Social Media Effects On Young Women's Body Image

Agliata, D., & Tantleff-Dunn, S., (2004). The Impact of Media Exposure on Males’ Body Image.

Over time, the perfect body image has changed in many ways. This is very evident in the female sex, especially through media. “Americans spend about 68 hours per week exposed to various forms of media” (US Census Bureau 2009). This media exposure through outlets such as t.v., radio, music videos, movies, and the internet, all influence the way people think about gender. The media influence is very evident in the way people view women and think about women in different cultures. Media influence on women creates negative viewpoints with how women view themselves and even how men view themselves, in turn making it hard to break certain beliefs and stereotypes instilled on society.

Body image dissatisfaction in adolescent’s has increased significantly over the past few years. More adolescent’s have an ideal image carved in their mind that they need to be a size 0 or be thin in order to fit into society. According to Thopmson and Stice (2001), “People who endorse stereotypes of appearance presented in the media internalize them as standards of appropriate or ideal looks. Internalization can be described as the extent to which an individual cognitively buys into societal norms of size and appearance, to the point of modifying one's behavior in an attempt to approximate these standards''. This also relates to the article by Thompson and Stice (2001), "Indeed, the endorsement of media messages of attractiveness is related to the acceptance of beauty ideals and to the

In the article, “The Negative Effects of the Media on Body Image” by Esther Vargas, there were several issues discussed about the negative effects that media has on body image in society. Many girls

Kover, A. (2009, April 30). Effects of the Media on Body Image. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from

Many people who are immersed in modern society are interested in or affected by the issue of body image and how media affects not only how we as individuals view ourselves and others, but how we as a society treat, tuck, and trim our bodies to fit the imagined requirements of how the human form should look. Body image is an important topic that has become more frequently, analytically, psychologically, and scientifically debated and represented in the past decade or so. After critical analysis of the article, per your request, I have come to the conclusion that, although Susan Bordo mentions some major issues pertaining to body image within her article, this article’s cultural context is too outdated and many of the celebrity references will

There are countless sources that show research on how girls’ body image is destroyed over time on social media. By middle school, 40-70 percent of students do not like how two or more of their body parts look (NYC). Over 70 percent of students out of highschool admit that they feel worse about their bodies after looking at their social media (Klein). It has also been found the body image hits “rock

Researchers have discovered that “ongoing exposure to certain ideas can shape and distort our perceptions on reality.” (Mintz 2007) Because young girls are subjected to a constant display of beautiful people in the media, they have developed a negative body image of themselves. Those who have a negative body image perceive their body as being unattractive or even hideous compared to others, while those with a positive body image will see themselves as attractive, or will at least accept themselves and be comfortable in their own skin. During adolescence, negative body image is especially harmful because of the quick changes both physically and mentally occurring during puberty. Also, young girls are becoming more and more exposed to the media and the media keeps getting more and more provocative. Young girls are looking to women with unrealistic body shapes as role models. It’s hard to find, in today’s media, a “normal” looking

Are the feelings of having a negative body image, in the pubescent adolescent, caused only by their changing hormones? Do family values and belief systems have an impact on the way the adolescent views their body? Can parents override the negative body image ideas which permeate our digital and print media? While there are many factors which influence the pubescent adolescent, both positively and negatively, it is the images of what is “normal” which are portrayed in the media, that have the most profound negative effect on the development of a positive body image.

The ideal body image for young women is dictated by society. Over the past years, the media have influenced young women to think about themselves in a competitive way, among other young women. The debate whether the media, compared to parental influence, is the major factor contributing to an adolescent female’s body image has been widely discussed in our community. This controversial debate has led to the idea of whether the media or parental influence are positively or negatively affecting young women’s self-esteem, social anxiety, and creating body dissatisfaction. As emphasized by Hayley Dohnt, Clinical Psychologist, and Marika Tiggemann, Professor in Flinders University, some people believe that peer and parent influences are the major

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

girls’ body image: Gendered ideals and sociocultural influences, Body Image, Volume 10, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 591-598, ISSN 1740-1445, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.07.006.

There is no denying that social media: Instagram and Tumblr, has a significant influence on all of us. The current effects of social media have increased dramatically among young women aged between 15 and 25. As stated in the study by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) that the high exposure to social media portraying the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in young women. They used a meta-analysis examined experimental and correlation studies testing the links between media exposure to young women's body dissatisfaction and the unconscious behavior towards having a thin ideal body. The results by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) support the claim that high exposure to social media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to

The methods used in this study incorporated individuals into groups by age and by gender. This was to help determine at what age individuals may be more impacted by media on body image and by peer group discussion concerning body image.

In today’s society, the public is exposed to technology at even younger ages than ever before. Everywhere you go these days you see kids even as little as three holding their parent’s phones or even their own, watching videos or playing games. But as said in the article Does Social media impact on body image by Philippa Roxby, as kids start becoming teenagers their technological uses advance and they start to rely on social media sites for new sources of communication, and their main channel to the outside world. Based on studies conducted by psychologists they have come up with a conclusion that social media has a direct relationship to body image concerns. I believe that in today’s society we should focus on promoting self-confidence as most of the adolescents have a very low assurance of their own bodies. Although a study conducted in the article The Upside of Selfies: Social media isn’t all bad for kids by Kelly Wallace says that a survey which resulted in 52% of the teens saying that social media positively influences them. Even though social media platforms have some beneficial aspects such as they make people want to go on diets, exercise, and eating healthy, the teenagers don’t really look/understand the negative aspects of it. The impacts that are carried with social media are mostly negative such as fancying teenagers to lose confidence in themselves and has become a toxic mirror to them. The visual platforms impact