How Does Media Influence Children's Body Image?

Dreams have long fascinated the human race. This alternate reality, separate from the conscious world we see around us, has captured the interest of many people throughout history. In fact, mankind has been studying dreams since the invention of the written word. Perhaps the lure of dreams is that there seems to be some significance behind them. Most reject the idea that dreams are just random meaningless fragments of data. The vivid sensations that dreams create are just too powerful to ignore. The world of dreams is filled with peculiar phenomenon and unexpected events that beg our attention. Consider the following example of a dream:

Mass media can have an adverse effect teenage girls by showing body types that are unrealistic as the normal and desirable type of body to have. Young women look to the mass media to see the societal norms for beauty, and what they see can influence the way that they view themselves. By portraying women who possess a body type that is uncommon, it shows teenage girls that they need to change themselves to reflect the images they are shown. Portraying body types that emphasize thinness and exaggerated features, the mass media try to establish what is socially acceptable. Teenage girls who see this message feel pressured to become what they see, often not realizing that the body types portrayed in media are unrealistic.

We all go through the “dream stage”, but is it so that they are even meant to come across our minds during our slumber? Dreams are simply desires that certain people have a big hope to one day to actually experience their destinies and thoughts. Although reveries are recurrent, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston vividly contrasts the type of dreams people have and how they accomplish them. The determination in the 1920s set off success in the African American culture leading people to look past the limit and keep going. In “Freedom’s Plow” , Hughes believes dreams are set and fulfilled through unity, but on the other side of the grass Zora Neale Hurston in her piece, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, she perceives that dreams are asymmetrical and are not

The media plays a major role in the way our society sets certain standards and forms opinions. No matter where we go, the media is everywhere. The message that the media illustrates today is that “thin is in”. When was the last time you flipped through a magazine or through the television channels without seeing some type of advertisement promoting a new diet or new product being promoted by a super thin model or actress? Young girls are the main targets for new products. It is common for young girls to be obsessed with what is “in”. The message that young girls are getting from the media is that having bones sticking out is the way to look. They then become preoccupied with their bodies and self image. “ The exposure to ideal images coincides with a period in their lives where self regard and self efficacy is in decline, where body image is at its most fragile due to physical changes of puberty and where tendency for social comparison is at its peak” (www.eating-disorders.org.uk/docs/media.doc). The media illustrates to young girls an “idealized” shape which leads to being beautiful, popular, successful, and loved but which is not realistic to have unless you have the “idealized” shape. Therefore, they believe that their lives will be perfect as long as they are thin and have the “idealized” shape. The two main sources of media that reach young girls are television and magazines.

seems that even for dreams, I have to work and wait" (Kinsella 23). This quote shows

: Aboriginal spirituality/identity is closely linked to the physical environment in which the community is born. The explanation of their being, laws and rituals are all tied in with their belonging to country so therefore how aboriginals live their lives is linked to their surroundings. The aboriginal spirituality began approx. 50 000 years before the Jesus.

Poor language development among the infants has been a problem in the societies. The problems is attributed to many factors such as the parental influence, and environment of the child (Berk, 2012). Many researchers have argued that such problem is mainly brought by exposing the infant to the television programs On the other hands some researchers also argues that television programs can enhance proper language development among the infants. The above views from the researchers are clearly illustrated from the article Baby Einstein's Not So Smart After All" by Alice Park.

Today in modern society, we are driven by social forces. Not only do we strive for human approval and companionship, we also thrive on social media. The media plays such a pivotal role in what we buy, eat, wear, etc. that we are conditioning ourselves to fit the mold for the “perfect” or “ideal” body type. This social construct has been a pressing issue for many years regarding the female physique, but not as much has been said on behalf of men. When confronted with appearance based advertisements, men are more likely to experience muscle dissatisfaction, weight disparities, and anger and/or anxiety toward showing their body in public. This paper will address these facets of the media’s effect on male body image as well as presenting what has been done to address this quietly debilitating issue.

The harshness of the world and the small chance of survival he is facing would perhaps indicate that dreams are a welcomed form of escape. However, the father’s own assessment of these dreams and what he thinks of them is as follows, “The right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and death. He slept little and slept poorly.” To the man, he feels that because life is so terrible, any dreams that were pleasent would be dangerous. Such nice dreams would represent “the call of languor and death.” They would soften him and make him unable to make tough choices that were critical to his own and his son's survival.

The media has distorted people’s views on the way they look at their own body image. The media has shown what their ideal body type is, while leaving people to feel as if the average weight is not good enough. (Cardosi, 2006) We live in a world where people feel as if having zero body fat is the idea body type to have. Pictures of models for clothing stores, bathing suits, lingerie etc. all exhibit to this to be true. Body image is perceived to be negatively influenced by the media and the way that the media displays their models. Parents, teachers, adolescence and even children all find themselves to be comparing themselves based on what the media exposes. (Levine & Murnen, 2009)

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” (Roosevelt n.p.). One’s ambitions and dreams can indeed be very beautiful things. If one has ever drifted into a deep sleep wondering into a colorful world that defies all logic, then one has probably wondered where one’s dreams come from. Most everyone has woken up and wondered what in the world caused them to dream about that one specific thing or person. It is important to know what causes people to have dreams in order for one to be able to understand what one thinks about, to help one realize one’s desires and a person’s ambitions, and to aid one in processing events that have taken place in a day.

The man recognizes how easy it is to surrender to the mirage of good dreams, where the richness of color and variety of detail provides a dangerous contrast to the grey monotony of both his and his son’s reality. Often, he awakens “in the black and freezing waste out of softly colored worlds of human love, the songs of birds, the sun,” (272). Those dreams are an invitation to rest in some nonexistent land. The man recognizes this as a dangerous temptation so he forces himself to wake up and face the cruel world rather than deteriorate in a world that no longer exists. His philosophy is that “the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death.” (18). Only bad dreams belong in his mind because all good dreams are a reminder of valuable days that cannot be lived

Dreams may be forgotten and “dry up / like a raisin in the sun” (2-3). These dreams do not have the same burden as the dreams that sag, but rather are forgotten and will never be

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was

"You'll never see an object in dream that you haven't seen in your daily life"