External Influences Control Us More Than We Would Like Or Even Admit

The media pressures women to conform to the rail-thin models they display on their ads, and are

In society, women relate to friends, models and actresses which are actually people who are in the industry portraying the ‘ideal body.’ Women think too much about what others think of them instead of just caring about themselves. They also choose to take the unhealthy approach and gain all these bad habits to obtain the ‘ultimate’ body image of this ‘ideal woman’ society has created.

Thus, women have always felt the need to follow the steps of an ideally beautiful woman, which means to take care of herself, be skinny, were expensive clothes and accessories an wear tons of make-up in order to be attractive. These “haves” are not at all democratic, because by portraying a model of an ideal woman of a society, women will do anything to reach the “perfect” woman. When a woman is influenced by the fashion and beauty industry she feels the need to supply herself with products that are not a basic need for her, but they will make her the “perfect” woman she wants to be. But does she really want to be that woman? It is only a matter of being acceptable by the society ideals of a perfect woman and not what is right or wrong. Zoe Sugg is one of these “perfect” women out there, because she is successful, beautiful and smart. Since her female audience supports her and adores her so much because of all the great things they think she is companies’ use this in a way to promote their products threw her. Zoe Sugg is also a YouTuber who is viewed as an “average” woman, because it seems that she is not living a big life and she still supports companies whose products can be found in drugstores and not only in expensive retail

I was miserable but did not know how to stop my obsession. My mother finally stepped in. She sat down with me and talked about all her concerns with my weight. I came

In social psychology, social influence is a process where someone’s beliefs, thoughts and behaviour change by being exposed to beliefs, thoughts and opinions of others. It manifests in several forms, such as obedience, compliance and conformity. All these types of social influence have been studied by numerous researchers who investigated the reasons why people conform to social norms and obey to authorities, such as Milgram’s classic studies on obedience. His experiments support the popular idea of ‘banality of evil’ –Hannah Arendt (1963)’s famous phrase referring to the capability to accomplish dreadful things out of banal reasons–, revealing that people conform submissively and thoughtlessly to the orders that authorities deliver, no

Have you ever gotten lost in the Internet, swallowed by the constant updates on Twitter and Facebook for hours, when you only meant to be on for a few minutes? This is a constant battle in our society and technology changes and our use of it increases. It is becoming a bigger issue every day, and now it affects one of our basics psychological needs: sleep. Though I concede with Brooke Gladstone, author of “The Influencing Machines” that we can adapt to technology as it grows, I still insist that some issues that arise with technology are bigger than Gladstone portrays and we need to find solutions for some of the bigger problems that technology creates, especially when it disturbs a basic psychological need.

In her article “Never Just Pictures,” author Susan Bordo analyzes how deeply teenage girls of today are effectively told how to look by mass media. Girls of the 21st century are constantly struggling with their own confidence and overall happiness simply due to the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines. Today, women are subconsciously told what the ‘perfect body’ is and anything less than that means that they are unwanted and fat. Bordo specifically described the experience of the 19 year-old Clueless actress, Alicia Silverstone, whom the tabloids consistently referred to as ‘fatgirl’ and ‘buttgirl.’ Bordo described that once a young woman is told that she is not worthy or that she is fat, countless psychological issues arise and begin

Nikee. Apple. Covergirl. Weight Watchers. Why do all these seemingly unrelated names sound familiar? That answer is simple: advertising. Advertising, a prodigious business, is a way to market a product or service to the public consumer through TV, internet, billboards, and other outlets. However, this over exposure to unnecessary and unwanted propaganda brings about personal struggles, since ads scream about the absolute desire for self impeccability while simultaneously destroying the spirits of those who listen. This industry’s image of “normalcy” often alters one’s self image. Although many see the benefits of consumer marketing, the industry’s depiction of idealized perfection reveals that manipulating people through advertisements

There is a fundamental human need to belong to social groups especially if people were to live and work together, it is likely that they need to agree on common beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours in order to get along and fit-in. Thus, we learnt to conform to rules of other people, the more people see others behaving in a particular way or making particular decisions, the more likely people will feel obliged to follow the suit. This is called conformity and can be defined in different ways, Aronson, Wilson & Akert (2014) stated it is the changing of one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people. According to Deutsch and Gerard (1955), social influence should be distinguished into two types, the informational social influence and normative social influence. The occurrence of social influence has implied to many real life events, which has drawn many researchers to attention. This has lead many researchers to design distinct experiments to try and understand the cause of the conformity, whether conformity is situation dependent, and whether we are able to resist social influences.

“Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies... Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media” (Palmer). Major corporations and industries such as Disney, Mattel, and Victoria's Secret, consistently display and advocate women with the “ideal” body type, when in reality, this is only feasible for a small percentage of women. Therefore, women and girls are forced to assume that it is necessary for their physical features to be as flawless as those portrayed through large corporations and the media. These cultural icons of flawlessness and beauty lead women to have an unhealthy obsession with body image or a severe mental illness. Major corporations should be held responsible

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

Informational Influence and Normative Influence are both categorized under conformity in sociology. Informational is basically when we conform to others behavior because we believe it provides information about reality. It is often when we care about getting the right answer and trying to be rational. It also deals with the "Maybe they know something I don't know" phenomenon. An example, could be choosing to eat at a busier restaurant opposed to the empty one, or imitating the locals when outside your country. In contrast, Normative Influence is when we conform to others behavior because they expect us to. This is when we believe conforming may have positive consequences, such as approval or the enhancement of our reputation, or when we believe not conforming may have negative consequences, such as disapproval or punishment. An example of Normative Influence is laughing at a joke you don't get, or agreeing with an opinion you believe in others.

The world has many different influences that affect the way we grow, think, and act. It is interesting how some people from the same background and upbringing can become completely different people simply by the people they associate with. Psychologically association can be one of the best or worst things that can happen to someone. Depending on the type of association can determine which road you go down in life. Choices like this start at a very young age, such as grade school to high school.

Women have let the idea of looking beautiful take over their self-confidence and life. Healthy Place, an online magazine teaching women about living a healthy life, says that, “today's fashion models weigh twenty-three percent less than the average female, and a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a seven percent chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a one percent chance of being as thin as a supermodel.” So why do women push themselves to be excessively thin when these models are anomalies? They do it because the media tells them that this look is the only look that can attract men. Even if a woman is “beautiful” according to the media’s standards, she will always find something about her body that she hates, whether it is her hair or her belly button, no women is completely satisfied. Our society is very accepting of different religions and lifestyles, so why can we not accept different types of beauty as well?

Many women complain about birth control because they don’t want to get fat. That to me sounds ridiculous because either you gain a little weight by taking birth control or you gain a lot when you actually become pregnant. So if you don’t want to put your life on hold then I suggest you think of methods to avoid becoming pregnant. I’m not saying it’s bad to be pregnant but it all comes at its own time and you don’t want to be surprised one day and find out you’re going to be a young or single parent. Birth control has its benefits and you should explore your options before it’s too late.