The Media's Effect on Self-Esteem Essay

Teenagers want to have the perfect body, Magazines are full of the idea of perfect models who have what one would distinguish us, a perfect body. When young girls see what they believe is perfection, they go to risky lengths to accomplish that look. With healthy models, teens can lift their self-esteem by working hard to accomplish a goal without going to extreme measures. Extreme measures can be harmful to physical health.

The fashion industry plays a huge role in portraying bad images of ideal beauty, which in turn affects today’s society perception of their own body image. Not only are women affected by what is seen and heard about how the perfect body should appear, children of young ages are now feeling insecure and obsessed with their bodies before they reach teenage years. This ‘ideal image’ the fashion industry continues to enforce only focuses on very thin models who seem to be in shape and are very healthy. Furthermore, many people think of the influence from the fashion industry as being human representations (models). Because of the rising problem with the image of beauty within the fashion industry, it is shown that even mannequins and non-human representations (mannequins, dolls, photoshopping) of bodies play a significant role in women’s body image; which causes problems to the individual. (Anshutz & Engels, 2010). Body image and self-satisfaction, eating disorders and non-human representations all can cause harm to the individual, if prolonged.

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.,

Consider your own body. How have images of ideal beauty in magazines and on TV influenced your ideas about what constitutes an attractive body?

The media’s portrayal of beauty is unhealthy, and a vast majority of the models used in advertising are well below what is considered a healthy body weight. This results in people aiming to be as awfully skinny as them, which is extremely unhealthy and can lead to scary problems later. Today, fashion models weigh 23% less than the average woman, and the average model is thinner than 95% of the female population. Models like these are often portrayed in the media as beautiful, so women strive to be like them.

The media portrayed unrealistic images of models that send a harmful message to young women. It’s reflecting on our society by ‘inspiring’ young teens to achieve this look; as a result, the use of dangerous behaviours and extreme weight loss. Therefore, females are dominating the media and influencing young woman in the wrong areas. Therefore, The Fashion Industry is influencing young teens to compare themselves to other women. Young teens are becoming more interested in becoming like someone they admire rather than, become their best version of themselves. (Body size, Measurements, Meal Plans) The fashion industry is prompting extreme thinness and it’s confirmed in studies that unhealthy weight control is a severe issue in the Fashion Industry. (use of laxatives, Drugs, Extreme exercise, and Starvation) There are steps that can be taken to decrease the expectations of models. “Data shows that the American

Teenager's already addled brains are rewired to think like the narcissists the fashion experts are. Rewired to think of themselves as worthless. They are then inevitably shoved into a wallowing pit of self shame and insecurity to the point at which they take drastic measures to alter their appearance. Starvation, excessive exercise, purging, self harm and binging. All grim but part of the wildfire that is ignited by the spark: the simple comparison made between their bodies and models'. Young women's desire to look like what has been beautiful cannot be suppressed. But the suppression of the idea that 'skinny only is beautiful' is

Skinny, absolutely gorgeous models in magazines can help to boost women's body image, but it doesn’t last. Researchers had college women look at magazines with skinny models for 5 continuous days. USA Today Magazine says the women claimed that they felt better about themselves and wanted a healthier lifestyle, but it didn’t last. This way of living with dieting fails and women go back to dreading their body.

Media is one of the four main agents of socialization. In an age where it is hard to escape, media has a huge impact upon the way a person views themself. The media has created an epitome of beauty that for most, is unattainable. People must be thin to truly be attractive, and it is best that they have clear skin. For women, they ideally must also be slightly curvy, while maintaining thin arms and legs and a flat stomach. For men the ideal is large amounts of muscle. Being constantly exposed to these standards is believed to lead to Depression, Anxiety, low self-esteem, and other issues. Studies have been done to learn whether or not media exposure does lead to these things.

     A lot of people including men not just women often dream about having the perfect body. Some may work hard for it and others may think they cannot achieve that dream. In our society, we seem to make body image appear to be almost one of the most important things. Young girls less then thirteen years of age can start to see themselves as being "fat" even if they are thin. In fashion magazines for instance, you will hardly ever see pictures of overweight or slightly overweight people. They are filled with runway models who are so skinny it looks as if they are sick with a disease or are cracked out on drugs. How can people think that looking that way is attractive? It's so

Seeing overly skinny models in the media does not enhance women’s self-esteem, self-worth, or self-image. The degree of thinness exhibited by models is both unachievable and biologically inappropriate and provides unhelpful role model for women.

For decades people all over the world dream to become models. The Fashion industry has been around for decades and it continues to flourish today. Modeling has become an influential sport which creates false expectations for men and women around the world. The fashion industry has turned a blind eye to modeling by taking photos of models to make them look glamorous without showing the dangers it can have on the health of models. T.V. shows, movies, magazines, and other media influence society’s perspective of what they should look like according to Hollywood and the fashion industry. Fashion companies anticipate bizarre thinness within their models that results in eating disorders and irregular dieting leading to starvation. Models turn to alternatives like anorexia and other disorders to meet company expectations. Anorexia is the most common disorders among various models in the fashion industry. Companies exhort models to indulge in dangerous health alternations and malnutristioned models should be a concern for companies across the nation. Fashion companies should require medical examinations to increase the health of models and demolish false expectations that Hollywood and media present to society.

In 2001, actress Kate Winslet caused controversy over a statement she made about her weight. She told Britian’s Radio Times that she needed to lose weight “or I won’t work.” She was referring to the nearly fifty pounds she gained during her pregnancy, but fans were still upset over the famously curvy actress’s confession. Then, in 2003, Winslet shocked fans and critics alike when she expressed her distaste for GQ Magazine’s digitally slimmed pictures of her (Tauber, 2001). The most recent criticism of Winslet was in 2008. She appeared in Vanity Fair Magazine looking slightly thinner than normal, and many people were judging Winslet for being hypocritical. Winslet’s rep said that she was not airbrushed to look thinner, that that is

In the article “The Skinny on Models,” the writer gives the different viewpoints that many fashion designers give of models being role models for teens. To begin with, many of the people who have given their opinion towards this controversial topic have stated that the idea of teens having health issues is not because of the models themselves but because of the idea that they see models as their way to be influenced by, which makes them have eating problems. With this being said, many have brought to the attention that an example for this problem is a Brazilian fashion model named Ana Caroline, who

For decades people all over the world dream to become models. The Fashion industry has been around for decades and it continues to flourish today. Modeling has become an influential sport which creates false expectations for men and women around the world. The fashion industry has turned a blind eye to modeling by taking photos of models to make them look glamorous without showing the dangers it can have on the health of models. T.V. shows, movies, magazines, and other media influence society’s perspective of what they should look like according to Hollywood and the fashion industry. Fashion companies anticipate bizarre thinness within their models that results in eating disorders and irregular dieting leading to starvation. Models turn to alternatives like anorexia and other disorders to meet company expectations. Anorexia is the most common disorders among various models in the fashion industry. Companies exhort models to indulge in dangerous health alternations and malnutrition models should be a concern for companies across the nation. Fashion companies should require medical examinations to increase the health of models and demolish false expectations that Hollywood and media present to society.