How Does Soociety Respond to the Media´s Portrayal or What is Beautiful?

Body image and beauty standards have changed drastically over the years. By establishing impossible standards of beauty and bodily perfection, the media drives people tobe dissatisfied with their bodies. This dissatisfaction can result in disorders of behavior as people try to achieve unreachable goals with unhealthy

Studies prove that the media can have a negative impact on self-image. TV, movies, magazines and the internet all pressures what their bodies should look like. In the article, Too sexy too soon: A mother’s battle against the sexualization of girls by Tina Wolridge quoted, “One of the hardest responsibilities of being a parent to a 13-year-old girl is explaining the sexualized images of young women that are seen on TV and in skimpy clothing, magazines and sexy videos…I want my daughter to be valued for her mind, for what's on the inside and for being a good person. I want her to understand that you don't need to get your value from your looks alone (Wolridge, 2013).” It is sad that millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold. They feel so much less because in their heads they see that’s what it takes to be noticed or worthy. Images they see are nothing, but air brushed ideas of what is the vision of perfection. The insecurity one holds buries the true beauty and worthiness that person actual holds. It is sad how the media can have a negative impact to make someone feel ugly and insecure about themselves. They all should be able to love their self for who they really are and how they present themselves no matter what anyone else says.

Advertising is an over 200$ billion industry and according to Jean Kilbourne, people are exposed to over 3000 advertisements a day. Advertisements are everywhere so there is no escaping them; they are on TV, magazines, billboards, etc. These ads tell women and girls that what’s most important is how they look, and they surround us with the image of "ideal female beauty". However, this flawlessness cannot be achieved. It’s a look that’s been created through Photoshop, airbrushing, cosmetics, and computer retouching. There have been many studies done that have found a clear link between exposure to the thin ideal in the mass media to body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and eating disorders among women. Body dissatisfaction is negative thoughts that a person has about his or her own body. Thin ideal internalization is when a person believes that thinness is equivalent to attractiveness and will lead to positive life outcomes. Less than 5% of women actually have the body type that is shown of

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

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.

Before they sell you their product, advertisers sell you the idea of how you should want to look and conversely, how looking otherwise is inherently a bad thing. No one wants to be the before picture, so we rush to purchase the product or book the procedure that can bring about the desired after. Women’s insecurity about their looks has made it easy to convince them that small breasts are a ‘disease’ that require surgical intervention. Fifty-three percent of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies" at age thirteen and this number increases to 78% at age seventeen. (Brumberg, 1997). It is easy to look at the people on TV and in magazines and find yourself lacking. (Hargreaves and Tiggeman 2002) found that teen girls who looked at ads using unrealistically models felt less confident, more angry and more dissatisfied with their weight and

The pressure on girls to have ‘perfect’ bodies has grown increasingly over time. Media exposure such as social media, billboards, magazines, television, all represent images of tall, skinny models that resemble perfection. And what exactly is perfection? “A quality, trait, or feature of ­­­the highest degree of excellence.” This is what many young women and teenagers aspire to be. What most people still don’t realize is that the majority of the pictures that they see in magazines are altered in some way. It is a setup for self-hatred. They believe that the pictures are reflective of the real world. NCBI conducted a study of the relationship between media and eating disorders among undergraduate college students found that media exposure predicted

Modern society portrays good looking men to have broad shoulders, toned arms, six-pack abs, and a small waist while good looking women are viewed to have the characteristics of being slim and fit, having a small waist, lean hips, and perfect skin complexion. As a result, many people are affected by our own society's portrayals of good looking men and women that they feel pressured into doing whatever it takes and going through extreme measures, most of the time, spending countless hours in the gym trying to achieve that perfect body. Body image is evident in the gym, as the men are lifting weights they are frequently looking in the mirror examining every angle of their body making sure no area is lacking muscle. On the other hand, women tend to partake in the same behavior as men, showing a sense of insecurity about their own bodies, frequently making trips to the scale to keep track of their weight making sure to stay slim and fit. Society has a profound effect on many people, making them feel insecure about their own bodies. The mass media's use of such unrealistic images sends an implicit message to men and women that to be considered good looking they must partake in unhealthy diets, extreme exercises and unhealthy body modification enhancers, which in turn can have detrimental effects on one’s health. Such standards of beauty and appearance are almost completely unattainable for most men and women and most of the models displayed on television and in advertisements is

In America eating disorders are a pressing issue and are growing in popularity among women of all ages. These eating disorders are caused by many factors including one 's body image which is influenced by a person environment. A big influence on women 's body image today is fashion and media, many women look to magazines, television, and celebrities to get tips on beauty and the perfect body. The one problem with media is the size of models has declined immensely over the years to a very slim size. Many women become dissatisfied with their bodies when they see that they do not fit the ideal body shape that these women in the media have. Although it was not always ideal to be slim the growing use of slender models in fashion and media has impacted women 's body image caused women to become more dissatisfied with their bodies and develop eating disorders. Women are impacted by the women they see on television and movies which in most cases are very slim. Along with television, slender women are seen in advertisements are seen in magazines and billboards which reach women every day. Fashion is also known to commonly use very slender models since the turn of the century. Slender models are used in all aspects of fashion from runway shows to online shopping. All of these different media outlets make a big impression on women, and many feel pressured to fit the ideal body type media has brought forward. When

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

“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.

Socio Cultural morals of feminine beauty are put in all forms of favored media, battering women with images that portray what is advised to be the impeccable body.These morals of beauty are almost completely far-off for most women; a majority of the models advertised on television and in advertisements are below what is considered healthy body weight. Mass media 's use of unrealistic models says an implicit message that in order for a woman to be beautiful, she must be unhealthy.The media puts an image of beauty that is unattainable. They do this by showing very unhealthy stick-thin girls with “flawless” attributes. In the bad world of marketing, the companies that make an item to sell, like makeup, depend on the insecurities of females. The companies use skinny girls with a perfect complexion of the skin and a killer smile to flaunt around with the product they are willing to sell. When women see this, they think to themselves, “ I wish I can look like her.” or “Why can’t i look like that?.” Because we only display skinny girls in our media, they feel as if that is how they should be and look like. The media contradictorily influences girls’ perception of body image, which can cause eating disorders and low self-esteem. Dove surveyed 1,027 women with the ages of 18 and 64. The results showed that women are more than twice as likely to say that their conception of beauty is shaped by “women in the public domain” and social media (29 percent and 25 percent, respectively)

Media can bee seen as a channel of communication in whereupon millions of people frequently use in their daily lives. So, with all of this technology around, how is the media portrayal of beauty affecting women? According to Cheryl J. Haas, Laura A. Pawlow. Jon Pettibone, and Dan J. Segrist, “Research has shown media exposure to unattainable physical perfection is detrimental to people, especially women and that inimical effects are currently more the rule than the exception” (1). When a person feels as if they do not compeer with the standard of beauty media has set, that individual develops negative emotions towards themselves which can lead to ailing eating habits including binge-eating, purging, or starving. Several studies further reveal a show in decrease of self-esteem, including other psychological distress, following exposure to idealized media portrayal.

People need to be informed on the issue that unrealistic beauty standards, set by the society, are harmful. These standards cause a “schema that combines three fundamental components: the idealization of slenderness, an irrational fear of fat, and a belief that weight is a central determinant of one’s identity” (Lintott 67). Our society promotes a specific body image as being attractive: being thin. It is represented throughout mass media, both in the physical and online worlds. The media exposes individuals, especially women, to impractical body types. Today, negative body image encourages women to engage in disordered eating behaviors to fit an impractical standard of beauty. In fact, according to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), 20 million females will “suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life” (Lintott 68). We contribute so much time striving to look like what society wants us to resemble. Some individuals believe that this thin ideal is the norm and that the media is not causing any harm. But, this thin ideal is detrimental. It is the main reason for the increase in the development and encouragement in eating disorders, body dissatisfaction in women and a rise in the number of pro-anorexia websites.

Men and women 's physical or outer appearance is nowadays playing an important role in promoting false images of the two genders, especially through the media. When you think about the ideal body image, what crosses your mind? You probably think of a bodybuilder with a chiseled six-pack or a gorgeous model with a small waist. The idea of the “perfect” body image in today’s society stems from the misguided idealism of the media. It is seen in Hollywood movies, beauty magazines and even marketing advertisements. Since a young age, our generation has been influenced by what the perfect body should look like. It is implanted in our minds that we should look a certain way without even realizing it. Therefore, the media has a direct effect on how the general public views what is and what isn’t acceptable in regard to the standard of perfect physical attractiveness. By establishing unattainable standards of beauty and bodily perfection, the media drive ordinary people to dissatisfaction with their body images. This dissatisfaction can result in resorts to drastic measures, and even disorders of behaviour, as people try to achieve these unreachable goals.