Personal Narrative: My Body Image

Modern people live media-saturated lives, even children as young as 6 years old, have had some type of media exposure. Extensive exposure to media outlets can lead to body image issues. Body image is defined as, the subjective picture or mental image of one's own body (Smolak 2003). Body image is formed as people compare themselves to others. Because, people are exposed to countless media images; these images become the basis for such comparisons. These mental comparisons, have a strong influence on an individual’s personal perception of beauty. Media outlets create images and pressures about what our bodies should look like; however, sometimes these images have been manipulated, creating an unrealistic expectation of beauty. When an individual believes that their body is substandard, they can become depressed, suffer from low self-esteem, or develop eating disorders.

A day hardly ever goes by without hearing something about body image in our society. It seems to be all around us today and there is little we can do to avoid it being around us. I don’t like seeing this affecting our society, because I see it changing us in a bad way. In gathering information on just how and why people worry about their body image, ideas on how to prevent this obsess on were also

Body image has changed throughout the years. The feeling that you have to have this perfect body has grown. Body image is an issue in today’s society especially through the media outlets.

Body image is an important concept in many adolescent and young adult minds. To have a positive body image is to know that you are beautiful. To be beautiful is to reach the standards of beauty in society. However, society is constantly changing those standards as time goes by. Many young men and women strive to reach the positive, even if it means their health, money, and mind. They have the media, such as magazines to thank for these wonderful standards.

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.

Low self-esteem is, and always will be, a growing issue in the world. There will always be people who struggle with it more than others and others less. And some people want to change it, some people want to help other people so that they never have to face the harsh reality of low self-esteem. And some people just don’t want any help at all. But of course, without a change, body image will just get worse. And if there is change, perhaps this way that social media and people view reality can change how everything is going

I’m very concerned about how I look and how people, especially online, perceive me. My appearance has always been an important part of my identity I’ve consistently held the belief that I must look my best, no matter what. Undoubtedly, this was the result of years upon years of bullying, but I assumed that my body dysmorphia had improved. It actually hasn’t at all. I’m very concerned about how I look and how people, especially online, perceive me. My appearance has always been an important part of my identity I’ve consistently held the belief that I must look my best, no matter what. Undoubtedly, this was the result of years upon years of bullying, but I assumed that my body dysmorphia had improved. It actually hasn’t at

Providing an influence like this in to today’s society will change the morals of those who has a negative view on body image. “My life is full of drama, and I don’t have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like (Marlen K, 2015).” Even the interactions with siblings, relatives or even coworkers can influence the body image development. But most and foremost everyone must be able to prove this myths society has made wrong and instead challenge them to prove the thoughts/theories wrong. These are the ways I came up with to help others develop a positive body

Though body image is not something I have issues with, but I have friends who can’t see their own worth because they believe that beauty is something defined by the front of a magazine. I watch them look in the mirror and pinch at their body, wishing they were thinner because then maybe they would “beautiful.” They think they are ugly, fat, stupid, a spaz, or any other classic school ground insult, and despite having many friends who tell them otherwise, they believe those lies. They are so caught up in their negative comments they tell themselves, that they do not realize they are drowning. Everything is so muddled up in their head, they can not see the light because they are surrounded by their own walls, built up so high, not even the sun shines through. Our society has a saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” but that is so far from the truth. Sure, stones leave visible scars, but they can be treated, healed; words on the other hand, the mark they leave is so much more detrimental. For wounds left by words can not be fixed or treated, they just stay there, forever a scar. So the next time you’re going to

Body image by definition is an individual 's concept of his or her own body. It’s how they see themselves and think others see them as well. Everyone has a body image where it is good or bad but more and more we are seeing body image issues lead into disorders. Our body images are often influenced by the people we care about, people we aspire to be and people we want to impress. All too often the people we want to be are photoshopped, thin and “beautiful” and utterly unattainable. And the people we want to impress are the bullies that tell us we will never be good enough for them. I think stopping the problem of Body image issues needs to start at home when your children are young.

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 study of body image is a broad topic that touches many subjects including gender. However, the study of body image has been focused mainly on females. This is because the physical shape and image of male bodies have not changed over the history. From the ancient Greek until the modern era, the masculinity is the predominant stereotype for men. Masculine traits include courage, independence and assertiveness (Judith, 2001; Murray, 2000). In contrast to the male body, the female figures have been varied over time and across culture. In the modern era, the thin shaped figure is the ultimate desire of most women because it reflects the beauty and attractiveness of women according to our modern culture (Thompson et al, 1999; Thompson and Stice, 2001). Therefore, failing to meet the societal expectations of being muscular male or thin female may lead to a separation between virtual and actual social identity.

Body image may be viewed as the way people see themselves and even imagine how they make look based off how they may feel about themselves. Yet it could also be viewed as the way other people see you. Body image, in medicine and psychology refers to a person 's emotional attitudes, beliefs and views of their own body (Positive and Negative Body Image). According to Positive and Negative Body Image, a negative body image develops when a person feels his or her body does not amount up to family, social, or media standards. Many people feel as if they don’t measure up to the belief of others. People who have accepted the way they look often feel good about their image and would be considered to have a positive body image. One’s appearance may not be measure up to how their family expects it to be or how it is perceived to be in the media, but once people learn accept and be proud of the way they look they’ll be better off in the long run. When a person is measured against the standards of the beauty seen frequently in the media and it doesn’t compare to how they feel about themselves it become discouraging. Having said that, long-lasting negative body image can affect both your mental and physical health which could lead to eating disorders down the road.

Body image is the perception that a person has of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception. These feelings can be positive, negative or both and are influenced by individual and environmental factors.Many modern celebrities are known for being excessive sharers on social media.

Often, people of all ages, race, and gender catch themselves gazing into mirrors for hours, blaming themselves for the way they look, not realizing that the media is actually the one to blame for many people’s body image. Body image is the way people see themselves, or how they assume other people see them. It is not likely to see a plus sized model in a magazine or a model on the runway with blemishes on her face. A person’s negative perception of their own body is not because they think it is wrong to look and be healthy; it is because the media is telling them that being a size 2 with flawless skin is healthy and beautiful.