Definition Of 'Perfect' By The Media

To be frank, I also once had a view that only people who are skinny can be considered as beautiful. However, there is one incidence that changes my perception on the idea of what is the meaning of beauty and ‘perfect’ body. When I was in high school, I had a best friend named Alice—she was chubby and curvy. She was so obsessed with the America’s next top model shows. One day she expressed her desire to lose weight to me and I supported her. She also said that her boyfriend asked her to lose some weight to be more beautiful. She said that she really wants to look like the models and also to fulfill her boyfriend’s wish. After three months, she was hospitalized and I was so shocked with that news. She was hospitalized because there was something wrong with her intestines caused by her unhealthy diet. When I went to visit her, she looked very different—she looked sunken and sick. Begin on that day; I realized that it is really impossible to be like the models that we see everyday in the media and I also afraid on how good media is in order to distort society’s idea of beauty.

There are beauty standards all over the world, but America has one of the most highest and unreachable standard of the all. In the article “Whose Body is This,” the author Katherine Haines reflects the issue on how narrow-minded society, magazine and the rest of media is depicting the perfect body. The ideal body in America is established as skinny, tall, perfect skin, tight body are characteristics that destroyed majority of woman’s self esteem (172). As girls get older and into their teen years, they have been brainwashed to need to look like the unrealistic, and photoshopped models in magazines and advertisements. Girls don’t feel comfortable to be in their own skin, because they were not taught to love themselves for who they are right in the beginning.

Model’s work so hard to have the perfect body for magazines and other things but it is not enough for people they have to photoshop everything that is natural for a girl and it makes girls self conscious about themselves. The interest in this topic is that this is a serious problem,girls should be proud of there body but people think that if a girl is fat then that girl does not care and if a girl is too skinny that girl is trying too hard. In the 1840’s people were fat because it showed that that person was wealthy and could eat a lot, and if a person is skinny you could not afford to eat. But by the 1920’s dieting and calorie counting were apart of daily life. There is way too much pressure on girls to have the perfect body because girls think they are not as pretty as the girls in magazines, society is also the problem because society thinks if a girl is not skinny that girl is not pretty, they always try to change girls because nothing is

In movies, one always sees the thin women living great lives and looking happy. In contrast, there are the not so thin women who seem to struggle and be unhappy. This has shaped the moral of women today. Women are beginning to feel ashamed and discouraged of their bodies if they do not look like the next Victoria Secret model. According to society, thinness is associated with being happy. So if one wants to be happy and accepted by society, they must be no larger than a size four, and that might be pushing it, this is the world we are beginning to live in. The pressure is not just on women, but men too. For men, their ideal body is a little different compared to women. To be viewed as having a perfect body for a male, they need to be extremely muscular with ripped abs and defined muscles. “… a man takes off his shirt and you see a low percentage of body fat, rippling biceps, and 6-pack abs. That’s the

Ever find yourself looking into the mirror at your body and thinking: wow I’m fat or I’m ugly? According to Advocates for Youth, approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media. The media creates an unrealistic image for women to strive for. Many companies like Victoria's Secret, Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, and so on promote their products using skinny, anorexic looking models. Recently, Victoria's Secret launched the “Perfect ‘Body’ Campaign.” The slogan, which refers to the retailer's "Body" lingerie line, appears with images of Victoria's Secret angels otherwise

The “ideal body” has been constructed by a male-dominated culture and is not only supported but also strengthened by multibillion-dollar industries. Beauty ideals additionally encourage competitiveness and jealousy between women. The patriarchal and social conditioning women experience daily consequently contribute to low self esteem which is many times manifested by the deflection of one’s own insecurities and negative feelings about oneself onto others. Women particularly in the United States have been taught at an early age to hate fatness and have in turn internalized the perfect body as being thin with the dominating negative demeanor towards the overweight population best described as sociocultural phenomenon. This is shown by artwork as recent as the Renaissance period, where one can see that the female body was portrayed in a number of different ways through numerous paintings and sculptures, many including a more chunky and voluptuous figure. A figure that at different times and in different places was considered beautiful by popular opinion, a foreign concept to many people now. American’s are inherentley taught to loathe fatness with the “ideal body” type only further limiting and objectifying women through lowering self-esteem and self-worth. It is critical to fight widespread and detrimental negative body

Everywhere I looked, media was/is trying to portray this “perfect body” to the public oblivious to the harm that it causes among teenagers. Every girl wants to that have the “perfect body” that the media portrays, but not every girl can attain it. Even if you try and turn away; it is impossible because everywhere you turn the media/public is depicting their idea of an unrealistic “perfect body.” I believe that there is no such a thing as a perfect body. One’s body is what makes us who we are. Every single person is unique due to an individual physical trait and we should not be embarrassed or ashamed of that trait. Instead, flaunt it and show the media and the rest of the world that you are happy the way you

Unfortunately, only about 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by the media. Oh no, Victoria - who let your secret out this time? - Comparatively, according to an article published by (x) four in five men (80.7%) talk in ways about their body image by referring to perceived flaws and imperfections all the way from receding hairlines, man boobs, or just flat out being skin and bone unable to gain any muscle without having to inject gallons of shady and dangerous chemicals annually to help them achieve their initial goal of attractiveness. Often at times, these qualifying individuals not only risk their health. They risk their lives as

Body dissatisfaction needs to be made a public health concern for the safety of women, and men, around the world. If the media would expose people to a more diverse range of body types and images, then people would feel more comfortable in their own skin. Making the issue of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction public can prevent the deaths of thousands who suffer from these disorders. It is a long, ongoing process but media can show that “thin” is not the only body type that showcases

As women strive to achieve the perfect body, they can negatively affect themselves in many ways. Although having a healthy, fit body is good for one’s self, there are many ways to achieve this look. The majority of ways that females attempt to change their body are unhealthy. The number of women developing eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating have increased as well as the number of obese people. Many of these harmful disorders are caused by the inability to reach society’s perceived perfect

In today’s society, it is effortless to argue that women are too pressured to have a perfect body. Women have an idea that they have to fulfill a look to satisfy other people because of what appeals to the common eye. Women always lower their self-esteem because of the way models look in magazines, movies, television, etc. Beautiful celebrities like Megan Fox, Kim Kardashian, and Beyoncé are what the common eye admires. Celebrities tend to be slim, wear loads of makeup, and have ideal curves. Women look up to these celebrities and wish to be just like them.

“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.

In modern society we are faced with a narrow idea of what is perceived as beautiful. The media influences us everyday. Women and men are constantly trying to modify their body into what society has deemed “acceptable”, and it has caused major consequences, including the rise of eating disorders. Women feel the need to be a size zero and men feel the need to be muscular. This is due, not only because of social factors, but also a person’s genes, biology and psychological reasons.

“What if I just lost some weight…” says most girls once in their life. Woman are constantly putting their bodies through awful diets and harsh workouts, just to become perfect in someone else eyes. Woman and young girls see figures of other women with a double zero pants size and ask “why can’t I look like that?” Today society puts too much pressure on young women to have the perfect body. What society needs to say is all women are beautiful, there is no such thing as the perfect body. Today, women are putting down other woman for being a size fourteen. The men in our society are not helping either, by making a woman feel her body is not excepted, by saying they have a preference of a woman. Images like this get stuck in the average Americans mind and they start to paint a picture of perfection. “Women tend to be judged on the basis of what they look like, not who they are, and the more positive the evaluation, the more likely a woman is to be valued by others…” (Strelan, P., Hargreaves, D. May 2005). America has this problem today because of the media, the objectification of woman, and how women carry themselves.

Exercising and dieting used to be emphasized for its health benefits, but nowadays, it’s more about the physical attraction it might give you. I wouldn’t consider myself to be anorexic, but what I’m trying to say here is that the media’s portrayal of women’s bodies has also made me feel as if the only way I can be considered “beautiful” or “perfect” in this society is to look like the abnormally thin models who are constantly being advertised on televisions, magazine, and all over the internet.