Hollywood Body Standard

In his essay, “Building a Bigger Action Hero”, Logan Hill examines the things it takes for actors to be taken seriously by Hollywood. He wrote, “Today’s actors spend more time in the gym than they do rehearsing, more time with their trainers than with their directors” (Hill 59). We see that acting is no longer the Hollywood actor’s priority here. What matters more is the actor’s external body appearance. According to Hill, they have to go to extreme lengths to meet Hollywood’s unrealistic expectations. It is not natural for the human body to have only 5% body fat or to be able to retain it easily, but Hollywood actors are required to meet that standard. Thus, they are put through rigorous exercises, starved, and dehydrated, especially on days of the shoot where they would have to take off their clothes and show off their bodies, “A fat Superman can’t fly, a pudgy Spiderman can’t swing. And an actor who can’t get jacked on a deadline doesn’t have a shot at being the leading man in Hollywood. Given the choice between better acting chops and physique, producers and directors will often choose the better body” (61-62). In other words, a Hollywood actor is no

Steroid abuse by teen athletes and abuse of performance-enhancing supplements like creatine is also on the rise (Performance-enhancing drugs and your teen athlete, 2008, The Mayo Clinic). Although some teens may feel jaded and certain that they know ‘drugs are bad,’ and drugs fry your brain like the famous fried egg in a pan in the popular television commercial immortalized during the 1980s, many well-educated teens and young adults do not see the same risks inherent in prescription drugs or drugs that make them feel better or run faster (The Partnership’s fried egg message, 2008, Partnership for a Drug-Free America). “For a sizable group of people in their 20's and 30's, deciding on their own what drugs to take - in particular, stimulants, antidepressants and other psychiatric medications - is becoming the norm. Confident of their abilities and often skeptical of psychiatrists' expertise, they choose to rely on their own research and each other's experience in treating problems like depression, fatigue, anxiety or a lack of concentration. A medical degree, in their view, is useful, but not essential, and certainly not sufficient,” reports the New York Times, citing incidents of young adults

A body image is a subjective combination of all the thoughts, emotions, and judgments that an individual may perceive about his or her own body. Each individual has a unique perception of his or her own body. This image is strongly influenced and often times skewed due to the increasing pressure created from outside, societal factors. With a world that is continuously creating new forms of social media and entertainment, individuals are constantly exposed to images that supposedly define bodily perfection and are then expected to resemble these images in order to fit in and/or please society. The expectations that have been put in place by society has created unwanted pressure on individuals who feel as if they need to resemble these images to get society’s approval.

All of these and many more actors spend hours and hours in the gym to build their body for a

Many of these individuals, also face the challenges of these pointless standards. Lorber states, “These differences are socially meaningless until social practices transform them into social facts.” Lorber is talking mostly about the standards set on gender in today’s society. Any gendered person is as equal as another, until society decides that they are not. Humans, especially weightlifters, are always trying to fit in with society's standards. Weightlifting men ”grew up idolizing Arnold [Schwarzenegger, former body champion and Governor of California]” Arnold set the standards to many of these modern day steroid users. These social standards, seem to be a major factor in the steroid use by middle aged men. These steroid users, are abusing their bodies to get a feeling of self accomplishment by society’s

In recent decades, acquiring the body image and figure popularized by mass media and popular culture is becoming a rising and prevalent concern amongst people. Apparent increases in the efforts to achieve, match, and maintain the ideal body gathers attention and worry that it might impact perceptions on what sort of body stature is acceptable or not. Even some youths are beginning to pick up the idea that a body type that is not ideal to the type popularly portrayed by society is unfavorable. This desire for the ideal body is becoming immensely widespread that some people have even come to sign it as a priority, making this matter as an issue of concern. Susan Bordo expands and discusses in her essay “Never Just Pictures,” the development of

People are constantly trying to fit in and conform to “normality” because they fear that they will be criticized for being different; but to be different is to bring unique and individual attributes to society. Instead of trying to mimic another’s character, one should be content in their own skin. In his short story “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut creates a 2081 society where no one is better or worse than anyone else. If someone proves to be greater than another, their skill is discouraged and restrained with handicaps. One who has no handicaps is seen as a normal person. However, Kurt Vonnegut reveals that this sense of normality is a corrupted one through the development of his dystopian society.

Kover, A. (2009, April 30). Effects of the Media on Body Image. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

In the article “Never Just Pictures,” Susan Bordo acknowledges how the cultural perception of body image of both men and women has been increasing in viciousness exponentially. The societal views of the models in advertisements, on television or in magazines, have proven themselves to be “fabulously” horrific throughout the last few decades. However, an incredible amount of commercial funding, euphemistic language, dietary support groups and other lifestyle changes are merely thought up, created and shipped out door-to-door to virtually all people who cannot simply stand being a kind soul towards others who are apparently suffering, in the medias (blind) eyes. This terrifying phenomenon is especially shocking since there have been articles

Although people say that the media is just portraying bodies that they believe look best, it

"Body image is the perception that a person has of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception.” The American society has been broadcasting a certain type of body,

Ever see those people on television or the internet and think that you want to be just like them because of how big and muscular they are, well not all of them you want to be like. Body builders or even some professional athletes are not honest about how they really got so big and strong. The case behind this is due the widely known illegal drug known as steroids. Steroids have been used by a enormous group of people throughout the century and have brought along with them huge and devastating problems. The reason for these major problems that comes along with the use of steroids are that users will take advantage and abuse these drugs. Due to such negative effects that steroids bring and the addictions, the

Today 's society is constantly presented with misrepresentations of the ideal body image through the advertising of diet plans and supplements. Companies in the fitness industry scam people into buying useless products or services by advertising with individuals that have, what the mass media sees as, the 'perfect ' body composition. In addition to getting consumers to buy into a product or service, these companies also aid society with the spreading of this fake idea of what classifies as the perfect body. They portray a body image that is unattainable for most individuals in society, despite how many of those supplements being advertised they buy. The models used in these advertisements, are in most cases, starving themselves, enhanced via illegal substances, or are photo-shopped to the point where even they do not look like the model displayed in the ad. All this has led to many people wanting to strive for that perfect body, that in reality, is impossible to achieve. In order to show the affect these advertisements play in our society, I will be deconstructing multiple ads in the fitness industry, as well as multiple peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles centered around the impact media has on an individual 's self-image.

What is considered normal? Everyone today yearns to be considered normal, but what exactly are they striving for? Found in the dictionary, the definition of normal is: an adjective; usual; conforming to the usual standard, type, or custom. But, how can anything be considered normal if no two people are exactly the same?         Norms form a society. They are the standards by which people live by. Growing up in Rhode Island, my experience has been with the American contemporary society. Our society has to put labels on everything and everyone in order to function. There are different norms for the way we look and act. Our society has set an extremely high standard of normality with appearance. People believe that the norm for appearance,

There are many beauty standards but weight and body size is slowly becoming the main focus. These standards give a false sense of hope of having the “perfect body.” Instead of letting beauty standards be socially accepted, people should be aware of the harm they cause. Celebrities are role models to various people around the world and they are criticized for their appearance. Many of these celebrities go out and get plastic surgery, Botox injections, and Silicone implants. People that a lot of money and higher status are more likely to be able to live up to these standards. Some women are willing to sacrifice comfort and tolerate the pain to achieve them.