American Body Image Essay

A very prominent and controversial issue related to media-idealized images is that of eating disorders and eating problems. Eating problems include binge eating, purging, and unhealthy eating problems. These disorders are seen in young adolescents who are at a very fragile stage of life. Teenagers experience bodily changes as well as peer pressure and new experiences of going into high school. According to Dakanalis et al. the media portrays individuals with an extremely thin build for females and a slim-muscular build (i.e., muscles along with minimal body fat) for males is considered to be the cause of body displeasure and eating pathology. There is no solid evidence to prove that the media is to blame for the degree of eating disorder symptoms and negative body-image feelings that many feel, hence the reason it continues to be a highly debated topic. There has although, been continuous research and theories comprised over objectification. This occurs when men and women are sexually objectified. A person is treated as a body, where beauty and attractiveness of a person are important and valued. This theory can be found nearly anywhere because of the amount and variety of social interaction. It is common because of the way media represents body images. The media has ideals of men and women’s body images and individuals are compared to how well

Currently in America Culture there is a prevailing desire to become thin. "Between five per cent and ten per cent of girls and women (i.e. five-ten million people) and one million boys and men suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or other associated dietary conditions." (http://www.annecollins.com/eating-disorders/statistics.htm) So many people are influenced by the media that it transforms their own self image into unrealistic ideas leading many adolescent females and some males to eating disorders. Our society is driven for individual control thus forming the judgment that fatness is a loss of self-control

Body image may be viewed as the way people see themselves and even imagine how they make look based off how they may feel about themselves. Yet it could also be viewed as the way other people see you. Body image, in medicine and psychology refers to a person 's emotional attitudes, beliefs and views of their own body (Positive and Negative Body Image). According to Positive and Negative Body Image, a negative body image develops when a person feels his or her body does not amount up to family, social, or media standards. Many people feel as if they don’t measure up to the belief of others. People who have accepted the way they look often feel good about their image and would be considered to have a positive body image. One’s appearance may not be measure up to how their family expects it to be or how it is perceived to be in the media, but once people learn accept and be proud of the way they look they’ll be better off in the long run. When a person is measured against the standards of the beauty seen frequently in the media and it doesn’t compare to how they feel about themselves it become discouraging. Having said that, long-lasting negative body image can affect both your mental and physical health which could lead to eating disorders down the road.

     "Just Be" is a familiar slogan to the current American culture. It is the slogan of a well-known designer, Calvin Klein, who, in his advertisements, supposedly promotes individuality and uniqueness. Yet, Calvin Klein, along with all known designers, does not have overweight or unattractive people on his billboard ads, on his runways, in his magazine pictures or on his television commercials. Moreover, the movie, music and the mass media corroborate with the fashion industry in setting and advertising a certain standards for a physical ideal of a human body. Such propaganda promotes the public into depriving themselves of needed nutrition and generates eating disorders within people in order to fit the

Sharon Capuano, Nurse and Manager of the Health Center at Salve Regina University believes that different cultures perceive the ‘perfect body’ in different ways. Capuano says,” The idea of the perfect body has gone through an evolution.” She adds, “When you look back in history, women were heavier but as time goes on, they become skinnier.“ Magazines are starting to portray women it a negative way and it gives people false perception. Capuano says it makes women think to themselves, “ Oh, I want to look like you because everything is perfect.” False perception gives women unrealistic expectations and they will constantly live in a world where they are striving to be something that they are not. This leaves many women with no other choice but to struggle with insecurities on a daily basis.

Senior Erin Jones and senior Carina Davis both argued against the harmful influence of media on body image. Models, actors, advertisements, and media have portrayed a specific body type as the normal when the reality is far different. In doing so, the media has shamed anyone who does not fit the ‘perfect body’ mold, and it has caused many people to have unrealistic standards for their bodies which leads to a negative self-image. Developing a negative body image can cause problems for the rest of a person’s life. In many cases, people have developed eating disorders and attempted suicide and self-harm because of a negative body image. Sometimes, in an attempt to make others feel better about their bodies, many people will point out flaws in his or herself to show how nobody has a perfect body; however, it is damaging because it promotes a negative self-image. Instead of shaming our bodies, we should be accepting them. Instead of having twigs as clothing models, we should have normal people represented in their place.

For centuries men have been comparing their bodies to the media, and looking for ways to achieve the expectations of societies perfect muscular body image. In the past men would try to look like weight lifters, so they could have bigger muscles. Today, not that much has changed. Men are still comparing their body images to male role models. One good example is NFL football players like Tom Brady, Cam Newton, and Russel Wilson. These role model body images effect how men pursue their own body image goals. These men want a muscular body; however, some men fall short of their expectations. They feel that they are incapable of having a muscular healthy body, so they end up experiencing negative body image effects such as body hate, unhealthy dieting habits, and low self esteem.

To begin with, media is increasingly affecting body image; men and women are steadily becoming more and more dissatisfied with their bodies and there is evidence to support that this effect may very well be because of media. Evidence to support that media is the culprit behind this negative change is the emphasis that media puts on thin bodies for women and muscular bodies for men. In fact, research states the media has consistently throughout history and today highly emphasized the importance of being below average in weight for women and hypermuscular for men; these images are unrealistic and often times lead to body dissatisfaction especially in adolescents (Benowitz-Fredericks, Garcia, Massey, Vasagar, & Borzekowski, 2012).

This showed that the idea of changing a woman’s figure had started in the early 1800’s but for quite a long time these two ‘ideals’ ran alongside each other. Some women were starting to alter their physical appearance whereas many other women had bodies that were similar to the ‘ideal’ larger body which has been commonplace since the 1500’s.

People need to be informed on the issue that unrealistic beauty standards, set by the society, are harmful. These standards 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 individuals, especially women, to impractical body types. Today, negative body image encourages women to engage in disordered eating behaviors to fit an impractical standard of beauty. In fact, according to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), 20 million females will “suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life” (Lintott 68). We contribute so much time striving to look like what society wants us to resemble. Some individuals believe that this thin ideal is the norm and that the media is not causing any harm. But, this thin ideal is detrimental. It is the main reason for the increase in the development and encouragement in eating disorders, body dissatisfaction in women and a rise in the number of pro-anorexia websites.

The characteristics of an attractive woman have changed considerably overtime, largely due to influence from media. During the 1900’s, up until the 1920’s, an ideal woman was tall, slender, and had a voluptuous figure. Women often achieved this look through the use of corsets, which helped to shape the waist. In the 1920’s small busts and straight, thin figures were ideal. However, the ideal figure of women changed in the 1930’s to 1940’s. Women once again were seen attractive when they had a full feminine figure and avoided looking skinny. Throughout the 1950’s the ideal women’s body shape remained voluptuous and curvy due to popular actresses, such as Marilynn Monroe who embodied the idea that beautiful women weren’t just skin and bones but rather full and curvy. However, in the 1960’s the ideal figure reverted back again to thinner, and more slender than the previous era, partly due to popular supermodel Twiggy (a lot is said about her physique by her name). This thin revolution has remained popular, but has become more extreme recently; examples of this revolution of the female body can be seen everywhere, especially in ads by the extremely popular company Victoria’s Secret. These unrealistic body images have lead to many women taking extreme measures, including using diet pills, exercising excessively, and eat very little, which can result

Society hears how women should love their bodies; to not starve for the perfect “magazine” body, but eating disorders are still apparent and now it is not just for women. While women feel pressured to look like “that” model and to have their bikini body ready men are pressured into looking like the next body builder. Men are “abusing steroids, measuring their own muscularity against the… perfected images of professional athletes, [and] body-builders” (Bordo 322). Body image is not just about women it is about men as well with “Men’s Health well on its way to making the male species as insane, insecure, and irrational about physical appearance as any Cosmo girl” (Cottle 486).Whether to be summer ready in a bikini or ready to hit 550lbs in the gym society is affected by gender roles to put in the work to fulfill the mold set before them on how their body “should” look

Society’s cultural values have changed body image drastically through recent decades. In the 1950’s women were exaggeratedly feminine, with soft curvy bodies such as that of Marilyn Monroe. Whereas in the 60’s women were boyish and skinny like the popular model, Twiggy. There was yet another culture shift in the 1970’s and 80’s, where women

Throughout history, women have transformed their appearances to match the current beauty ideal. Today, the idea of being a size zero has transformed itself from a trend into being an obsession. The fascination to be thin and “perfect” has invaded the minds of women and girls all over the world, it feels as if the pressure to have the perfect body everywhere. The ideals of beauty have been constantly focussed on women 's bodies. It’s gone from the boyish figure during the roaring twenties to an hourglass figure that swept the 1930s and 1950s. Every year beauty standards change and continue to impact women’s lives.

In past civilizations obesity was looked as a symbol of wealth and beauty as the main population struggled with the scarcity of food (Ferris, 2010). This stands in contrast to the main idea of what beauty is today. Paul Schilder, a psychiatrist, was the first to predict how the modern discussion about body image was going to look like (1950). He wanted to address the attention to psychological- and sociocultural element, and to leave the neurological field, when it came to the discussing of what shapes our body images. In addition to this, he was of the understanding that our own emotions play a significant role when it comes to our own self-perception and body image; “Every emotions therefore change the body- image” (Schilder, 1950).