Culture And Body Image Analysis

“People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder,” according to Salma Hayek. Society should have a positive outlook on body image, rather than face a disorder that can change one’s whole life. Negative body image can result from the media, with photoshop and editing, celebrity fad diets, and society’s look at the perfect image. Negative body image can lead to dangerous eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia. It can also take a risk to unhealthy habits, such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs. It is important to stress the effects of body image, because the world still struggles with this today. Society should not be affected by

Americans have grown to try and look their best no matter what and this all stems from the way people view body image. Today someone could have anything they want done to change their appearance. “We are a culture of beauty junkies, addicts continually looking for our next fix to keep us looking young and pretty” (Masterson). Masterson believes that people are addicted to beauty and it is almost like a drug. This is not far from the truth. People go overboard to look as good as they possibly can with things like plastic surgery, botox, and even simple things like makeup. With the obsession with beauty as bad as it is today one seems to never be satisfied with how they look. “But that uplifting message--I'm OK the way I am--is overshadowed by the dark view readers are left with of a society obsessed with looks that isn't showing signs of stopping” (Masteron). The idea of someone being ok with their appearance gets quickly changed when they look around and see the world and the obsession it has. This is a huge reason body image is so bad in America now, because as soon as someone feels comfortable with their looks the standard changes. America’s obsession with looks is one of the biggest factors in the negative change towards body

This has led to a media obsession with health and body image. She uses an example in the beginning of the article, citing how the media was extremely critical of Alicia Silverstone’s weight gain, openly criticizing the fact that she was larger than she had been in her recently released film. Bordo explains how this sort of body-critical mindset has an adverse-effect on people, especially children. “Children in this culture grow up knowing that you can never be thin enough and that being fat is one of the worst things you can be” (Bardo 1). This sort of image-obsession leads children to feel unfulfilled, as if by not meeting the standards of beauty defined for them by popular culture, they are somehow deficient or “worth” significantly less than those among them who more closely align with these cultural

"Body image is the perception that a person has of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception.” The American society has been broadcasting a certain type of body,

Body image today is so drastically exaggerated in importance that people, often adolescents, go to the extremes of trying to be perfect. The media is what I believe makes body image such an important issue these days. It makes people want to change everything about themselves, their look, their choices, and their personality. The media are the ones also bringing this on to adolescents because of all the places they advertise. The adults are also people that I would blame for the cases of young children causing themselves to hurt for things they shouldn't be caring about. The indicative that shows that my findings are correct are all the cases that are reported about adolescents and their body image problems.

Why? That is my question. Why do we care so much about what we look like? Although it sounds like I hate the body image topic, I, myself can and do, argue from both points. The topic is multi-faceted. It shows us how confident we are. But there’s also those two little things no one sees….Courage and confidence.

It was the fat shaming by my mother when I was a child at home. It was the weight bullying, including physical assault, by other kids at school.” (Cuban). Oftentimes, we forget that words have as much weight as they do and how much of an effect they can have on someone. People comment on others’ appearances without truly ever thinking of the consequences that their words can have. Compliments have the potential to fluff a person’s ego for a short time while insults can chip away at a person for days, months, or even years. Brian Cuban was teased about his weight by the people that he was around all the time and by the one person that should have made him feel loved and safe in any situation: his mother. Due to this constant bombardment of ridicule about his weight, Brian’s body image and confidence was corrupted. His positive body image plummeted and never truly recovered and years later, he developed muscle dysmorphia, “a preoccupation or obsession with a small or even non-existent (imagined) bodily ‘defect’ to the level that it results in destructive behaviors such as eating disorders, steroid abuse, plastic surgery abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, and so on.” (Cuban). It was the abuse that Brian faced and the primitive “desire to be accepted by the kids [he] saw every day” (Cuban) that drove him to such a disastrous state of mind. The harsh and cruel words that Brian’s peers and family flung at him on a daily basis weighed so heavily on his heart and brain that he fell into self-destructive tendencies and terribly negative body

Through her critical yet naïve comments, I experienced first hand psychological effects of negative body image; although she is genuinely loving and caring, her words constantly triggered unhealthy thoughts. I was frequently asking myself “what’s wrong with me? what do I need to fix about myself?”. When I came to the realization that the fault lied not in myself, but my mother, I began to ponder,  “what lead her to make such comments?” After deep thought and thorough analysis, I was able to recognize that her beliefs were influenced by culture and media. Studies have shown media and cultural background to be strong factors in affecting female perception of the ideal body type (Perloff, 2014). While research supports that media has an effect on body image, to what degree does it influence modern attitudes towards body image? Is there a specific age in which this would cause most harm? In what cultures is a negative body image more severe? What is the reasoning behind this? This line of enquiry is the basis for my research proposal which explores the negative effect media has on North American female adolescents and the correlation between social media and negative body image, the main purpose being; what can be done to alleviate negative body

America’s fascination and exposure with celebrities’ lives have caused an obsession with body image (10). Bodies have become the latest and biggest pop cultural obsessions (10). People tune in on the internet or turn on the television and are subjected to the newest photo or videos of celebrities. This is a constant that is unlikely to change. Media shows impractical role models which lead to dissatisfaction with body image

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.

This article is similar to a small, yet concise essay on the topic of negative body image. The author first states how common place body image concerns are, and then address how society’s opinion on the term fat, and what that term means to a person individually. The author then speaks on how fat is not a feeling, but a way for individuals to express or displace the uncomfortable/ painful feelings that come from not feeling of not meeting society’s beauty standard. Symptoms of negative body image, and ways the reader could “check” if their body image currently positive or negative, and then the definition of a positive body image is then addressed. The article also lists results from multiple studies of body image, the study group of each study

Often, people of all ages, race, and gender catch themselves gazing into mirrors for hours, blaming themselves for the way they look, not realizing that the media is actually the one to blame for many people’s body image. Body image is the way people see themselves, or how they assume other people see them. It is not likely to see a plus sized model in a magazine or a model on the runway with blemishes on her face. A person’s negative perception of their own body is not because they think it is wrong to look and be healthy; it is because the media is telling them that being a size 2 with flawless skin is healthy and beautiful.

A major issue in society that has been lasting for years are the issue of body stereotypes and people’s perceptions of them. Throughout the ages women have been body shamed because of any type of figure they held. If a woman is skinny is she is automatically frowned upon. She is considered a “bad” influence to young girls everywhere, ungrateful for her body, weak, or some would even has an eating disorder. However, if a woman is thicker, fat, curvy, or has gone through a healthy weight loss she is considered strong, empowering, an ideal, and a representation of true beauty. These two contrast create an unequal dynamic and doesn’t shed light on to the real issue on hand where eating disorders and other health problems are the concerns hidden behind this

Body image is an issue known around the world, just like eating disorders, it is most commonly seen in woman; however, there are men that suffer from this issue as well. The social issue of ideal body image affects people of all ages regardless of gender or ethnicity. Body image is the way one sees their own body in their mind, and they may not feel confident within their own skin, or they may feel unaccepted in society. A person may feel they might not be skinny enough, big enough, tall enough, dark enough, ultimately they will feel they are not enough to fit into what is acceptable in the social order around them. People begin forming rash conclusions or observations of their own body’s attractiveness, health, and appropriateness, in early childhood. However, for today’s ideal body image, it is just another passing trend that does not reduce the desire children, teenagers, or even adults may have to follow ideal standards of beauty and attractiveness. Meanwhile because of the epidemic with body image there has been one-half of females and one-third of males as young as six that have engaged in some sort of dietary behavior. Social influences that can potentially cause people to form ideas about positive and negative body image can play an important role in the way a person may live their lives, and such influences can be things such as, family, friends, and social media.

Body shaming has become a very common, relevant problem in today's society, and has caused many men and women to have low self-esteem. The feeling you get when being called heavy or unsightly shapes your view of yourself which in turn causes your esteem to lessen. An example of this occurred at a high school nearby in Stratford, South Carolina where principle Heather Taylor talked about young girls wearing leggings to school. She sates, "I’ve told you this before, I’m going to tell you this now, unless you are a size zero or two and you wear something like that, even though you’re not fat, you look fat" (Mazziotta). Teachers and school leaders are supposed to help shape your self-esteem. Bring young girls and even guys down at this age is unacceptable. One student says, "… I felt like my size made me look disgusting towards someone in the clothes that I wear"(Mazziotta). This illustrates how big an impact school teachers and principals have on the