Analysis Of Society's Unrealistic Perception Of The Ideal Body

In longing to reach the norm many people fall victim to these detrimental illnesses. Sadly, women are more subject to these eating disorders than men, the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Our culture puts pressure on each of its inhabitants to attain this ideal body type that is unrealistic for most people. The images that pollute television and magazines make us all feel inadequate if we don't meet the credentials of slenderness; therefore, continuing the role of our society in the development of eating disorders.

In her essay, “The Globalization of Eating Disorders,” Susan Bordo informs her audience of the growing trends in eating disorders. Through her argument, Bordo illustrates the cruel identity of body-image distortion syndrome while she searches for a solution to the eating-disorder problem by looking to its birthplace in culture. Making use of several examples and scenarios, facts and statistics, and appeals to pathos and logos to construct her argument, Bordo shows a strong intent on eradicating the growing crisis in a reasonably sound argument.

In order to understand what the ideal male body form is, a student was conducted to research the body image concerns of college men. It found that men without eating disorders preferred the V-shaped body whereas men with eating disorders desired the “lean, toned, thin” shape. Surprisingly, all men in the study picked the full-chested, thin-waisted body shape, as well as the look of strength and agility which is explained through Lipman, “the early American value system, which stressed the attributes of physical prowess for men, made sense then because it was anchored in and relation functionality to the frontier and rural society” (Anderson 63). In other words, this old concept of masculinity displays a cultural setback where physical prowess is not a requirement for success in today’s society. An example of media playing the institutionalized male body ideals is through men’s magazines which emphasizes activity, movement, and physical prowess. As a result, men look at their chest, arms, stomach, and legs to try to see muscularity. If physical prowess is desired, being underweight is a much greater taboo than being comfortable with being overweight or within their ideal weight. “Only 77% of underweight men liked their appearance as opposed to 83% of underweight women” (Anderson

This ethical issue is important for the society especially to the women and young girls who are being blind of the wrong advertisement of body image. Media contributes a huge impact on people, they are showing the unrealistic image of ‘perfect body’ to their audience that influences their idea on what body should they have. Most of the people who gets sway by those media advertising are young people. Magazines, television and another form of media are setting beauty standards that influence a lot of people to want a perfect body.

Eating disorders are not the only thing males also suffer from. Expectations from the media are also a strong push into worries about body image. Despite popular belief, guys struggle with images broadcasted by the media as much as girls do. Andrew Shrout, a junior at U.C. Berkeley feels the weight that is put on him to “be a man” and pretend like nothing is wrong. “Men are pressured to have as little fat as possible--but you’ve got to pretend like you don’t watch what you eat” (Alpert 1). Also, men are expected to “up their game” as women get more power financially as well as keep their bodies well maintained. Clinical instructor at the Harvard Medical school psychiatry department Roberto Olivardia states that men and young boys deal with the same images broadcasted out as women and young girls do. “Boys are growing up now with the billboard of the guy with perfect pecs and biceps” (Alpert 2). Media pushes the perfect way to look at men in commercials, magazines, male models, and even movies. Girls often complain about the unfair

In your mind, define the word perfect and apply it to your body. Now close your eyes and form that body in your mind. Now open them. Majority of you didn’t imagine your own body, did you? Statistics show that majority of young adolescents – male and female – define perfect as what we see daily in the media. ‘Perfect’ or even ‘ideal’ for some is what society would also class as ‘too thin’. These accusations that either body type is not perfect are unjust and unfair! With the media dictating the ‘perfect’ body image, the supposed obesity epidemic, and the dictating eating disorders caused by the need to be ‘perfect’ by the media’s standards, there is no wonder that both men and women are having difficulties with being themselves. No one can decide

Many people have unwilling fallen as victims of this perfect body image that are commonly shown in magazines and advertisements influencing them to discipline their bodies so they could achieve this standardized ideal image. Models in advertisements are represented as being perfect, but some people are unaware that there are digital effects in play, such as Photoshop. There are more than one third of women who want to have the appearance of a female model; unfortunately, there are also as much men who want to appear like the muscular male models that are presented in the mass media. Since there is such pressure in having a good body women and men can experience societal pressure and guilt about their self body image. Since having the perfect ideal image is the biggest concern in today’s society, many people are constantly reminded as to what is considered as being normal and abnormal. Today it is completely normal to feel guilt when over-eating or not exercising, but if a person fails to feel guilt in these areas it is considered to be abnormal; it is like saying that the person with no feelings of guilt

In Western culture, a major cause of body dissatisfaction among females is the perceived pressure from society because an emphasis of the ideal body shape is unrealistically thin, repeatedly portrayed through the media where females may feel the need to conform (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2003). Males feel pressure to follow the sociocultural ideal body form of a V-shaped muscular build with broad shoulders and a lean waste-line (Raudenbush & Zellner, 1997). These societal pressures can be persuasive during adolescence and

Females of all ages come under immense pressure from the media, friends, partners and even parents to maintain a great body shape. The body images portrayed in the media can then push a female to go on a diet to begin a journey to gaining a similar body shape like that of the model, but low self-esteem and lack of confidence generally contributes to any issues or difficulties in life; workplace or school, relationships etc. to which can make an individual extremely unhappy and vulnerable. Research shows depression, low self-esteem and the development of eating disorders can be related to the unrealistic, unachievable body images exposed through the mass media.

People in our culture and society today have become obsessed with trying to have the perfect body. For some, it doesn’t matter how much weight they lose or what they look like, to themselves, they are never satisfied and can’t reach this perfect bodily image. But why are we so caught up in striving to look skinny and fit, and who is to say that skinny is normal? In her article, Bordo argues the point “children in this culture grow up knowing that you can never be thin enough and that being fat is one of the worst things one can be” (Bordo 1). Even as children, we are bombarded with images of what the ideal body should look like, through ads on TV to actors that we see in movies. The media tells us, that to fit in, we should look like models

Our project centred around a health concern that receives less spotlight than the female counterpart - male body image issues. The media’s portrayal of the ideal body for men is often centred around built, muscular figures, setting an unrealistic standard for men in today’s society. Contrary to popular belief, men and women do not vary in their level of body dissatisfaction, according to research by Siberstein (1998). Many men are unhappy with their bodies, and even the men within the healthy range are not satisfied - they are often found with the desire to increase their body size (Varnado-Sullivan et al., 2006; as cited in Hughes et al., 2015) When males are compared and compare themselves with the ‘popularised cultural standards of attractiveness’

There is a problem with how social influences affects a male’s body dissatisfaction and induces eating disorders. Dina L.G. Borzekowski and Angela M. Bayer define body dissatisfaction as “the internal representation of one's own outer appearance which reflects physical and perceptual dimensions.” (Borzekowski & Bayer, 2005) Body image issues are prevalent within our perfection-focused society. We are told to comply with the impossible beauty standards set by society and that we have to fit a particular body shape. If we do not abide by these standards we are not considered beautiful. Television commercials, doctors, friends, family, and cultural preferences attempts to encourage dieting fads in order to achieve that “perfect” figure. Individuals

Depression is not the only factor involved with body dissatisfaction. Females who have body dissatisfaction are at a higher risk to develop an eating disorder. Allie Kovar (2009) in her article entitled “Effects of the Media on Body Image” refers to a 2006 National Eating Disorder Association report, which found that eating disorders have more than tripled in females over the past seventy years. This is due to the fact that the media is always portraying the “thin

Generally speaking, these are prime examples of propaganda that define the societal values. In detail, society shuns most body types, hence most people struggle with the issue of self-image, if the standards are not met. For instance, individuals that want a “perfect body” are taking shortcuts and the wrong way, such as “excessive exercising, unhealthy dieting, the abuse of dietary supplements, and the abuse of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS)” (Melki et al. 473). In reality, there is no perfect body, but the media create perceptions, and the young audience is greatly influenced because they will want to duplicate the imagery. This drives them to want to match long years of hard work in a short period. Famous celebrities that overflow the front covers have been working on their bodies for a long time, but the media portrays their hard work as minimal; the Men’s Health magazine that features a shirtless Ronaldo caption the image with “28-Day ABS.” A body like Ronaldo, arguably the finest athlete in the sport world, did not reach perfection in 28 days. As has been noted, the media should stop flooding the subconscious of young adults with myths that are physically impossible on the most part. It does not drive change, it only causes a significant drop in self-esteem, as “young male adults (18 to 23 years old) displayed substantial body dissatisfaction” primarily due to the fact of excessive exposure to media (Melki et al. 476). In the long run, Men’s Health and Muscle and Fitness, one of many magazines are more efficient than others if it happens that most teenagers are not satisfied with their outward appearance.

Body image is defined as “the subjective image of one’s physical appearance established both by self-observation and observation by others” ("Body Image"). “Ideal” body image is constantly re-evaluated throughout the ages. Unfortunately, today, the ideal image is at its height in the American culture. Many factors, such as magazine articles, television shows, and even childhood toys are said to have an influence on body dissatisfaction. This negative self-image has caused many dangerous disorders in women and men of all ages. In the research of this topic, there are many questions of body image among cultures and stereotypes that are yet to be answered.