Eating Image : Social Media And Body Image

Throughout the years, the definition of beauty constantly changes. In our society today many children are told to be true to themselves, to be unique, to be who they are, etc.; But on the other hand social media and the celebrities on there are a constant reminder that there is a certain type of beautiful. The juxtaposition between being yourself and being what is “beautiful” has consistent grey areas and blurred lines making it almost impossible to keep up with what’s “beautiful”. The media, whether intentional or not, portrays this certain body image that you have to be in order to qualify as beautiful.

Research shows that over 80 percent of 10-year-old girls fear becoming “fat” (NYC). Young girls are not satisfied by their body image and it is causing many issues. Even though young girls may subject themselves to body image issues, social media destroys girl’s self-worth because of the fashion industry and prolonged time and use on social media.

Along with the unrealistic body images on social media it drags along obsession with dieting, food, and appearance in young adolescents creating eating disorders. “Adolescents diagnosed with serious eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia often report that their symptoms can be linked to the bullying they received from their age peers as well as the unrealistic media images presented as an ideal for them to follow.”(www.phycologytoday.com) The unrealistic body ideal that they feel they need to follow has a big impact on the way teens look at what they are eating, and their weight and shape which can lead to serious eating disorders. “Adolescent females who are unable to conform to the ideal being put forward by movie, television find themselves taking extreme measures to be more like their role models.” (www.phycologytoday.com) Teens feel that it is important to become like their role models that they see on social media and go to extreme measures to become the ideal weight and shape

As technology editing tools have become even more prevalent, many feel the need to excessively use photoshop before they share an image online. In a pervasive world where images of unrealistic standards fuel the media on how one should look, social media has one of the most significant impacts on body dissatisfaction. Throughout the last decade, social media has become one of the most common and favored ways for people to communicate, connect, and share. Thus, there have been many debates and discussions on whether the media has a positive or a negative impact on the way an individual perceives him or herself. As the rapid growth of smartphone usage among adolescents and adults has increased, social media has become an essential part of one’s daily life. In today's society, when most adolescents and adults turn on their smartphones, often times, the first thing they will refer to is a social media site. It has become a place where they are exposed to news, images, and expectations. Often times, these images, ideals, and expectations are ingrained in their brain and bombarded with what is considered to be beautiful. Moreover, these unrealistic standards will often lead to a form of comparison, influencing them to take extreme measures. Although social media serves as a platform where people can connect, communicate, and share, it has a negative impact on one’s body image, because it can lead to a lack of self confidence and severe

Due to young women being constantly indoctrinated by being told how to look and act, it is no surprise that effects on a young woman’s body-image are primarily psychological. Within the group of young women, adolescent girls are targeted when it comes to thin-ideals and negative body-images. Throughout many psychological studies, it has been noted that this is because a young girl’s body is going through many psychological and physiological changes that make them more vulnerable to a negative body-image. Bell and Dittmar describe why adolescent girls are more defenseless by saying, “ During adolescence, a primary psychological task faced is that of identity formation, and being socially accepted by one’s peers becomes

Approximately 14 million U.S. teenage girls don’t like how they look. The number of women who feel confident in their bodies is dwindling quickly and is being fueled by edited pictures they are comparing themselves to on social media. The Time magazine article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror” by Rachel Simmons tells of the risk for everyone to feel self-conscious about their bodies. However, those most at risk are teenage girls who spend a significant amount of time on any form of social media. In response to the article, I agree with the negative effects social media has on the body image of teenage girls because I have seen girls trying to change their bodies. I also see the effects logos and pathos have on the strength of the article and what would make it a stronger and more credible source for information on teen body image.

The ideal body image that is seen by society is being tall, thin, muscular, and fit. It is commonly seen across various media platforms, making it more popular. The group of people that are targeted ranges from teenagers to adults who engaged in social networking websites (Fardouly and et, al.). The increase in media consumption has proven that it leads to body dissatisfaction among consumers. A statistic from Body Image shows, “Similarly, 90% of 16-24 year olds in the United Kingdom (Office for National Statistics, 2013), and 90% of 18-29 year olds in the United States (Pew Research, 2013a), use social networking websites” (Fardouly and et, al.). The amount of exposure to social media is relatively high in a particular age. These social networking websites have images that are constantly

We live in a media-saturated world especially, in western society that provides a significantly influential context for people to learn about body ideals and the value placed on attractiveness that influences the way they perceive themselves. Media invades our lives through television, radio, magazines, newspapers, cinema, advertisements and internet and is very influential on vulnerable adolescents who cannot distinguish what is real and what is not Lopez-Guimera, Levine, Sanchez-Carracedo, & Fauquet, (2010). Mass media contributes to the promotion of the thin ideal as a way to achieve social approval, recognition, and success; in addition, it promotes dieting and food restriction as a socially agreeable practice. In America, body dissatisfaction has reached normative levels among girls and young women. Approximately 50% of girls and undergraduate women report being dissatisfied with their bodies, these perceptions begin at an early age of 7 and exist

As young women go through puberty, they begin to mature both physically and emotionally. Particularly, women begin to gain weight when they undergo puberty. Throughout their adolescence, women are exposed to harsh opinions others have on their bodies and how they should carry themselves. Most importantly, women are exposed to society’s values through the use of media. Women begin to value their body image and force themselves to conform to society’s idea of the “perfect body”. Personally, I think of body image as a trouble of mine because I struggle to come to terms with not having a flawless figure. Each day, I see women on social media with unrealistically perfect bodies. After being so exposed to the media’s opinion of a good physique,

To begin with, the issue about body image, how it is displayed in the media, and people’s decisions about their physical and mental health because of it has been an ongoing issue for decades. The age group mostly affected are adolescent girls. Body image is the main factor to adolescent girls’ definition of their self because they have been brought up to believe that appearance is very important for self-evaluation and for the evaluation of other people. Because of this, many adolescent girls have caused great numbers of harm to their bodies. Not only are adolescent girls affected, but boys as well. Scientists and researchers have conducted many studies to show how the media’s portrayal of body image has negatively affected young adolescents. “Harrison (2001) found that exposure to thin-ideal TV was associated with a rise in eating disorder symptoms in adolescent girls; this effect was partially mediated through increasing perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal body shape. Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw, and Stein (1994) found that, among young college women, greater media exposure was linked directly with more eating disorder symptoms and indirectly— through stronger internalization of the ideal-body stereotype—with greater body dissatisfaction.” (Clay). The argument that Daniel Clay has made here is that because of the exposure to these

Media is everywhere, and what the sources contain effect people from all walks of life but the issue of body image is one thing that seems to stay in constant attention. Psychologists found there was a strong association linking social media use to body image concerns, dieting, body surveillance, a drive for thinness, and self-objectication in adolescents. One study found that female college students who spend their time posting, commenting on, and comparing themselves to photos on Facebook were more likely to link their self-worth to their looks (How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror by Rachel Simmons). Even though girls report more body image disturbance then boys, it has been shown that both genders are equally

Adolescents are bombarded with many media messages every day. These media messages may take the form of advertisements, newspapers, magazines, broadcast media such as television, and more. Such media can have a detrimental affect on how adolescents perceive their body image. Adolescents may feel pressured to diet, to spend copious amounts of money on the latest trends, and they may even feel inadequate compared to the models they see on television. Adolescence is a time of change that is difficult for many already. The messages conveyed to these adolescents often do more harm than good.

There is no denying that social media: Instagram and Tumblr, has a significant influence on all of us. The current effects of social media have increased dramatically among young women aged between 15 and 25. As stated in the study by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) that the high exposure to social media portraying the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in young women. They used a meta-analysis examined experimental and correlation studies testing the links between media exposure to young women's body dissatisfaction and the unconscious behavior towards having a thin ideal body. The results by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) support the claim that high exposure to social media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to

Social media plays an immense role in the way that stereotypes about attractiveness is conveyed in regards to body image. As Gerbner and Gross wrote in 1976, the cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. The subjection to social media can cause an idealistic view amongst young girls and women alike. Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This belief that these body types are achievable can lead to females being dissatisfied within their own skin. The result of the discontent can potentially lead to eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction occurs when views of the body are negative and involves a perceived discrepancy between a person 's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Cash and Szymanski, 1995 and Grogan, 2008). It is estimated that approximately 50% of adolescent girls report being unhappy with their bodies (Bearman, Presnell, & Martinez, 2006). Surveys have revealed that the exposure to social media can cause body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms’ and the concept that thin is “beautiful” amongst young girls and women (Botta 1999; Harrison and Hefner 2006; and Stice et al. 1994). With media influence, the question is the strength of the effect, studies indicate the effects are small in scale; they are likely to operate in accordance with particular differences in

In today’s society, the public is exposed to technology at even younger ages than ever before. Everywhere you go these days you see kids even as little as three holding their parent’s phones or even their own, watching videos or playing games. But as said in the article Does Social media impact on body image by Philippa Roxby, as kids start becoming teenagers their technological uses advance and they start to rely on social media sites for new sources of communication, and their main channel to the outside world. Based on studies conducted by psychologists they have come up with a conclusion that social media has a direct relationship to body image concerns. I believe that in today’s society we should focus on promoting self-confidence as most of the adolescents have a very low assurance of their own bodies. Although a study conducted in the article The Upside of Selfies: Social media isn’t all bad for kids by Kelly Wallace says that a survey which resulted in 52% of the teens saying that social media positively influences them. Even though social media platforms have some beneficial aspects such as they make people want to go on diets, exercise, and eating healthy, the teenagers don’t really look/understand the negative aspects of it. The impacts that are carried with social media are mostly negative such as fancying teenagers to lose confidence in themselves and has become a toxic mirror to them. The visual platforms impact