Body Image In The Media

Body image encompasses how we perceive our bodies, how we feel about our physical experience as well as how we think and talk about our bodies, our sense of how other people view our bodies, our sense of our bodies in physical space, and our level of connectedness to our bodies. Over the past three decades, while America has gotten heavier, the "ideal woman" presented in the media has become thinner. Teenagers are the heaviest users of mass media, and American women are taught at a young age to take desperate measures in the form of extreme dieting to control their

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.

There are no questions to whether the media has influenced the self-consciousness people have on their body or not. Whether it is the front of a magazine cover or in a film or television show, the selection of models or actors are primarily thin or fit leading readers and viewers to worry or want to change the way their body looks. Body image is the way one sees oneself and imagine how one looks. Having a positive body image means that most of the time someone sees themselves accurately, and feels comfortable in their body; negative body image, what the media exemplifies for the majority of the time, is just the opposite. The media uses unrealistic standards of beauty and bodily perfection to drive ordinary people to be dissatisfied with their body image which can result in the search to obtain these unreachable goals.

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

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

In this written piece I will discover the topics of how the beauty media promotion has an impact and result on the appearance of women today and how this can effect someone’s confidence and self-esteem and showing what beautiful is now classed as in today’s beauty world. How this can result in how someone perceives themselves to be and how the media has a big influence on our young adults today how it has influenced people to change their face & body by range of different cosmetic surgery, The effects it can have on the human mind & body According to The Effects of the Media on Body Image: A Meta-Analysis Amanda J. Holmstrom Pages 196-217 | Published online: 07 Jun 2010.

The increasing and widespread use of media, as well as it tremendous ability to influence its audience, has raised various concerns over the effects the media has on its viewers. One of the fields of increasing concerns is the idea that the media portrays unrealistic body images and that these portrayals have negative consequences on their viewers, especially so for women. Women have always been associated with ideals of beauty and a particular body image. The question arises as to how far the media further perpetuate these models and body images, and what are the consequences of these effects? When the media works to perpetuate such ideals of beauty and body image, the majority of the female population, who do not conform to such ideals and body type, fall prey to psychological issues resulting from body dissatisfaction such as depression, self-hate, negative moods, and emotions, particularly for the younger women. Such negative emotions, when evoked, can lead to negative consequences and actions for the affected female population, which include drastic, harmful steps such as crash diets, self-harm, or cosmetic surgery.

Zoe Lawrie, Elizabeth Sullivan, Peter Davies & Rebecca Hill (2006) hold the view that many factors affect the body image that women create for themselves, however, they do emphasise in their work that the media is a significant contributor to the image of the percieved ideal female body in

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.,

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

Elline Lipkin, a Research Scholar at the center for the Study of Women at the University of California, Los Angeles, describes in her article ‘From girls’ Bodies, Girls’ Selves: Body Image, Identity, and Sexuality, the effects of media body image have on females. Many females may not be aware of the effects that the media has on women. In fact, according to Lipkin women are taught a lesson about what a female should look like just by the advertisement. Advertising what the ideal female body should look like may seem like a good idea, but really it effects woman more in the negative side then on the positive. In fact, most of the ideal female body is false, in which it could become harmful emotionally and physically. To improve the confidents in female very own body, false advertisement can stop in which negative effects will also stop, and changing the way women see their body in a different view.

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

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

Beauty and Body Image in Media. (2009)Roberts, S., & Fredrickson, B. (1998). “Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks.