Sociological View of Women and Body Image

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 is how a person feels toward their bodies, and how they picture what other people see them as. Stereotypes started by the media cause normal women to sometimes feel insecure. This can case eating and mental disorders. These disorders can be dismissed by people that think the victim is just seeking attention, but these problems are real. The media, magazines, advertisements, and other social practices are negatively affecting women and how they view themselves.

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.

This raises the question about gender difference and the concept of body image and prevalence of

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 has become a primary focus for individuals and in some instances is resulting into an obsession, especially in women. Media instills in men and women an ideal body standard causing unrealistic expectations, some resulting to the extremes to obtain the perfect body that is being perceived in order to conform. More and more people are aspiring to become media’s “ideal body image” to be considered attractive. The American media is becoming detrimental to individuals as it is negatively influencing the perception people have of themselves and their bodies.

Because of society we have bullying happening, and it has caused people to have eating disorders, and get surgical replacements done to their bodies. People have become anorexic, bulimic, and have or done other things to lose weight because they weren’t “pretty or cute” enough for others to see or like them. “When they begin puberty... the body goes through many changes... These changes, combined with wanting to feel accepted by our friends, means it can be tempting to compare ourselves with others. We might start to compare ourselves with other people or media images ("ideals" that are frequently airbrushed). All of this can affect how we feel about ourselves and our bodies... Family members might struggle with their own body image or criticize their kids' looks ("why do you wear your hair so long?" or "how come you can't wear pants that fit you?"). Although these often come from ignorance, sometimes they can affect body image and self-esteem” (www.kidshealth.org). Many parents seem to think that they know their kids like the palm of their hands, however very few of them see that they’re child struggles with their body image. Body image has influenced all of us, whether it’s in a minor or dramatic way, by making us shower more or brush our hair more, or maybe even by making we go anorexic or getting plastic surgery. Everyone wants to be something close to perfect but everyone is looking out

Research has shown that half the population of young women are unhappy with their body image which will lead to low esteem levels, depression and eating disorders for example Anorexia Nervosa. (1)

Body image is how a person feels about their physical appearance. Someone with a negative body image has a distorted view of his or her body and often feels shame, anxiety and are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and depression. People with a poor body image have a greater chance of developing an eating disorder. Which then can lead to drastic changes of their bodies using dangerous methods such as plastic surgeries and severe eating disorders in order to meet societal ideals. Today people feel that present ideals are pressuring them to conform, in any way possible to get the ideal body, these pressures cause body dissatisfaction and self-esteem issues.The media is causing body image issues due to the lack of diversity and realistic body representation, when exposed to western media young people are more likely to have eating disorders, participate in fad diets, or drastically change their bodies with plastic surgeries.

“The pressure needs to go away, and girls’ self-esteem needs to go up; the vicious cycle needs to end.” (Moreau, “Is There Too Much Pressure”, The Comet) Body image is something that affects our everyday lives, especially for women. Television, advertisements, and photo shop all make women feel the need to look a certain way to be accepted by men and their peers.

In 2007, a shocking ad was displayed starring model, Isabelle Caro. Caro's anorexic frame was splayed out, nude, for the world to see what she looked like. Despite her wish to recover from her ongoing battle with anorexia - Caro lost her battle at the age of 28. Shortly before her death, Caro published a book entitled The Little Girl Who Didn't Want to Get Fat. Caro is not the only sufferer of eating disorders as a result of body dissatisfaction - millions worldwide suffer as well.

One important concept to note here is that certain people are more susceptible to mental health disorders. Not all men and women will develop a specific eating disorder solely by the reasoning of body image. There are many other factors that play a role. However, in looking at body image, research has shown that women are more likely to become depressed by their negative body image (Helgeson, 2016). In this, it is noted that they are also more likely to hold greater insecurities regarding themselves. Interestingly, this goes hand in hand with the other topics we've discussed throughout the course. Women are more likely to feel incompetent or incapable of sex based on their gender. Society has a much greater influence on a female's perception of herself and it does not stop at body

In this research, thematic analysis distinguished the gender difference among age-related and body image concerns. Four sub-categories emerged from the results; the first two categories displayed conceptualization of the body. Men described their bodies as a unit and had a single evaluation of their bodies. Whereas women’s responds were negative and positive, the responds were very detailed and focused more on parts of the body.

Body image and Society have always been interrelated throughout time especially in maintaining gender roles and imposing the perfect image of the female. It is society that have dictated how a woman should look and act and both positive and negative body image is a direct correlation with a woman 's social worth. This essay will discuss how the relationship between body image and society is presented in a multitude of texts and how these views are differentiated depending on the decade they are published or created in. The topics being discussed will be the two poems “self in 1958” and “honor and obey”’ written by Anne Sexton, two episodes from the Television Show “Buffy the Vampire slayer” and finally Naomi Wolf’s texts The Beauty Myth.