Over Fat Models Research Paper

The author of this article begins her analysis of the rise in eating disorders by acknowledging America’s obsession with being the ideal weight. From an extremely young age, American children are being taught that women in movies and on the covers of magazines possess the ideal figure. The author states “Children are being taught…being fat is the worst thing one can be” (Bordo 1). This is disturbing to say the least. There many attributes worse than being overweight: dishonest, cruel, and murderous to name a few. Bordo also uses an example in the first paragraph of her essay that is appalling. Alicia Silverstone, the lead role in Clueless, was completely bombarded with insults about her weight, though she had only gained a few pounds since her starring role. The advertisers did

It is largely known that environmental factors correlate with the existence of eating disorders. For example, bullying and skeptical comments is the cause of eating disorders. Anything that has to do with pressure from one person to another to look or feel a certain way is an enormous impact (What Causes Eating Disorders?, 2017, p. 4). Any person who is severely underweight or obese is at a higher risk for being bullied. This is when the skeptical comments come into play, especially from loved ones. The media has an even bigger impact on those who struggle with weight issues and body image. Magazines sitting in the checkout lines or commercials that portray unrealistic expectations for men and women of the “perfect” body have a deeper effect on one’s self esteem.

Eating disorders have become a major problem throughout the world, specifically in the United States. The key factor that has an influence on eating disorders is the media. Including people of all ages and genders, up to twenty-four million people suffer from an eating disorder in the United States (ANAD np). This is a huge problem in the world today but what makes it so much worse is the fact that it can be prevented and it is in our control to change it. Young adults look to these celebrities, which are often their role models, and try to look just like them. What they fail to remember is the fact that celebrities have a lot of money, money that can afford nutritionists and personal trainers. They also fail to remember the extensive measures the celebrities may have to go through to look the way they do. An example of extensive measures can be considered plastic surgery. Ultimately, this creates a false goal that is almost unattainable for the “average” or “regular” person. Overall, the media has overtaken a huge impact on what the “ideal” body image has become today. Eating disorders are still on the rise and it is proven that an eating disorder such as anorexia affects up to 5 percent of women from ages 15-30 years old ("Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders | National Eating Disorders Association np"). This may not seem that significant but it is also not considering other eating disorders such as bulimia. All in all, eating disorders

In Jonathon Raders article, “Does the media cause eating disorders?”, he argues that eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, include a high mortality rate, higher rate than any other illness. The author claims that 69% of girls say that that photo shopped magazine pictures influence the perfect body shape to them. Rader also points out that the mannequins and models are growing thinner, even the plus size models are shrinking in sizes. The runway models are beginning to meet the body mass for anorexia, which, he argues, is a very unhealthy BMI level. The author also

Society has made it a normality to judge people based off of their looks. Culture has been identified as one of the etiological factors leading to the development of eating disorders. Several studies have identified sociocultural factors within American society that are associated with the development of eating disorders (Healthcare). Eating disorders have always been present, historical accounts suggest that eating disorders may have existed for centuries, with wide variations in rates. According to National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, "Genetics, environmental factors, and personality traits all combine to create risk for an eating disorder" (1). However, epidemiological studies have suggested that the incidence of eating disorders among adolescent has increased over the last 50 years. Media has shown to have more of an impact with eating disorders in today's culture compared to past societies (Geary). An experiment was preformed showing how changes in the body weight and shape of Playboy centerfolds over the past two decades. According to Katzmarzyk, "Given the perception of Playboy centerfolds as culturally 'ideal' women, the notion that 70% of them are underweight highlights the social pressures on women to be thin and helps to explain the high levels of body dissatisfaction and

According to the article entitled, The Fashion Industry May Be Linked to Poor Body Image and Eating Disorders, psychologists and eating disorder experts say the fashion industry has gone too far in pushing thin image ideals on women and young girls. Professor of psychiatry at Rush Medical College in Chicago and Vice President of the American Psychiatric Association states “we know seeing super-thin models can play a role in causing anorexia.” This article argues that the common thin, sexy ideal in our culture and society has caused many women and girls to dislike their bodies and have poor self image, a body dissatisfaction that can lead to unhealthy weight control behaviors and

In Joanna Poppink’s essay entitled “Educational Programs can Help Prevent Eating Disorder,” she writes, “Sometimes parents are afraid that educational materials about eating disorders will stimulate an eating disorder in their teenager. They also fear such material will encourage a teenager with an eating disorder to try new and different methods of acting out the illness” (143). Poppink understands the parental concerns that come with education programs, but she reassures that the knowledge that society obtains from these types of programs will not cause their child to develop an eating disorder (144). Instead, educational programs can help prevent eating disorders by explaining their risks, teaching people how to recognize an eating disorder in someone they know, and discussing different ways on how to begin the treatment of an eating disorder. Also, American society must do everything it can to stop the idea that beauty, popularity, and success come with thinness. In order to start the prevention of eating disorders in teenage girls, the society must first stop promoting women who are unhealthy and under the average BMI. By promoting women of all different sizes and shapes in the media, American society can help girls facing eating disorders become more comfortable in their bodies and help them understand that people have various body sizes to suit their unique

Promotion by the media of the extraordinarily thin body types has been linked to the steady rise of eating disorders, especially among adolescents (Ballaro & Wagner, 2017). Experts believe that there are more than ten million females suffering from some sort of eating disorder and that the problems are happening in patients of younger and younger ages. The gap between the average woman’s body and the ideal body is much larger than before (Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999). Ninety four percent of characters in the United States media, are thinner than the average woman (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995). The average American woman is only 5’4” tall and weighs approximately 165 pounds (Martin 2010). The media depicts happiness, wealth and success associated to unrealistic body types (Tiggemann, 2002). Not only does the media display this image, it also exhaustively provides information to encourage achievement of it as well. Whether through dieting, exercise or mild to extreme cosmetic surgery for body sculpting, women are feeling the pressure that they need to be thin and often take even the most dangerous methods to obtain this. Considering that these delusional ideals are nearly impossible for most average women, without choosing unhealthy and harmful behaviors, eating disorder theorists have proclaimed that media is supporting these habits (Levine & Smolak, 1998). It is estimated that 10-15% of girls and women between the ages of 9 and 19 are affected by eating disorders. Though the death rates vary from different studies, one thing is for sure; eating disorders can have many health risks, including death. With the unrealistic ability to achieve the super thin body image many women are still turning to these harmful methods in order to try; thus resulting in death of someone every 62 minutes as a result (Eating Disorders Coalition,

Images of models are altered to make them look skinny and more appealing to the public. Some people who view these images of “the ideal body” go through disorders like depression, anxiety and stress because when one looks at all the attention a public figure makes because of the type of body they have, one would want to feel that attention and beauty. This want, or desire for a skinny body can lead to the development of eating disorders (Mirror Mirror).

Poet Allen Ginsberg once said that “whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture”, and nothing could be truer than this. Media plays a larger role in society within this generation more than many of us are aware of. It can easily impact people’s lives through aspects such as sports, fashion, movies or hobbies, but unfortunately, one of these impacts is how we view our body. Media constantly posts images and messages promoting a nearly unachievable and unrealistic image of what beauty looks like and it almost always has negative fallout when we struggle to meet this. This is known as an eating disorder. An eating disorder is a psychological sickness that results in dangerous eating habits and both short and long term affects on the body. People with eating disorders generally have a negative perception of their self will try to control their weight through unnecessary dieting, exercising or purging. But how does this illness begin? Social media sites, advertising, celebrities and other forms of media through society are all social pressures that are influencing people to be “perfect” and causing this expanding matter.

In the United States alone, 40-60% of girls in elementary and middle school are worried about gaining too much weight and not being accepted by anyone ("Prevalence vs. Funding" 1). Adolescents and women are surrounded with the idea of culture’s “perfect body type” where girls are stick thin and gorgeous. Culture is obsessed with outer beauty and being as flawless as you can be, and often leave out how important inner beauty is. This idea of outer beauty often results in women trying to warp their body image to please the people around them ("Prevalence vs. Funding" 4). Adolescent girls use the media to help figure out how they should look and act, which consequently mirrors how their eating patterns change and evolve. Adolescent girls are targeted by culture, pressured by their peers surrounding them, and taunted by their own self-consciousness, often leading up to acquiring an eating disorder. When the eating disorder is acquired, it often had many damaging physical effects on the person’s body.

Eating disorders have become and extreme issue among women. However, the ignorance to this subjects’ prevalence is common and it is essential that this is compressed immediately. The impact eating disorders currently holds on society is monumental and is defining the current image of beauty. Definitions of beauty have fluctuated extremely throughout time and the unhealthy processes women have put themselves through in order to conform to societies current definition of beauty has remained consistent. From the corset to extremely high heels to severe thinness, achieving the ideal image of beauty is regularly detrimental to woman’s health. Fashion models continue to struggle with eating disorders due to the fashion industry building a pedestal

With eating disorders on the rise today, the media plays an important role in affecting self-esteem, leading a large amount of young adults to develop eating disorders. Many adolescents see the overbearing thin celebrities and try to reach media's level of thinness and ideal body weight. "Sixty-nine of the girls reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape" (Field). Not only is being thin associated with other positive characteristics such as, lovable, popular, beautiful, and sexy, but being overweight is connected with negative characteristics like fat, ugly, unpopular, and lazy. Therefore media is the distinct social pressure of operating to influence people to be thin and causing eating disorders.

This article also shows that the average model is five-foot-eleven-inches while weighing 117 pounds, and the average American woman is five-foot-four-inches and weighs 140 pounds (“The International Model Supply Chain”). These statistics demonstrate that the media’s ideals are unobtainable and should a young girl attempt to obtain the exclusive body of a model, she would be placing her body in terrible jeopardy. The endangerment that most girls face are two of the most common eating disorders associated with the media and negative body image: anorexia and bulimia nervosa ( ). Anorexia nervosa includes starving oneself and denying food to their body, bulimia nervosa includes bingeing and purging ( ). Both eating disorders are directly associated with the media’s portrayal of a woman’s body and the victim’s desire to be thinner and therefore more

The National Eating Disorders Association says that the average women is 63,6kg and the average model is 53kg. Magazines and social media display what they think is the perfect weight, height, hair colour, etc. and so many people are unsatisfied with themselves when they compare their appearance with that of society’s. This often leads unsatisfied people to developing an eating disorder. Having an eating disorder is a serious medical problem. They most frequently develop during adolescence, but can occur earlier or in adulthood and is more common amongst females than males. It is more than just a problem with food, they use it to try gain control and ease tension and anxiety.