Society Lack of Tolerance in Body Image

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.

Thesis: The media puts pressure on women of all ages to conform to their standards of what looks best, and this pressure results in women having a negative body image.

Through the media society puts out high standards and expectation on women to adhere to what they say is beautiful. Making women judge mental and self consciousness about themselves and even judging other woman in a split second. In the book Mrs. Breedlove speaks on the affect the movies had on her,”She was never able, after her education in the movies, to look at a face and not assign it with some category in the scale of absolute beauty, and the scale was one she absorbed in full from the silver screen” (122). This explains how the media can cause society to be judgmental among their peer and categorize them as either beautiful or ugly. Giving society room to isolate and antagonize the ugly and adore and idolize the beautiful.

For example, Jennifer Lawrence was recently featured on the cover of Flare magazine, but it wasn’t entirely her. An already beautiful woman was altered and refined so that she could fit the qualifications of the magazine editors. They photoshopped her to look thinner, have more appealing features, and even changed the shape and color of her hands. If a famous actress that is already looked to as gorgeous had to be modified to look better, how can common women ever feel good about themselves? Only 5% of women in the U.S. are said to naturally have the picture-perfect body that is portrayed in media. 40-70% of girls that are in grade school either want to lose weight because of magazine pictures or think that the perfect body is depicted by magazines. 42% of girls in 1st through 3rd grade want to lose weight. 81% of 10 year olds are scared of getting fat. The media’s interpretation of the ideal body is even affecting kids. We can prevent that by stressing that being “average” isn’t what you see on magazines, being “average” is any way someone can be

As a result of many cultural factors, self-objectification has become a common trend for many women and girls. Self-objectification is defined by Caroline Heldman in her article as “…viewing one’s body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gaze” (52). Although there have been successes for the women’s movement, self-objectification has increased, in part, because of backlash against their progress. Not only is self-objectification a constant mental state for many women and girls, but it is reinforced by the powerful influences of popular culture, including advertisements, television shows, and films. These sources place added pressure on women to see themselves through the eyes of men, forcing them to be aware of their physical appearance

The controversy over the unrealistic body image portrayed by the culturally iconic Barbie doll has been a topic of interest in sociology for many years. The research on this subject aims to determine the role that Barbie plays, if any, in the prevalence of negative body image and self esteem issues in young girls. The Barbie doll, introduced by Mattel, Inc. in 1959, can easily be considered the most popular doll in the world with 99% of 3 to 10 year olds owning at least one Barbie doll, and an average of eight Barbie dolls each just in the United States (Rogers, 1999). Barbie has received extensive criticism over the years for her ultrathin and highly unattainable body proportions. A majority of the relevant literature has focused on the influence of body ideals on adults, and not enough has been directed towards the impact it may have on children (Brownell & Napolitano, 1994). Some overall trends in the research on the influence of Barbie on young girl’s developing body image and self concept include Barbie’s role in socializing young girls, scaling Barbie dolls to an adult height in order to compare body proportions to real life adults, and conducting studies to assess the impact on body image that exposure to Barbies may produce. The following section will elaborate on these key themes in the current research discussing how the female body image is unrealistically depicted by Barbie dolls.

What is your perception of beauty? For the media, it’s unhealthy, unachievable and dangerous to teenagers of today’s society. The media negatively influences our idea of body image – making us strive to be someone we are not, leaving us feeling worthless. These images prove no purpose whatsoever to society and should not be so widely available.

Media brings out the conception that women will look and feel like the models. Media makes women feel bad about themselves and it is because of what is being displayed in the media that exemplifies this feeling. According to the American Anorexia/Bulimia Association, an estimated six- percent of American women has eating disorders. Low self-esteem and an unrealistic body image can trigger these eating disorders. A society that allows for such blatant expressions of contempt for women can only expect that women will be victimized. The media must begin to take some responsibility for the images, and the on-going implications of the image, that it presents. When turning the pages of a glossy fashion magazine, women are being invited by the ads and the carefully art-directed spreads to suspend their disbelief. It is hard to remember that the average American woman's dress size is sixteen, not six. And the average age is not eighteen. The average working woman doesn't have the resources or the time to devote a narcissistic pursuit of beauty. Models look beautiful for a living. They have hair stylists, makeup artists, wardrobe people, manicurists, and skin care specialists to make them look wonderful. Not to mention the best photographers in the world who employ lighting, film stock and every other trick of the trade to enhance their beauty. The end result is so stunning that people forget to ask themselves why we should care who the

The media is encourages us into achieving an impossible measure: perfection. Often times people look up to other people, often times them being models, actors, and celebrities. This looked

Decades ago televisions were a luxury few could afford and when they became more widely available computers came along and the advances have continued. Exposure that was once limited to magazines and television time has now increased to include the entire world at our fingertips via smartphones and tablets. This allows us unlimited access to people we may perceive as being better than ourselves in many ways but the prevalence of photographs would have the focus shifted to the physical appearance of these people. Along with this progression has come a change in the people we are exposing ourselves to: female celebrities are getting smaller. Grabe and Ward and Hyde present in their study The Role of the Media in Body Image Concerns Among Women: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental and Correlational Studies that “the images of women presented in the media today are thinner than past media images of women, thinner than the actual female population, and often thinner than the criteria for anorexia” (2008). Alongside the pressure on women to be thin there exists a pressure on men to be “more muscular. . .the media often portrays that it is the strong handsome men who are popular and who get the beautiful women” (Russello,

Body image is a huge issue around the world. It has affected so many teens,adults,and children all around the world. Since many people are so use to seeing media images,it becomes their basis or their main idea for how their body should look like. If people don't say anything or speak up, future generations of body image will get worse, increasing the amount of stress on young children.

high prevalence of body image concerns, there has been an increase in observed and medical attention, as it found to have negative consequences on audiences alike.

Studies have proven that the media can have a negative impact on body image in both males and females. In the 21st century, we are constantly exposed to images of celebrities and models with the ‘perfect’ body type. Society’s views on body image have been majorly influenced by the media who manipulate images for purposes such as advertising. Often they are flawless and unrealistic and only an extreme minority of people in the world possess the ideal body type.

The way people behave and think is the final product of socialization. From birth we are moulded to become the person we are today and therefore the sexualisation and objectification of women through modern media has a subsequent impact on female body image. This is especially insidious because of the media’s ability to create culture rather than reflect it.

Can a women's body image be affected by societal standards? "Body Image is how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind"(What is Body Image?). Starting from a young age, we tend to compare ourselves to the standards that society has made. From there the thought of not having the "perfect body" leads to low self-esteem, depression, and develop eating disorders. In America, the ideal of beauty has continually focused on women's bodies. Being attractive at this time means to be thin. In America, thinness is a precondition for being perceived by others and oneself as healthy. emphasize a toned, slender look, one that exudes fitness, youth, and health. However, it comes at a high price for many women. Today, our body image is formed as we receive and internalize messages about our bodies from those in our external world. It also involves the messages we receive about what is considered desirable or not acceptable about the body.