Annotated Bibliography: Body Image And The Media

In our society, we tell little girls to love and to be true to oneself. As they grow up, this message begins to disappear because our culture contradicts this idea. As girls enter the world, they are already confined with how the media set unrealistic standards for the female population. This leads girls to harm their own body, including eating disorders such as bulimia, and anorexia. The most prominent cause of these acts is advertisements. Advertisements are everywhere and they have the power to promote, sell, encourage, and give unrealistic ideals of the common people. Advertisements and media images have a negative effect on the way women view their body image which leads to self-harm.

Agliata, D., & Tantleff-Dunn, S., (2004). The Impact of Media Exposure on Males’ Body Image.

The media has become a powerful source for changes in our society. There are so many factors and reasons for our society changing. Today I find most people obsessively worried about their body image. We all have a body and at one time or another, we worry about it. Women and men are both being affected by media sources such as television, advertising, magazines, music, and video games; not to mention the photo manipulation that goes along with it all. Questions can be asked; such as, “Is this the way our society should be leaning [obsessing over our bodies]? What could happen from here? Are there any solutions?”

A body image is a subjective combination of all the thoughts, emotions, and judgments that an individual may perceive about his or her own body. Each individual has a unique perception of his or her own body. This image is strongly influenced and often times skewed due to the increasing pressure created from outside, societal factors. With a world that is continuously creating new forms of social media and entertainment, individuals are constantly exposed to images that supposedly define bodily perfection and are then expected to resemble these images in order to fit in and/or please society. The expectations that have been put in place by society has created unwanted pressure on individuals who feel as if they need to resemble these images to get society’s approval.

For many years the media has been blasted as the cause of numerous negative events that continue to happen in our society. Anti-media supporters have placed the blame for increased violence in the nation on media’s exposure to violent entertainment shows and movies. Media’s promotion of the thin ideal in female models and actors as well as media’s use of very muscular male models and actors may perpetuate the idea that the average person should either be skinny or muscular. An average person who is not skinny or muscular may feel as though they are not living up to society standards which greatly effects their emotional self-esteem. However not every person encountered indicates they are negatively affected by media’s emphasis on skinny or muscular people.

Kover, A. (2009, April 30). Effects of the Media on Body Image. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

Media holds such high standards in today 's society, and media as a whole has gotten so much power throughout the years. There are so many different forms of media in today 's world: newspapers, magazines, televisions, the hundreds of websites on the Internet, social media applications, computers, and novels. Media advertises thousands of different things, but something that has stayed consistent over the years is advertisement on body image. Media advertises a specific body type, pushes different dietary needs to achieve this body type and thus creating the standard of in order to be beautiful, this particular body type must be achieved. However, what advertisers seem to be neglecting is the effect their advertisements are having on its viewers. The constant push to achieve a certain body type has affected the health of thousands of people around the world, and directly affecting the eating disorder epidemic.

In todays society media has many different represtionations of womens body ideals and they are portrayed in many different ways. The majority of body images are female and represented with negative connotations. Women are plasteted on billboards magazine covers and play an very important role in the way young women are viewed and how they feel they should look. Through out this essay I will look how media has such a massive impact on our lives and the power it has to control the ideals of young women and how the industries with in the use of media are exploting women of today and how they are benifitting from it to make multibillion companys with out the a second thought to the explotation and harm it is causing to our socity and health with in the new generorations. I will also explore how some organistions are fighting against this ideal and how this is creating a more healthy view of women and challenging what we have had drummed into since an early age.

Mental health is a big part of obesity many children are suffering from disorders like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and even suicide attempts. With the way media portrays body image today it is hard for a child to not get discouraged. Women in magizes are photo shopped and air brushed to look as skinny as possible, men are photo shopped and air brushed to look toned and fit. Young men, women and children look at these photos and see an unrealistic person. With that they set unrealistic goals and end up harming themselves in the end. By forming eating disorders and mental disorders, eating disorders by trying to archive a body type that is not real and mental disorders by looking at the results of not having that body type. Children

The issue of distorting body image in the media and its effects on people is not a new concept to modern time. There is a long history of body image’s powerful place in society because of people’s impressions of each other based on body image. Research has been done on the effects and outcomes of this issue. Recently, consumers have fought with the media to try and achieve a safer way to spread information and let these media outlets be successful without having severe impacts on adolescents especially, among other age groups. The general ethical principle that the stakeholders use in this fight is similar to utilitarianism, because each stakeholder believes they are bringing the greatest good to the greatest number of people. The stakeholders

Today’s culture has placed women across the globe in a position where they are constantly flooded with idealistic images that depict what the media perceives as the “perfect body.” Quite often, young university-attending females, those who are involved in social identity formation, are exposed to numerous forms of media that fabricate various experiences relative to body image. In the past, researchers have surveyed women who are exposed to body-related standards using multiple forms of mass media as a unified entity, which has caused for limitations since each means -such as magazine advertisements- differs in relation to how a thin idealistic image is portrayed. In light of prior research, Harper and Tiggman established that

Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women, and their bodies, sell everything from food to cars. Women's magazines are full of articles urging women to fit a certain mold. While standing in a grocery store line you can see all different magazines promoting fashion, weight loss, and the latest diet. Although the magazines differ, they all seemingly convey the same idea: if you have the perfect body image you can have it all…the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. The media, whether TV, print, or Internet advertising, seems to play a huge role in influencing women of all ages; from adolescence and teens, to women in their twenties and thirties, as well as

After analyzing the data collected from research, the study determined that gender roles still prevail in advertisements, even after 60 years. The study reveals that women are four times more likely to be represented as sex objects and as traditional housewives than men. The most common stereotype portrayed in advertisements is the occupational status of the two genders. Women are more likely to be placed in household environments, such as stay-at-home moms, while men are more likely to be portrayed as the meal ticket to the family. The stereotyping can be related to gender-related values a society

A modern Wall Street Journal survey of students in four Chicago-area schools found that more than half the fourth-grade girls were dieting and three-quarters fell they were overweight. Specifically, respondents in this study trust that women are not accurately depicted in advertising in Canada. Methodology In order to address the research propositions of the study, the encore needed a method for mention the types of pistillate portrayals featuring in the context of consumer magazine advertisements. Content analysis was chosen for it is the best at providing “a scientific, quantitative, and generalizable description of communications content” (Kassarjian, 1977, p. For example, the advertisement for Stove Master, a very-cleaning oven quarantine the women as a housewife within the domestic sphere. However, advertisements of cosmetics may also show females in no-traditional roles, which feature as successful professionals that endorse the product to consumers in an attempt to catch attention of the audience.Utilitarian products may be also associated to manifold female stereotypes including decorative, traditional, non-traditional and neutral images of women. In the past, the patriarchy was a dominant family model. Feminist environment had a significant impact on the change in this post. Nevertheless, many social institutions, such as mass media, still use gender stereotypes, basing on the assumption, that they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand

Media such as the internet, broadcasting, and publishing is a way to express opinions and keep up to date with the latest fashion trends. While these trends continue to go on, new trends are thought of, the trends may be a little tricky to keep up with even for celebrities. While the thought of being perfect for society, cause many adolescents to breakdown for following the false beliefs of society. Some people may use the media to be updated on important news. On the other hand, others believe the media is a horrible setting, resulting in adolescent to do whatever it takes to become just like them, poisoning their minds to become something they are not. The media produces bad influences for body image and messes with adolescents’ minds.