Body Image Standards

Under society’s customs for decades, young women have found themselves immersed in the pressure and anticipation to have exemplary bodies. Nearly every young woman prefers to be slim, have a perfectly shaped body, that is beautified by applying pounds of makeup to their face but does not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these measures imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model on the cover of Vogue being called flawless, naturally it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the that model. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough, our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a surging subject for young girls. Advertisements and pictures of lean female models are all over. Young women are measured and perplexed by their physical appearances with attire intended to raise their physical structures; social media, magazines, the society, marketing campaigns, advertisements, and the fashion gurus add to a strand of excellence.

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

Since the rise of mass media in America throughout the 20th century, the idea of feminine beauty has changed significantly, especially women’s body shape. American visual media has always been guilty of promoting the current “ideal” women’s body shape, despite these body shapes being virtually impossible for the average American woman to achieve. By analyzing the way that the “ideal” women’s body shape in America has changed, it becomes clear how the media has always kept a tight grasp on the American woman’s individuality. Between 1900 and 1910, popular culture made way for the “Gibson Girl,” who was created by the iconic artist Charles Dana Gibson.

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

Beauty standards are portrayed everywhere: on magazines, social media, ads, commercials, and even flaunted among peers. While the ideals are supposed to promote health awareness, fitness motivation, and self love, it unfortunately results in many unfavorable consequences. Women are constantly “penalized for not being beautiful and at the same time are stigmatized, even pathologized, for not feeling beautiful, for having low self-esteem, for engaging in behaviors like dieting and excessive exercising, or for having eating disorders” (Johnston and Taylor 954). Beauty standards are unrealistic and unhealthy to pursue, and misinforms the public on what true beauty is. While not all beauty image ideals promote negative feelings and dissatisfaction, many believe that the negative effects far outweighs any positive effects.

Without even realizing it people are pear pressured to maintain a certain image for acceptance in their everyday lives. The two readings that I found particularly interesting were, “Does an employer have the right to control body art of its employees?” by Alan Shanof and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorn. They both can relate in the sense of how the world perceives body image and especially in women. A lot of people are turned down for a job since they have body art or appear in a certain way, even if that person possibly could have been the perfect person for the job. This stops people from being able to express themselves and do what they want with their own bodies. Girls are expected to service this presentation from the media on ‘how we are supposed to look’. Judgement has been a problem from the beginning and still till this day.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see a confident, smart, beautiful women or do you see someone else? Someone that you used to know, and might not ever see again. Before hitting puberty, you most likely had very few issues with your body and respected the various intricate things it does on a daily basis. Entering puberty, these ideas shifted and insecurities about your body started to filter into your mind. Instead of looking at all the wonderful things your body can do, you start to criticize it. In society today, the average female model (as unrealistic as ever) is 5’11 and 120 pounds, it is understandable why the average women feels like she is not good enough. A study completed at the American Association of University Women showed, “the way I look” is the most important indicator of self-worth in women, while for men, self-worth is centred on their abilities, and not their looks (Croll, “Body Image in Adolescents”). 66% of females are more likely to

Women and men of this society are generally very concerned with their image and portrayal of themselves to the general public. Some individuals study hard and become very successful and portray themselves as well- educated men and women. Others depend on their personality to get them far in life, and others are so concerned with their physical experience that they often lose the joy that comes from being happy with being who they are. Most individuals, primarily women, are obsessively concerned with their physical appearance and body image. They are mentally affected when their physical appearance is not up to par with the popular look and trends influenced by peers, the media, and environment.

A female should not feel insecure with her body when she is comfortable in her own skin, whether or not she weights 130 pounds or 150 pounds at 5’5”. According to Rehab’s study of the evolution of the female figure over one hundred years, “the body shapes of the most admired models have remained consistently slimmer than that of the average American woman.” Due to the significant increase in mass media throughout the twentieth century of the United States, there has been a noteworthy impact on the popular image of women. A woman being dissatisfied with their body is a everyday trend around the world where as

In our contemporary Western society, body image has become an obsession. In any advertisement, shop window, magazine, movie, social media, there are strong suggestions on the way we should look to be trendy, cool, and desirable. Without emphasizing the increasing popularity of plastic surgery, the amount of money, time, and effort that people spent on fashion, skin-care creams, makeup, lotions, and hair products, indicate how deeply this culture pursues beauty. At the same time, there is a great deal of data that suggest how body image is experienced negatively by countless men and women.

Everyday women suffer more and more from body issues which result from the media amplifying standards of beauty which are unrealistic and having both men and women enforce these impossible standards. Even though it is easy to think that these standards are the media's fault Derenne & Beresin explain that this trend is not new “Throughout history, the dominant political climate and cultural ideas always have shaped the public's perception of the ideal female body” Beresin and Derenne pg 57. This quotation supports the fact that the problems of body expectation goes way back and that this is not a new problem, it is just an evolution of a monster. An example of how the cultural and political ideas change is “ Society valued competent, strong

It 's not a mystery that society 's ideals of beauty have a drastic and frightening effect on women. Popular culture frequently tells society, what is supposed to recognize and accept as beauty, and even though beauty is a concept that differs on all cultures and modifies over time, society continues to set great importance on what beautiful means and the significance of achieving it; consequently, most women aspire to achieve beauty, occasionally without measuring the consequences on their emotional or physical being. Unrealistic beauty standards are causing tremendous damage to society, a growing crisis where popular culture conveys the message that external beauty is the most significant characteristic women can have. The approval of prototypes where women are presented as a beautiful object or the winner of a beauty contest by evaluating mostly their physical attractiveness creates a faulty society, causing numerous negative effects; however, some of the most apparent consequences young and adult women encounter by beauty standards, can manifest as body dissatisfaction, eating disorders that put women’s life in danger, professional disadvantage, and economic difficulty.

The media have constructed attractiveness for a long time many sociocultural standards of beauty and. Especially women’s body images have been a primary concern because the value of women has been measured how they look like. How women have similar body traits with the modern female body images has been a significant and essential issue, historically. The sociocultural standards of beauty which have been created by the greed of the media have dire impacts on young females. The current beauty level of the female body image in the media is thinness. In fact, the preferred female body images have been changed through the media. Throughout history, sometimes skinny women’s body images were loved, and sometimes over weighted women’s body images were preferred. Whenever the media have dictated the ideal female

The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.

The media depicts an unrealistic body as ideal. Women see impractical pictures of other bodies all the time. “Women are constantly bombarded with "Barbie Doll-like" images" (Body Image par. 1). This quote conveys how women struggle with their body image since perfection is everywhere. Even though magazines and advertisements play a role in body image issues, there are other influences. “Peer groups are to blame, as well as social media and filtered photographs," says O'Neill. "Everybody is just projecting 'perfection' images instead of the gritty realities of stretch marks, lumps, and bumps. It's pervasive