable, and real; not made on a computer.
The pattern is similar for the portrayal of women on television, magazines, and other parts of the media. The way media represents women are for them to be thin-like models and other women on television to be the high standard of “attractiveness” to others. The advertising involved targets young teenage women and feature these models that are portraying desirable items, and the “norm” is for these women to be slender and beautiful (Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012). Research has been done to prove that media’s pressure on being thin causes women to be depressive and negative feelings about themselves . Women’s view are skewed and perceived incorrectly of what the typical female body should be (Haas, Pawlow, Pettibone & Segrist, 2012).