The Influence Of Women's Bodies In American Media

Teenage girls are at an impressionable time in their lives. Mass Media is a key idea in one of the factors of socialization that become important to teenagers. Teenagers look to the media for a sense of entertainment. Whether it is movies, magazines, or even some aspects of social media, teenagers get a lot of influence from the media’s message. The problem with this is the media has a specific way of doing things and can be negative to a susceptible teenage girl. Media’s way of portraying a woman can be skewed and unrealistic way from what reality is. Teenage girls then have a desire for this look or way. In this essay the three ways I will describe as to why the media can negatively affect a teenage girls body image is by showing

Social media and advertisements continues to shape the bodies of girls and women. They are targeted through all aspects of their lives when they are viewing advertisements, television, and body care products. So if unchecked or unchanged, it is likely that current and future females will continue to have a lack of self-confidence, self-esteem, and wont define their own image. Teens that range from four to nineteen, are influenced by the images of Barbie’s and the television show Toddlers and Tiaras. Eighty percent of these teen girls are dissatisfied with their image. Woman that are twenty or older also view different media that sway their images through the show Kardashians, Victoria Secret, and the beauty line Dove. Therefore, all forms of media need to change how they portray females. This way, women have a chance to be proud of who they truly are and can live to express themselves. Girls and women will seem guilty when they do not see the ‘model’ figure when they look in the mirror. This is not how society should be in the United States. The

These sexualized ads can provide a constant reminder for these young girls on what they ‘should’ look like. This image that is placed in a young girl’s head can leave lasting impressions on self-esteem. These self-esteem issues are becoming more widespread due to the reach of the ads targeting them. Since most American families have access to TV and the internet, this sexual content is constantly pushed towards them often without them even realizing. Along with the hyper-sexualization, the ads can also give these young girls examples of body types that may be physically unobtainable for

Because females, and even younger females have started to become very sexualized in the media, these images can start to mold at a young age what a female “should” be like. “Sexualization occurs when women and girls are most valued for their sexual appeal, are sexually objectified, or have sexuality inappropriately forced on them” (American Psychological Association, qtd. in Stone et al. 1604). When media portrays these types of images depicting women to be a certain way, it can cause many issues, such as lower body and self esteem, and even depression (Stone et al. 1605). A study is conducted to see how children perceive sexualized girls, and what traits they should possess, such as being popular or being smart (Stone et al. 1606). Ellen

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

As a child and even an adult now, I have constantly heard “you’re so skinny. You need some meat on your bones. Do you eat?” In today’s society, children as young a five experience negative comments and thoughts about their body image. According to an article written by Olivia Ferguson and Hayley Mitchell Haugen, entitled “The Sexualization of Girls Is Harmful”, “in child beauty pageants, girls as young as five wear fake teeth, make-up, and hair extensions” (np). They are purposely motivated by their parents to flirt with the audience by batting their false eyelashes and walk with their hands on their hips. As stated in the same article, “the sexual, ideal body image of a woman comes from the media and marketing” (np). Shows, movies, magazines, and music videos usually portray the ideal woman as being fit, in “perfect shape”, beautiful skin, and long, healthy hair. This article suggests that “the average child views over six hours of media per day” (np). Actually, in sports, “female athletes are more likely portrayed as sexual objects than male athletes” (np). Women are considered, by men, sexual at an early age. They try to make themselves look “perfect” just to please a

Body Image and the Media have an effect on women and young teens these days, the Internet is every girl’s go to place to find the new trends and how they should be looking these days. The media portrays women as having to be thin and to dress a certain way. In this essay it is going to mainly be directed to women and young teens of all ages, considering women of all ages tend to follow what others have to say about them, when in reality something’s that people have to say aren’t always nice. Most women are so self-concise about who they are, that they tend to put themselves down, and start causing self-harm. While people should just over come the media and stop worrying about what they have to portray about how women should look and dress, because the real issue is that as the media progresses women start to question their bodies more and more each day, they start to ask questions like should we

The portrayal of women in the media has drastically changed through the years. Those changes can be viewed as positive or negative, but many times they impose an influence on female viewers. Those influences often lead to damaging outcomes such as eating disorders and depression. The range of influences and effects caused by the portrayal of women is wide and also includes low self-esteem, body image issues and the need to be a sex symbol. The Social Learning Theory is important in understanding how women are affected by their presence in the media. The modeling process included within the theory is essential to identifying how women are overwhelmed with images of the “perfect” or “ideal” body. Those images are generally largely unrealistic. Many statistics show an increase of eating disorders and other mental health issues as women are subjected to images of societal and media perfection. This is an example of the modeling process. This paper will explain the effects and concerns that result from exposure to the media’s portrayal of women, what Social Learning is and how it applies to that exposure.

“Flip through a fashion magazine, turn on the television, or listen to the lyrics of popular songs and unfortunately, you will quickly find a common theme: the sexualization of women and girls” (Sexualization of women and girls) Women are constantly bombarded by the media to attain a standard of beauty that is comparable to perfection. This unrealistic standard of beauty is resulting in a number of problems for young girls and women. The sexualization and beauty standards of women in media affects girls because it gives them unrealistic expectations, it causes unhealthy habits, and causes many physical, mental, and emotional problems.

As society is progressing, body image is ever changing. Now more than ever, we are witnessing different body types being displayed in popular media. Despite these advances, advertisements and other media platforms continue to push unrealistic and damaging body images on both men and women. Beginning in childhood, young girls and boys are influenced by the distortion and objectification of body image. Girls are taught that the most desirable body is one that is thin and proportioned (Helgeson, 2016). As they age, many girls begin distorting their own self-image when body changes occur during puberty. For example, many girls are upset by the onset of breasts and excess body fat in other places such as the butt, thighs, or stomach areas. This upset and discomfort during adolescence is influenced by the way that the female body is portrayed to the public. For boys, this can also occur. In movies and advertisements, the ideal male body is described

The media, today, continues to falsely portray the image of the ideal woman. This misrepresentation adversely affects the self-esteem of women and young girls. After evaluating their physical appearances and comparing them to edited pictures, females develop unrealistic expectations of how they should appear physically to others. This misconception can cause great concern about their bodies and very low self-esteem. Young girls will abuse their bodies by starving themselves to be thinner and properly proportioned according to society’s expectations. Body Dysphoria has become a growing concern in very young girls because of unrealistic images of women. The media also seems to have no concern of the images they are displaying of men. In magazines

Research has greatly indicated and proven that media exposure has an impact on the normative perceptions of substance use and relationship behaviors among adolescents. Studies have shown that media content and patterns of usage are considerably related to adolescent perception of gender roles, romantic relationships, and sexual behavior. Repeated contact or subjection to sexualize subject matter on television or different forms of media has been related to individuals perceived normative gender roles (Herrett- Skjellum & Allen, 1996). Negative and socially impaired beliefs about relationships, for example such as ‘‘fate brings soul-mates together, disagreement is destructive to a relationship, partners should be able to sense each other’s thoughts and feelings’’ (Holmes, 2007). Also with persistent disclosure to sexually explicit content related with more positive attitudes or norms toward “uncommitted sexual exploration” as well (Brown and Bobkowski, 2011).

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.

The media plays an increasing role in any young person’s life, but it is especially important to teens in their high school years. Research has demonstrated that teenagers “voice concerns and attitudes that echo themes common in media messages, and that they behave in ways that reflect media content” (Feldman 245). The concern is that the sexually suggestive media is the reason for the increase of sexual activity among high school teens. The media messages that are known to increase a teenagers’ sexual behavior come from all different angles, such as sexually explicit music lyrics to the “sex sells” philosophy of countless main stream commercials.

The sexualisation of the female body is deeply rooted in patriarchal power structured and is an ongoing process in current societies. Especially through digitalisation the sexualisation of mainly women became hypersexualised. Moreover, media, as one of the current power elites, has a rather large influence on the socialisation process of individuals especially regarding sexualisation and sexualised bodies by displaying what type of body is desirable and which one is not. Women’s bodies are in every sphere and context hypersexualised in, for example, westernised societies. Moreover, women’s sexual desires are predominately held silent through patriarchal power structures. Furthermore, the pharma industry plays