The topic of body image draws my attention for the reason in which women are exceedingly susceptible to the concept that mass media can impact on their body image during the time period that they evolve a constructive outlook on their bodies and embrace the developmental modifications that transpire throughout puberty. Due to the fact that there’s a particularly predicted image that social media pinpoints on women, it intrigues me to unmask how women decode, comply and withstand the sociocultural environment in the development of body image, alongside with their knowledge of, and prospect on this evolution. Back in 3rd grade, a 5th grader crowned me ‘the fattest girl in Elementary School’ while I sat hidden in a bathroom stall hunched over, and I felt embarrassment crawling into my cheeks. The …show more content…
What’s unfortunate is that half of the refinements women determine to make, occasionally cannot be reversed (depending on the severity) and/or create complications for the rest of their lives. Innumerable hours on television are handed to advertisements striving to persuade their audience that purchasing their product will result in thinness, attractiveness, approval but essentially more recognition among the people that surround them. The predominant bias, I depicted from numerous sources is the idea of what Americans define is sexy and beautiful in this culture which majority would suggest it would be a blonde, busty, slender woman with curves in all the right places and to acquire this kind of beauty through dying their hair, going on ludicrous diets and plastic surgery. Today, eating disorders are seen more frequently than before, and their manifestation has become more widespread among today’s youth. Social media has created the facility to criticize and evaluate bodies in such a way that advocates an increase in body dissatisfaction, persistent body supervision, and vague feelings regarding self-worth – all of these factors can potentially lead to severe eating
Demi Lovato once said, “I’m not going to sacrifice my mental health to have the perfect body.” However, today we find that many individuals are doing the completely opposite. In Susan Bordo’s, “Globalization of Eating Disorders” essay, they fall into the media trap, the self-image trap, where they are concerned of what people may think about them. Americans nowadays have pageants, modeling, and media to thank for this absurd notion. Fit women, along with strong men give this motivation to others to want to be like them. Most people should be comfortable with their own bodies. Americans are mesmerized with media and enthralled by one’s body image, and ,as a result, face ramifications like eating disorders and anorexia.
It is apparent that with the increasing popularity of social media today, there has been a shift in dietary changes within our society. Individuals are subconsciously changing how and what they eat. The question arises, why are so many young women dissatisfied with their bodies, despite their size? Although there are several forces believed to play a role in this dissatisfaction such as peer criticism and parental influences, the thin-ideal body is dominating the media (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). Thinness is largely emphasized and praised for women in magazines, television shows, movies and commercials (Stice & Shaw, 1992). Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that stems from this ubiquitous obsession to be thin and is often associated with a pathological fear of gaining weight, distorted self-body image and emaciation (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary).
Every single day women are faced with the questions of whether they are pretty enough, skinny enough, whether men are attracted to them, whether they can be loved or not, and whether people think they are beautiful. Images of “beautiful” females are plastered all over the media, commercials, Internet, movies, TV shows, ad campaigns, etc. In today’s society the “perfect female proportions” are nearly impossible for one to healthily obtain, but this does not stop women of all ages to going through impossible measures in order to be one step closer to what they consider “perfection.” For many girls all ages, shapes, sizes, around the world, eating disorders are becoming more prevalent for weight
According to the National Eating Disorder Association, there’s a social aspect that causes eating disorders with our culture pressuring women to be thin and placing this value on obtaining the perfect body to please others not even yourself. Women see a plethora of sexist and misogynistic images everyday everywhere that are making young women alter their self image because they don’t look the same as the women on social media or television. Women see so many images that undermine them as women in the real world that portray us as passive and promiscuous. These portrayals help aide eating disorders making young women force themselves to have the “perfect” body by throwing up, or even refusing to eat.
“The dissemination of unrealistic body standards has been linked to eating disorders among men and women of varying age groups, but it has a particularly destructive health effect on children and teeneagers” (Ros-Lehitnen). Many women
“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.
Eating disorders have become a major problem throughout the world, specifically in the United States. The key factor that has an influence on eating disorders is the media. Including people of all ages and genders, up to twenty-four million people suffer from an eating disorder in the United States (ANAD np). This is a huge problem in the world today but what makes it so much worse is the fact that it can be prevented and it is in our control to change it. Young adults look to these celebrities, which are often their role models, and try to look just like them. What they fail to remember is the fact that celebrities have a lot of money, money that can afford nutritionists and personal trainers. They also fail to remember the extensive measures the celebrities may have to go through to look the way they do. An example of extensive measures can be considered plastic surgery. Ultimately, this creates a false goal that is almost unattainable for the “average” or “regular” person. Overall, the media has overtaken a huge impact on what the “ideal” body image has become today. Eating disorders are still on the rise and it is proven that an eating disorder such as anorexia affects up to 5 percent of women from ages 15-30 years old ("Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders | National Eating Disorders Association np"). This may not seem that significant but it is also not considering other eating disorders such as bulimia. All in all, eating disorders
Chronic dieting, low self-esteem, depression and, high levels of body dissatisfaction were among the major issues women face when addressing their body image (Gingras, Fitzpatrick, & McCargar, 2004). The severity of body image dissatisfaction have increased to such a dangerous state that it was added to the DSM-IV as a disorder now called body dysmorphic disorder (Suissa, 2008). One of the main reasons for the prevalence of these conditions in women was due to contemporary Western media, which serve as one of the major agent in enforcing an ultra-thin figure as the ideal for female beauty (Saraceni & Russell-Mayhew, 2007). These images and models presented by the media have become the epitome of beauty, pushing women who internalized these images to dangerous extent to attain these norms. According to evidence from previous studies, contemporary Western cultures have influenced women to an acquired normative state of discontent with their bodies, which have become the source of maladaptive eating practices, negative psychological outcomes, and, chronic health conditions associated with eating disorders (Snapp, Hensley-Choate, & Ryu, 2012). The seriousness of these body image conditions among youths and women have also led to congressional actions.
Literary Analysis of “Barbie Doll” In “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy describes a young girl’s struggles throughout her adolescence because of her preoccupation with appearance. Her unhappy situation reinforces how negative a young life can become when society ignores the inner person and highlights physicality instead. As Piercy observes, “Everybody said, doesn’t she look pretty?” (23).
The media constantly sends out an influx of images and messages promoting an almost unattainable unrealistic image of beauty, that has consistently been linked to disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, predominantly among girls but can also be seen in boys. Throughout the years the ideal body shape has progressed from voluptuous and curvaceous an image Marilyn Monroe emulated to a slimmer and leaner frame in congruence with high fashion models such as Kate Moss (Katzmarzk & Davis, 2001). Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia nervosa affect between 1% and 4% of young adult females (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Eating disorders have been linked to body shapes and images present in the media (Shorter, Brown, Quinton & Hinton, 2008).
One perspective on eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa places the blame on society’s obsession with dieting and the pressure for thinness among women. A Gallup Poll showed that 31% of women and 21% of men are trying to lose weight (Wilke, 2014). Between 40%-60% of girls in elementary school are concerned with their weight (Smolak, 2011). Society’s image of the ideal women is an extremely thin form, really without shape. Barbie dolls and other toy models display unrealistic body shapes. “The standards for thinness have grown increasingly strict and have become more unrealistic over time” (Helgeson, 2017). The media normalizes dieting and excessive thinness and also encourages individuals to evaluate their bodies and to use extreme measures
In the united states women expectation of beauty has change over time. Everywhere you turn their women being adversity as Victoria secret model or Barbie. Girls would want to look like this causing them to feel a shamed of their body and have eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia. Women are expected to be a Victoria secret model. Which some or most women can’t accomplish. Most girl want “that” perfect body type – slim, but not skinny; soft, but not fat. However, these goal lead to unhealthy body alteration.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association the media has a major influence on what a woman’s body should look like. Every print and television advertisement suggests that the ideal body is extremely thin. However, most women cannot achieve having a super-thin body that the media favors. The resulting failure leads to negative feelings about one’s self and can begin a downward spiral toward an eating disorder (National Eating Disorders Association).
Unfortunately, there are many people throughout every corner of the world that are pressured into being the perfect image of a woman in today’s society. This causes stress and the turn to eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binging; however, society has the power to prevent this. These are caused by disappointment in one’s body shape, and this disappointment can be triggered by depression, hateful comments, or the promotion of the importance of physical appearance. Eating disorders are extremely dangerous to one’s health, alter one’s mind to lead to depression, and can be prevented by minimizing certain factors in society. The influences leading to eating disorders should be discouraged, if not demolished because of these reasons.
Media portrays an unrealistic, unattainable image of women that is considered to be perfection. The ideal woman presented in most advertisements, magazines, etc., is usually tall, white, extremely thin with a curvy body, and long blonde hair (Serdar, 2014). An increasingly small amount of women actually fit the criteria that is thought to be ideal; however, women are repeatedly told that they are not attractive unless they fit this unrealistic ideal of perfection. This viscous cycle has resulted in 3-10% of girls between ages 15 and 29 being considered to be bulimic because they want to fit this unattainable body type so badly. In reality, most models pictured in