Body Image And Dissatisfaction Of The Thin Ideal

The body image movement aims to improve the relationship between women and their bodies in a more positive manner (Dove 2014). Currently, women are suffering from an increase in body self-consciousness as a result of medias role regarding beauty ideals. Researchers have found that women worldwide do not view themselves as beautiful and are consistently troubled about their appearance and concluded that six out of ten girls are concerned about their appearances (Dove 2014). As a result, anxiety and self-consciousness are all contributing factors producing significant health concerns among women (Aubrey 2007). Media has developed a reputation in society for women to be held to unachievable beauty standards as they promote a “thin culture” (Hesse-Biber et al. 2006). This promotion of beauty standards has inspired the body image movement to educate and encourage women to love their bodies in order to achieve more self-esteem and confidence (Dove 2014). As well as, corporations are beginning to

“Body image begins to form in grade school because that’s when children/people start comparing themselves to others,” said Dr. Gene Beresin, a child and adult psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical. Body image is how a person perceives themselves, including their imagination, emotional, and physical sensations (The Media and Body Image, 1). Teens that suffer from negative body image let the bad thoughts shatter their self-esteem, the sense of how valuable they are as people (Maynard, 1). The lowered self-esteem may lead to depression, eating disorders, or mental disorders. Bryan Karazsia, the associate professor of psychology at the College of Wooster, said, “Body dissatisfaction is not linked with health. It’s linked with a lot of negative things like eating disorders, unhealthy exercise habits, low self-esteem, and depression.”

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

The media has distorted people’s views on the way they look at their own body image. The media has shown what their ideal body type is, while leaving people to feel as if the average weight is not good enough. (Cardosi, 2006) We live in a world where people feel as if having zero body fat is the idea body type to have. Pictures of models for clothing stores, bathing suits, lingerie etc. all exhibit to this to be true. Body image is perceived to be negatively influenced by the media and the way that the media displays their models. Parents, teachers, adolescence and even children all find themselves to be comparing themselves based on what the media exposes. (Levine & Murnen, 2009)

Many people in modern culture have developed what has been termed a normative discontent with their bodies. Women are particularly vulnerable to this development of body dissatisfaction, which has been shown to create numerous negative heath issues. These health issues are a direct result from trying to achieve the unrealistic ideal image that media has created. This idea on how the body should look floods modern media and women are discriminated upon if they are unable to meet these strict physical requirements. However, unknown to the masses, the majority of the physical characteristics portrayed are achieved from digital enhancement and not only the product of weight loss. It is my goal within this paper to discuss the population is

Body image is defined as the subjective picture or mental image of one's own body, which greatly differs among the fit and unfit individuals. Body image has a powerful effect on all. “Negative body image has grown to almost epidemic proportions in the past 20 years, with as many as 60 percent of adults in national studies saying they don't like the way their bodies look” (Hausenblas). Many people are dissatisfied with the way their bodies look, so they turn to numerous products such as diet pills, and cosmetic procedures. Body image isn’t always negative. Studies show, people who exercise rather than those who don’t, feel much better about their bodies. How does body image affect people? Body image is both internal and external, the internal is how we personally feel about our bodies, and external is how society perceives our bodies. Nowadays, how we look has a huge societal importance, possibly more than it ever has. The media is serving as a platform on how we should look. When we're constantly on social media and seeing perfect images of others, it

The pressure to have a perfect body is even greater due to media. But the truth is, most public figures are 15% below a normal and healthy BMI. This beauty standard is becoming increasingly difficult because most women (96%) are not born with this specific body type causing women to take extreme measures to accomplish this ideal. Media exposure of the thin-ideal body and materialistic values is causing eating disorders, body dissatisfaction and affecting a person's well being.

However, due to of these mixed findings regarding the effect of the media on body satisfaction in terms of social comparison theory (Mills, Polivy, Herman, & Tiggemann, 2002), recent research began to look at social comparison as a means of self enhancement and mood regulation, rather than a simple means of self-evaluation (Gruder, 1971; Wills, 1981). The above question posed by Knoblock-Westerwich and Crane (2012) seems to be answered in the concepts of upward and downward social comparisons. Wills (1981) explained that downward social comparisons occur when an individual compares themselves to another individual and finds the other individual to be lacking in some way. On the other hand, upward social comparisons occur when an individual compares themselves to another individual and finds themselves to be the one lacking. In regard to this concept, Bailey and Ricciardelli (2010) asserted the fact that upward social comparison is the process at the forefront of body dissatisfaction as it exists in today’s society. They theorized that women who are exposed to thin-ideal media are given a wide range of thin models to compare themselves to. This is the point in which the concept of the thin-ideal media and the theory of social comparisons intersect. As these thin ideal images become more accessible—which is indeed the case according to Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, and Ahrens (1992), as well as Park (2005)—these ideal images have the potential to be internalized by some women, which may result in decreased body satisfaction due to upward social comparisons. In a similar study, Tiggemann and Slater (2003) suggested that “the process of social comparison may provide the mechanism by which exposure to media images induces negative effects” (p. 50). Tantleff-Dunn and Gokee suggested

Millions of people struggle daily to maintain a perfect physical body image in hopes of receiving approval, love, and happiness. The need to maintain this perfect image is supported by society and the media with a mirage of messages that you can be happy if you obtain this perfect image. Society 's ideals of what the human body should look like have caused numerous people to develop abnormal eating patterns in a contempt to conform and seek society 's approval of their body image.

Body dissatisfaction is a growing and prominent issue in today’s society, and the media is undoubtedly the main cause for this. The media brands us with images of skinny, scrawny models and tells us that they are beautiful. As a result, the definition of beauty has changed from good health and happiness to being abnormally thin. The media’s portrayal of beauty is unquestionably unhealthy as models are well below healthy body weight and set standards for beauty that causes psychological issues and fosters body image concerns and eating disorders.

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

The media’s increased obsession with the thin-ideal and industry promotion of a perfect body may contribute to unrealistic body ideals in people with and without eating disorders. An increase in access to global media and technological advances such as Photoshop and airbrushing have further skewed our perception of attainable beauty

The pervasive and disturbing growth of eating disorders has become more well- known in the last the fifteen years, but the issues surrounding body image, and the idealized way in which women have constantly been portrayed in the media have been pervasive in American society for decades. Women who rely too much on the media for what should dictate their appearance will more likely suffer from negative effects including eating disorders and self-mutilation. Body dissatisfaction is an enhanced form of weight concern; however, in order to understand body

What is beauty and who decides what is beautiful? It seems that beauty is no longer in the eye of the beholder but in they eye of media. Media has influenced the perception of what is being considered beautiful today. Media constantly portrays tall thin women and this is what many women strive for. This phenomenon has come to be known as the Thin Ideal. Although, it is unclear where this term originated from, Harrison (2008) describes this term as the way that media has “glamorized” the thin body. They create a fear in girls of even a little body fat because this ideal woman has little to no body fat. This review examines research on how the Thin Ideal is affecting women; specifically, its effect on a woman’s body image, weight satisfaction, gender differences, age differences and eating habits.

Mass media and its portrayal of the “ideal body type” has caused a crisis primarily related to body dissatisfaction among adolescents in reaction to the commercialized assurance that being thin is synonymous with attractiveness, popularity,