Negative Body Image Research Paper

As a wise man once said, “To love yourself is to understand you don't need to be perfect to be good.” However young girls have so much pressure put on them to look in a way that is not only unrealistic but also unhealthy. As a result of this, young girls have a very negative body image and self-confidence.The problem is the unrealistic body standards that media and society have set for girls. According to SSCC, the average American woman is 5’4 and 140 pounds. There is a clear problem when the media is only advertising women that are 5’11 and 117 pounds, which is the average American model. Even though the body of a model is very rare and uncommon,girls are expected to look like they do. However, by promoting a positive body campaign, stopping the portrayal of fake and photoshopped models in the media, and expanding the diversity of models, we could lift unrealistic body standards and start accepting everybody as beautiful.

“People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder,” according to Salma Hayek. Society should have a positive outlook on body image, rather than face a disorder that can change one’s whole life. Negative body image can result from the media, with photoshop and editing, celebrity fad diets, and society’s look at the perfect image. Negative body image can lead to dangerous eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia. It can also take a risk to unhealthy habits, such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs. It is important to stress the effects of body image, because the world still struggles with this today. Society should not be affected by

Body dysmorphia is a disorder that causes someone to obsess over a small or very insignificant flaw on their body that to others is not a problem. For example, a very healthy teenage girl could look in the mirror and see someone unhealthy and turn to anorexia to change her appearance when in reality she is a normal weight. This can lead to eating disorders (such as anorexia) as well as depression and anxiety. It can affect relationships and social events where eating is involved. According to Dr. David Veale of the Priory Hospital in North London, the definition of BDD is “a mental disorder characterized by preoccupation with an imagined defect in one’s appearance… there may be a minor physical abnormality, but the concern is regarded as grossly excessive” (Veale).

“We are constantly surrounded by all sorts of media and we construct our identities in part through media images we see.” Social media plays a huge role in constructing our idea of the perfect body. But it hasn’t always been the same idea. Over the years, the perfect body image has changes. The ideal body image has changed so much over time because media never stays the same, fashion trends are always changing, there’s such a diversity of bodies in this world to choose from, and different cultures consider different bodies beautiful.

Body image is a perception, your own perception regarding the attractiveness of your body. I could tell my daughter that I love myself and not verbalize the negative talk when it occurs in my head, but am I really modifying the behavior? I don’t believe so. I would likely still stand in front of a mirror looking at knee fat and become disgusted with myself. So how does one truly change this behavior?

The video Dying To Be Thin and both articles by Serpell all implicated that what society values as a perfect image has a direct impact on how people view themselves. Most people are not happy with some part of their outside appearance. Pop culture and reality shows display obsessions with perfection, plastic surgery, most times exploiting insecure people who are unhappy with their appearance. The perfect body is advertised on every media outlet and constantly seen in public. There are number of people looking for that “new” and “perfect body” repeatedly going to the doctors and other professionals as well as developing eating disorders enhancing their obsession about their appearance and how unhappy they are. Unfortunately, for some people this obsession goes beyond entertainment, for some people this unhappiness and obsession is not something that just

“Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives.” (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, n.d.) It’s hard to believe isn’t it? That one-half of teenage girls and one-third of boys use unhealthy weight loss techniques, because they are unhappy with the way they look and their weight. If I’m being entirely honest I do not blame these teenagers for wanting to lose weight. Because predominantly everything we see, even as children, shows us that to be happy we have to be white, good looking, and thin.

Many people have body-image issues, always nitpicking about your nose being too pointy, or you’re not muscular enough, etc. Nevertheless,

Rae Smith with the Love Yourself Challenge on tumbler.com relays a strong message when she says, “There is nothing wrong with your body, but there is a lot wrong with the messages which try to convince you otherwise.” When it comes to having a positive body image in today’s society it can often be a struggle for anyone. 89% of American women are unhappy with their current weight and body, 84% would like to lose weight. (Schultz, 2015) Speaking for myself, I have struggled with weight and body image since I was about 11. I have done so many harmful things to myself as a teen and into my adulthood trying to achieve the body I thought I could be happy with but it never really occurred to me the damage I was doing until I had a daughter. My

I can breathe without an oxygen tank, walk without a cane, and make decisions without doubting myself. Women often neglect how they look on the inside because they are so focused on outward appearances. Little do they know that inner health is extremely important to overall body confidence. Every body is different both genetically and culturally which influences bone structure, body size, weight, and shape. In other words, some aspects of you just can't be changed. The body naturally wants to feel good, and the brain creates these "feel good" neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers between the brain and body, whenever you stretch, exercise, meditate, practice yoga, dance, or eat healthy (Misik) which results in an improved body image. The mind and reoccurring thoughts also significantly affect how you view yourself. Acupuncturist and author Kristin Misik explains this in her blog: "Information and thoughts move through your brain via neural pathways. The more your thoughts follow a specific pathway, the stronger that pathway becomes. If you are thinking 'I'm fat, I'm ugly' every day, those pathways become really strong. Because of something called neuroplasticity, you can create new pathways with messages of self-love and kindness instead of self-rejection" (Misik). If you keep telling yourself you aren't beautiful enough, you will begin to truly believe it and treat yourself accordingly. Instead of strengthening the neural pathways associated with hatred

We live in a world where we solely base our ideas, thoughts, behavior, and opinions of ourselves, etc. on what other people think of us and what we want them to think of us. The reason being is that people try to gain acceptance from the world and its peers. By doing this, human beings allow themselves to live unhappy in exchange for everyone else’s happiness and approval. The best solution(s) to preconceived ideas about body image is to first realize that you are beautiful no matter what size or shape you are, pinpoint what is keeping you from loving yourself, notice negative self-thoughts, surround yourselves with people who only have positive comments about your health and your life, and lastly, you must learn how to control, master, and

All women should have a slim body and a big butt. All men should have washboard abs and big biceps. These are just expectations that society has built up of how one should look. Often when we don’t reach it, there are consequences of developing negative body image issues. So what is negative body image exactly? According to NEDA (Australia’s national eating disorder association), body image issue is the dissatisfaction someone may have of their body not meeting unrealistic criterias. It is the negative thoughts and emotion that result from someone’s perception of their physical self. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age this is an existing issue because we live in a world that promotes unrealistic body ideals. It becomes a challenge to not compare yourself to these ideals when you see images of instagram models floating around in your everyday life.

This statement further defends the argument that social media is an influencer to the way people think. Just knowing that the mind needs the ability to be receptive the to the thought. When going onto social media sites from personal experience. I have noticed myself in a vulnerable state of mind. Meaning that my mind has the ability to be easily molded to whatever, I may stumble upon. Making myself have that receptive ability to accept the thoughts of others, and accept them as my own.

Negative body image can cause severe medical conditions such as eating disorders. Amanda J. Holmstrom claims, “One prominent theory is that the media’s constant depiction of extremely thin women leads women to believe they should try to meet this ideal” (The Effects of the Media on Body Image: A Meta-Analysis 196). Some eating disorders include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and even constant dieting or fad dieting and

People who have a negative body image often experience mental and physical health issues, and long-lasting negative self-perception can lead to anxiety, depression, and eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.