The Body Image Portrayed By Modern Day Fitness Advertisements

Many fitness advertisements proclaim the idea of the "perfect" body. This is done in ads targeting both women and men. This constant display of the "perfect" body causes women and men to feel like they have to look like the featured models to be accepted, which can often lead to negative body images. One source of advertising where the idea of the "perfect" body can often be seen is in print advertisements featured magazines. These fitness advertisements are usually for athletic shoes/clothes or weight-loss products and often feature a model who is thin and toned. As mentioned by Chandler and Sabiston (2009) there are two types of fitness advertising; model-focused and product- focused (Chandler and Sabiston, 2009). With

The rhetorical imagery that is used to portray a man's body is spread throughout the fitness industry and health advertisements. These images are on the cover of well-known magazines such as “FITNESSRX”, distribute worldwide targeting men, ages 18-30. These magazines give a visual rhetoric as a method of persuading beauty, body image, and the pursuit of “perfection”. These companies target young adults because they believe they have the money to buy their products to obtain the body they want or the body portrayed on the cover of the magazine.

Out of four advertisements chosen, two are distinctly for women and two are distinctly for men. It is easy to identify which is which, as everyone has experienced these social expectations that the ads are founded on. For example, the male ad, titled Nivea for Men, is most easily identified as such due to the man used as the model. However, this is not the average male in American society- this is the idealized version that men have become accustomed to viewing, and is therefore

Over the years the size of female models in advertising has decreased significantly. Today the average model ways up to 23% less than an average women. The use of Photoshop adds to this by creating perfect skin unattainable even with makeup, along with making the models appear even thinner. Given that these women often set the standard for beauty wouldn’t this lower women’s self-esteem. These “perfect” and unrealistic models in advertising negatively affect body image (the way we see our own body) and distort our idea of beauty. Negative body image can lead to depression, the development of eating disorders, or the abuse of weight loss drugs or anabolic steroids.

Mental health is a big part of obesity many children are suffering from disorders like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and even suicide attempts. With the way media portrays body image today it is hard for a child to not get discouraged. Women in magizes are photo shopped and air brushed to look as skinny as possible, men are photo shopped and air brushed to look toned and fit. Young men, women and children look at these photos and see an unrealistic person. With that they set unrealistic goals and end up harming themselves in the end. By forming eating disorders and mental disorders, eating disorders by trying to archive a body type that is not real and mental disorders by looking at the results of not having that body type. Children

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

Accompanying unrealistic images of women, the media spends billions of dollars yearly to advertise the various techniques that eliminate body discontents such as dieting pills and exercising machines, and exploits female magazine reader’s insecurities. Whether magazine advertisements aid in the gradual depletion of body image or fail to impact it at all will be the purpose of this investigation, supplemented by a literature review and organized by a theoretical framework, to support a firm analysis.

People want to achieve a better looking version of themselves, furthermore the increase of ads for diet foods and products can cause them to feel the need to purchase these products. The article, Eating Disorder and the Role of the media, states that it found a significant increase in advertisements for diet foods and diet products for the years 1973-1996. (Spettigue and Henderson 1) This shows us that the “ideal” body image change over generations also causing products to increase due to newer trends replace older trends. Generations are only momentarily while “ideal” body images change by becoming more skinnier and with higher expectations. This can lead to the increase of diet products. Also in the article, Body Image of Women, it states

Although it is not easy to admit, there is a hidden pleasure in watching stick-thin models parade down the runway wearing the newest and hottest lingerie. As secretly amusing as this may be, should we really be supporting industries that make their revenue by exploiting women’s bodies in the media? Companies such as Victoria's Secret spend large amounts of money each year broadcasting these types of images on TV, in magazines, and on billboards. With the widespread access to media that exists today, Victoria’s Secret’s target audience is very large. In this paper, I will prove that the body image portrayed by Victoria Secret in the media changes body image ideals in society, supports racial stereotypes, and causes confidence issues in young women.

Many people in modern culture have developed what has been termed a normative discontent with their bodies. Women are particularly vulnerable to this development of body dissatisfaction, which has been shown to create numerous negative heath issues. These health issues are a direct result from trying to achieve the unrealistic ideal image that media has created. This idea on how the body should look floods modern media and women are discriminated upon if they are unable to meet these strict physical requirements. However, unknown to the masses, the majority of the physical characteristics portrayed are achieved from digital enhancement and not only the product of weight loss. It is my goal within this paper to discuss the population is

America is obsessed with body image. In today’s world, you can't go through the day without seeing the television, advertisements, magazines, or really any type of media portraying women's bodies. Due to the immense societal pressure that women should have the “perfect body” to be accepted, the nonstop reminders to change what they look like, struggling with body image has now become a major social phenomenon- and it's time for women to challenge that narrative. Women of all ages are facing face increasing scrutinization over their body image through media influence leading to invasive surgeries, increased depression, and eating disorders.

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.

others, had her checked into the emergency room twice because of her eating disorder. Her story shows how far people are willing to go in order to meet the ideal body type even if it means that their health may be at risk. Social media, peer pressure, and lack of self-esteem all are very dangerous factors to health and the accessibilities to these are available to anyone and everyone which only makes one phantom how many people one knows may be battling the same battle Leah was.

Today 's society is constantly presented with misrepresentations of the ideal body image through the advertising of diet plans and supplements. Companies in the fitness industry scam people into buying useless products or services by advertising with individuals that have, what the mass media sees as, the 'perfect ' body composition. In addition to getting consumers to buy into a product or service, these companies also aid society with the spreading of this fake idea of what classifies as the perfect body. They portray a body image that is unattainable for most individuals in society, despite how many of those supplements being advertised they buy. The models used in these advertisements, are in most cases, starving themselves, enhanced via illegal substances, or are photo-shopped to the point where even they do not look like the model displayed in the ad. All this has led to many people wanting to strive for that perfect body, that in reality, is impossible to achieve. In order to show the affect these advertisements play in our society, I will be deconstructing multiple ads in the fitness industry, as well as multiple peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles centered around the impact media has on an individual 's self-image.

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.