Persuasive Essay On Body Image

Under society’s customs for decades, young women have found themselves immersed in the pressure and anticipation to have exemplary bodies. Nearly every young woman prefers to be slim, have a perfectly shaped body, that is beautified by applying pounds of makeup to their face but does not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these measures imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model on the cover of Vogue being called flawless, naturally it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the that model. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough, our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a surging subject for young girls. Advertisements and pictures of lean female models are all over. Young women are measured and perplexed by their physical appearances with attire intended to raise their physical structures; social media, magazines, the society, marketing campaigns, advertisements, and the fashion gurus add to a strand of excellence.

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.

In this world that we are, we especially women always want to do our best to have

There are no questions to whether the media has influenced the self-consciousness people have on their body or not. Whether it is the front of a magazine cover or in a film or television show, the selection of models or actors are primarily thin or fit leading readers and viewers to worry or want to change the way their body looks. Body image is the way one sees oneself and imagine how one looks. Having a positive body image means that most of the time someone sees themselves accurately, and feels comfortable in their body; negative body image, what the media exemplifies for the majority of the time, is just the opposite. The media uses unrealistic standards of beauty and bodily perfection to drive ordinary people to be dissatisfied with their body image which can result in the search to obtain these unreachable goals.

     "Just Be" is a familiar slogan to the current American culture. It is the slogan of a well-known designer, Calvin Klein, who, in his advertisements, supposedly promotes individuality and uniqueness. Yet, Calvin Klein, along with all known designers, does not have overweight or unattractive people on his billboard ads, on his runways, in his magazine pictures or on his television commercials. Moreover, the movie, music and the mass media corroborate with the fashion industry in setting and advertising a certain standards for a physical ideal of a human body. Such propaganda promotes the public into depriving themselves of needed nutrition and generates eating disorders within people in order to fit the

She sits on the armrest of her wine-stained couch, then falls backward with a cushioned thud. Her thick, kinky hair lays splayed under her. Her large, veiny hands lift up to her tear-soaked face, covering her eyes. She sighs aloud summoning her roommates’ attention.

According to the article, “Low Self-Esteem at Crisis Levels for Girls,” “If the media did not have such a strong influence on today’s generation, then low self-esteem would not be in its highest percentile than all past decades” (Liebet). The issue of body positivity on social media is detrimental. Users of social media commonly say posting body-positive images online is uplifting and results in society’s acceptance of various body types. Although body positivity is improving society’s outlook on ideal bodies, it actually has harmful effects on society psychologically and physically and, therefore, should be protested.

Body image is a person's perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. For the longest time, people have been worrying about the way they look, it's a feeling or occupation we were all born with. Whether it's male or female both genders have insecurities about themselves. Along with the fears of oneself, people also have to worry about the opinions of others. Today's society is all about the media and lately, people have been feeling really brave and aren't scared to tell people their opinions. You would think that women would be supporting each other and complementing one another, but instead they body shame each other and unfortunately, it's the same thing with men. Having this said what problems do men and women face throughout their life because due to body image issues?

The first photograph is a representation of how Lane initially feels when she comes into the situation knowing that she has not only been betrayed but it is with someone she believes to not be on her level. Spending her entire life dedication to the subliminal want for perfection she is a put together woman and because of it does not fear losing her husband. The image is sharp, not only in relation to the expression of the woman's face but to the angles and overall shading to include the harsh contrast and contouring.

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.

Over the years a debate over who is to blame over the decline in how girls perceive themselves has arisen. With Photoshop being the societal norm concerning the media, it has become difficult for many to understand where the line between real and near impossible standards lies. Youths see an image edited to “perfection” and strive to reach the standards that they imagine due to the images displayed on magazines, television and social media. From Disney to magazines like Vogue the mass media bombards audiences with fake beauty that they, as normal people, will never be able to achieve. The mass media is responsible for causing the rise in the number of people with a poor body image, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries.

Body image disturbance, or BID, can have negative effects on individuals and can be found among many different ages of women. In fact, BID can even be found in girls as young as age seven. Many negative effects have been attributed to BID, such as increased anxiety, stress, and depression, which can cause issues both psychologically and physically (Devaraj & Lewis, 2010). Therefore, there is a need to help women combat these negative effects of body image disturbance and help maintain a more positive body image.

According to the article, “Low Self-Esteem at Crisis Levels for Girls,” if the media did not have such a strong influence on today’s generation, then low self-esteem would not be in its highest percentile than all past decades. The issue of Body Positivity on Social media is detrimental. Users of social media commonly say posting body positive images online is uplifting as a result of society becoming more accepting of other body types. Although body positivity is improving society’s outlook on ideal bodies, it actually has harmful effects on society psychologically and physically.

Body Image is getting worse and worse as we get older. It hasn’t changed for the better and it’s turning into a very dangerous thing. Suicide rates are going up, eating disorder rates are going up, bad self image rates are going up, when is it going to end? If we keep going how we are going, it won’t ever. It will continue to get worse until there isn’t anything to stop it anymore. It doesn’t even seem like anyone cares about it at all or it’s not a big concern to the world. It’s almost like one of those things everyone knows is a problem, but doesn’t ever speak of it. I’m done with the silence, we all know this isn’t right and we need to put an end to it.

In today’s day and age positive body image is an important factor to maintain, not only for physical well being of a person but also because it can determine the mental state of a person. Women are subjected to social injustice on the daily basis about their bodies and what their ideal body should be, so people tend to focus a lot on females and the problem they have concerning their body image based on popular culture, stereotypes, and other generations of how a woman should look. When walking down a college hallway, mall, church or high school, it is not an uncommon occurrence to hear a young women say something bad about either her body or another girl's body. These negative comments instil a deeper impact than merely hurting a woman’s feelings. They lead toward lowered self-esteem, increased dieting or eating disorders. Therefore,young teens need to taught at the early age to accept their positive body image, so that they can avoiding those repercussions and the extremity of committing suicide as demonstrated in “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy.