Factors That May Contribute to Eating Disorders Essay

In fact, media is contributing to many false advertisements and unrealistic images that cause eating disorders. Media gives us these false beauty standards by making teens think they have to be thin and tall. Meanwhile, many teens want to be like the models and they try to be thin but instead of doing it the healthy way. The way they do it is to skip meals and that develops eating disorders. For instance, Arnett says, “Marketing and advertisement agencies focus on models such as tall, thin women or a muscular man with a chiseled jawbone when casting for photo shoots and television commercial” (265.) Therefore, we experience and seen is that the media do give us a false beauty standard which makes teens want to do everything that is possible to become like models. This has contributed

The article Never Just Pictures, written by Susan Bordo, is about how the media’s usage of images of beautiful people with no body fat or imperfections cause the youth to develop eating disorders, and feel insecure about their own image. Susan begins by telling us about how the media targeted the nineteen year old star of Clueless, Alicia Silverstone, when she attended an award show a little bit heavier then the public was used to. She says that we are led to believe that “fat is the devil” and that having any excess fat is bad. She claims commercials and ads staring people with ideal bodies embed the idea that being fat is bad in our minds. One way she proves this is she uses a study that asked ten and eleven

Hundreds of girls everyday begin some form of eating disorder. Dieting to purging are all dangerous, especially for adolescent girls. Many forms of media promote skinny, thin, and extra thin, not allowing girls to think about their own body shape and appearance positively, “Field et al. (1999) studied 6,928 girls aged 9 to 14 years and found that attempting to emulate the appearance of females on television, in movies, and in magazines was predictive of beginning purging behavior at least on a monthly basis and that the risk for this behavior increased per category increase in frequency of trying to look like females in the media” (Lawrie, Sullivan and Davies 356). Television, movies, advertisements, and magazine all promote thinness without mercy. Every magazine headline advertises some form of calorie burner workout or dieting pill right in grocery store isles, “Restricting calories and taking diet pills were associated with reading beauty and fashion magazines in female high school students 15 to 18 years of age” (Lawrie, Sullivan and Davies 356)

“Appearance is more important in our society than ever,” said Dr. Thompson in the New York Times. Undoubtedly, self-image has become an important trait for people to have. Unfortunately, some people go to extremes to get the so called “perfect body” to attempt to look like the models shown in the media. “Researchers have believed that the media may play a central role in creating the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction and consequently, may be partly responsible for the increase in eating disorders” (Paediatr Child Health). In fact, girls who are average weight, believe they are overweight or actively trying to lose weight. With out a doubt, media is at the palms of our hands, considering that most people have cell

You keep flipping the pages of this magazine and almost every other page of this magazine there is a dieting or body enhancing product. Society and media promote body enhancing and dieting in every way possible such as commercials, magazine pages, billboards, etc. There was a study done with 366 male and female participants. The study showed that exposure to a thin-rewarded portrayal activated ideal discrepancies whereas exposure to fat-punished portrayal activated negative discrepancies. Both of these discrepancies is an increase of negative emotions which can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia. Society has drastically increased the number of dieting, weight loss, and body enhancing products of the years. There was a study done that showed the increase in the number of dieting products and foods between the years of 1973 and 1991. It also showed that women's magazines as 10.5 times as many dieting foods and products as men. While dieting products have increased, the weight of Playboy centerfolds, Miss America contestants, fashion models and female actresses have decreased. These are some women who young women of today look up to and if society and media makes them this unobtainable size these young women are going to want to use these dieting foods and products to get to be that size which can lead to anorexia and multiple other eating disorders. Surveys suggest that 83% of adolescent girls read fashion magazines for an average of 4.3 hours per week and that “Seventeen” magazine has an estimated readership of 11,000,000. A survey was taken by young girls between the ages of eleven and thirteen; they were asked if they could have three wishes what would it be, and the number one response of the girls was to lose weight and keep it off. This survey shows us that media and society have placed body

Over the decades, many women of all shapes and sizes have struggled with body image and low self-esteem which has been affected by media’s portrayal of beauty. In a study performed in the United Kingdom, researchers “examined whether young women who make implicit associations between underweight models and positive attributes report elevated eating disorder symptoms” (Ahern). An eating disorder is evidence of an individual’s lack of positive body image. The person believes that he or she has to fit a certain ideal in order to be accepted and liked by others. The article states that, “societal pressure to be thin is thought to be a major contributor to the high levels of body dissatisfaction,” which once again demonstrates how much

In modern culture, women and men are becoming less satisfied with their body shape. According to a report that was done by the Federal Trade Commission, seventy percent of Americans are either trying not to maintain their weight or are trying to lose weight (Kittleson 75). To compensate for being over weight, an individual will develop an eating disorder. According to Mark Kittleson, eating disorders are when an individual eats way too much or way too little (1). There are three different types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. According to Jessica Bennett, twenty-five million people in the United States suffer from binge eating disorder and ten million women and one million men suffer from either anorexia or

This graph shows that models since the 1960’s have been less than 94 pounds, and under 78 at the lowest weight. Society admires people who are beautiful, especially models who are typically underweight. Another way that society can impact eating disorders is how some people make fun overweight or obese people. People view being fat as bad and jokes made about fat people have become “socially acceptable” (Keel 65). Since such jokes are becoming more lenient in society, young women think that being overweight is the worst thing that can happen, and it can be feared because many people do not want to be laughed at or made fun of. Society has constructed the view that being overweight is bad, which can influence eating disorders, especially among

“The mass media’s depiction of women portrays a standard of beauty that is unrealistic and unattainable for a majority of women in society.” (Female Body Image and the Mass Media, 2005). In attempt to get the same body image as those in the media world women do anything they can to fit the exact body type. “Models shown in all forms of popular media are often under what is considered heathy body weight, which sends a powerful message that women must sacrifice their health to be considered attractive by societal standards.”(Female Body Image and the Mass Media, 2005). When women are constantly being compared to the media’s definition of the perfect body type they fall victim to the start of the mental stage in what starts anorexia. Companies will go to any extreme in order to get their product sold. “If women see a discrepancy between themselves and the images they view in advertisements (which they almost always will), they will be more inclined to buy the products that are advertised.” (Thompson & Coovert, 1999) While it is highly difficult to change the way media evokes women, there may be hope for altering a women’s ideal body image to reflect something that is realistic and manageable. “If women can be taught not to internalize the sociocultural ideal, they may be able to counter the negative effects of the ultra-thin images

Today’s generation has been greatly impacted by the media through celebrities set as constant reminders of how everyone must follow in their footsteps. Many teens actually feel shame to these flawless celebrities which often leads to depression, self-esteem issues, and eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia (“AboutKidsHealth”). Even teen magazines pressure girls, young and old, to diet constantly. Many teens use runway twig-thick models as “thinspirations” (Hendrick). “60% of girls that diet, one in five develop and eating disorder” which means dieting, a result of negative body image, is convincing people to choose harm over health and fall into anorexia, bulimia, etc. (Hendrick). Even men are developing eating disorders although it is less than women (Derenne). Not only are people dieting and developing eating

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

The desire to be thin has not only affected women over age twenty, but girls as young as six years old have expressed desires to be thin and are unhappy with their appearance. President and CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, Lynn Grefe, says that the age of children suffering with eating disorders have gotten younger and younger (Roberts). It has been reported that “forty to sixty percent of six to twelve year olds worry about their weight, and seventy percent would like to slim down” (Roberts). These young girls, who should be focused on having fun and being young, should not feel the need to slim down or change their appearance to fill the standards of society. These young girls who often express what they want to be when they grow up, see these models and have a desire to be just like them. In our society, models and actresses are seen as role models to these young girls. However, celebrities messages to young girls is not something children should be viewing. When a young girl sees a photo of their favorite actress next to an article about losing weight and new diets, they

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).

“The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it

“Researchers estimate that between one of five and one of eleven young women today have an eating disorder.” People tend to compare themselves to thin actors and models on television and in other forms of media. Magazines for female readers contain countless articles about weight loss, as well as advertisements promoting special diet foods and pills. Friends and even family members may send the message that fat is ugly and thin is beautiful. Research has shown up to date that body image shows that women are much more disapproving of their appearance than men much less likely to approve what they see in the mirror.