Skinny Research Paper

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.

Girls, and women, feel as though they have this rigid criteria they must fit into regarding their body image due to the influence of the media.

Body image refers to how people see themselves physically. People's body image begins forming perceptions of on people's

Images in the media are extremely powerful and affect the way women think about themselves and about their body. Hilary Rowland, author of “Media Images Are Unrealistic” states how the images shown everyday cause women to “feel insecure about their own bodies” even if they don't have anything to be ashamed of. It is evident that the media displays unrealistic images of beauty causing girls to feel insecure about their bodies and creates a false perception of how they should look. Due to this, women obsess so much over looking just like the “idealized” woman in the media that they create an obsession of losing weight because of lack of confidence. In the article, “The Media Drives Young Girls to Diet” by Jessica Hendrick, we see how women “diet obsessively” trying to “emulate the popular notion of beauty” that is being shown in the media.

What is body image?Body image is how you see your body and how you feel about it. You can have a negative body image or a positive body image.A negative body image is when you don’t like your body and think that only other people are beautiful and you are self conscious about your body. Positive Body image is appreciating

The media is trying to condition women into thinking that they need to look a certain way and be a certain weight to be beautiful and to fit in. With pictures and advertisements of unrealistic looking women selling the next best thing to help us achieve beauty and acceptance. And cyber bullies that have nothing better to do than belittle someone and body shame people are having a big impact on the way women and men see themselves and it needs to stop. I feel that we have come a long way in society from even two or three years ago, with women like Demi Lovato, Mellissa McCarthy and more putting positive body images and messages on social media telling women young and old to love their body the way it is.

“Body image” states to the mental picture that you have of the way you appearance.

The media portrays what is attractive or unattractive in society, it builds a norm that women must be thin and men must be muscular. Society is constantly seeing their favorite celebrity on the screen or in advertisements and try to mimic them. However, there is a negative impact with the media. Photos are constantly air-brushed and edited which leads to unrealistic expectations of the human body. This is detrimental for both men and women because they start having problems with their body, which results in disorders and drastic measures trying to live up to this unrealistic expectation. By establishing this unattainable physical perfection, the pressure to be attractive does harm physically and mentally.

Normal sized women are now being given the label of plus-sized which is body shaming and unacceptable. In the fashion industry, sizes 12-24 are known as plus-size. In the United States, the average size is 12-14. (3) These sizes don’t line up and translate to the lies that women hear daily. Models are expected to be at a very minimal weight causing the viewers of magazines, tv, etc. to think that their own body weight isn’t acceptable, or plus-sized. Twenty years ago, on average, models weighed 8% less than the average American women. Now they weigh 23% less. Most models’ body weight is clinically anorexic. (7) Models’ weight mirrors what the media thinks is a normal weight but really it is unhealthy and is increasingly getting worse. Crystal Renn, a former fashion model, wrestled with a deadly eating disorder for multiple years before resigning to plus-size modeling for health purposes. (6) Models are suffering from something that can be changed starting with them. When they change, the media changes, which changes women’s perspectives, resulting in higher self-esteem and less eating disorders. Ten years ago, plus size models usually were between size 12 and 18, while they now go only from sizes 6 through 14. Half of American women actually wear a size 14 or larger, which means that even plus-sizes aren’t representing the average American woman. (7) The plus-sized label is getting to be extreme. The media are calling unhealthy weights normal

The media has not always been this demanding of young women. Today, when most think of the “ideal body” we think of women who are skinny. The media constantly throws diets, cleanses, and workouts at people in order to achieve the perfect model body. As humans, we have always been obsessed with looking a certain way, however, skinny was not always in. The female body type has been analyzed, picked at, and depicted in so many different ways throughout our history, whether that be in art, writing, or personal examinations. This ideology

Body image can be defined as the picture one has in his mind about the appearance (i.e. size and shape) of his body, and the attitude that he forms toward these characteristics of his body. Thus there are two components of body image: the

“Body image” can be defined as the way someone perceives their body and assumes that’s how others perceive them. The concept of body image can be seen as a great concern, from society’s affects through the media, social and peer pressure, to health issues and the actions taken due to body image shaming. Over time, the “ideal” body image has evolved into an idea that is simply unrealistic and unattainable.

Is created and influenced by many contributing factors. As young developing teenagers, many women looking at celebrities specifically those with certain body types as Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Brooklyn Decker as being the epitome of perfection. What girl would not want to look like them? Unfortunately, a number of girls want to be just like them. Every year, millions of people are hurting themselves trying to be carbon copies of these sex symbols. The media present society with unrealistic body types promoting people, especially women, to look like them on TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertisings. The media enforce what women should emulate. The so called perfect body type causes many negative effects on women in the United States women who focus on unrealistic body images tend to have lower self-esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders. The media has a dangerous influence on women’s health in the United States. The media are a primary factor in the development and maintenance of women’s body image problems. Women start to feel unsure about their bodies by looking at media images. This would not be such a problem if these images were not reinforced daily. This provokes women to diet more because they feel pressure to be

Media is something every female and male look to for guidance when it comes to fashion, beauty, and information. “Magazines and advertisements are used to help women better themselves by giving information and products to make them look and feel better” (Serdar 1). Without magazines and advertisements there wouldn 't be an exact focus on beauty standards.. People would have the freedom to choose what they like and what they consider beautiful instead of following the crowd. “Sociocultural standards of female beauty are in every aspect of popular media. Mass media 's use of unrealistic models sends the message that in order for a woman to be beautiful, she must be unhealthy. Women are negatively affected by the constant exposure to unrealistic media ideas of beauty”(Serdar 1). Because women of the American culture constantly compare themselves to models and actors, they push themselves to diet and exercise in an unhealthy manner to achieve a goal that is both bad for them physically and mentally. “The ideal of beauty is a form of self-oppression. Women see themselves in pieces” (Sontag 1). Because females are so self observant of themselves they tend to put more attention on things that don’t actually need attention. Therefore, they feel as if their not as beautiful as a person they see on television. “Very small percent of women in western countries meet the criteria the media uses to define beauty. So many women repeatedly exposed the media images that send a message that

According to Dictionary.com, body image is defined as “an intellectual or idealized image of what one 's body is or should be