The Medical Definition Of Body Imaging Essay

As a wise man once said, “To love yourself is to understand you don't need to be perfect to be good.” However young girls have so much pressure put on them to look in a way that is not only unrealistic but also unhealthy. As a result of this, young girls have a very negative body image and self-confidence.The problem is the unrealistic body standards that media and society have set for girls. According to SSCC, the average American woman is 5’4 and 140 pounds. There is a clear problem when the media is only advertising women that are 5’11 and 117 pounds, which is the average American model. Even though the body of a model is very rare and uncommon,girls are expected to look like they do. However, by promoting a positive body campaign, stopping the portrayal of fake and photoshopped models in the media, and expanding the diversity of models, we could lift unrealistic body standards and start accepting everybody as beautiful.

To begin with, the media industry has the power to decide what reaches the public’s eye; therefore, they present to the public their versions of what “beautiful’ women should appear like. The media has created their version of what the “ideal body” should be. They continuously show the audience photographic images of models that appear extremely thin. Media meticulously chooses women with bodies which media calls “sexy”. Spectators rarely get a glance of women who are overweight. For example, all of the actress that make an appearance on television shows are below what is considered a healthy weight. Yet, this concept is what media has defined as beautiful, influencing many women to obtain a thin figure. As a result, of these messages sent by

For young girls and women in America, an unattainable standard of beauty is set. This ideal image of beauty even comes equipped with a specific ratio of female anatomical measurements. A 36-inch bust, 24-inch waist, and 36-inch hips. Women go to great lengths to achieve this thin yet curvaceous physique, from eating disorders, to diet pills to plastic surgery. Despite human efforts, for most, these goals are unattainable because we cannot change the physical ratios of our bodies on the skeletal level. This is something that does not come along with the “thin is in” message, so instead our country has nearly half of its females from ages 6-8 stating in studies that they would like to be slimmer. We are programming our children to believe that beauty is outward and is achieved through being aesthetically pleasing instead of educationally enriched and of sound

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.,

The largest forms of media we encounter in our daily lives are the advertisements and commercials we see on TV, the Internet and in magazines. One of the key strategies used to reinforce the feminine image is to depict every woman to be “thin.” This strategy is used all over the media and this depiction of “women should be thin” is negative. For example, “Seventeen” magazine, Pretty Little Liars star Troian Bellisario is featured on the cover captioning, “Get an insane body – It’s hard, but you’ll look hot.” This idea that the media is portraying to all women and girls is publicized wrongly. Everyone thinks that being thin is hot and if you are not thin, you don’t belong to society. However, this happens because women and girls are too taken away by getting slim,

Since the early twentieth century, Americans have adopted an obsession with the “thin ideal” - the concept of the ideally slim female body. As displayed throughout advertisements, magazines, television, and social media we are constantly bombarded with images of the ideal “skinny woman”. This, however, is not an accurate representation of the average woman’s body and can have an

Today, a large majority of women will admit to being dissatisfied with the way their body looks. This is because of a thing called body image. Body image is the way one thinks their body should look like, and how they think others see it. This has become a major issue mainly because of the media. The media effects body image because they use women with what is considered the “perfect body” for advertising purposes. They are all over social media, on television, and on the cover of magazines. Since the media only shows women with one certain body type, this puts pressure on other women to look that way. The media should stop pressuring the perfect body type because it can lead to self-esteem problems in women, anemia or bulimia, and can even

In our popular culture, the media worships the beautiful, perfectly made-up, perfectly-coiffed, perfectly-dressed, THIN woman! Our current standard of beauty is based on super models, actresses, musical artists, reality TV stars, all for the most part very thin women. With the overwhelming amount of these images bombarding us every day, the message seems clear: women who do not fit this standard of beauty are unattractive, unloveable, and unacceptable.

Veldhuis, Konijn & Seidell states “many models in mass media are artificially shaped into thin, idealized standards using computer software. Such thin-ideal exposure is likely to result in body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, and body comparison with media models, especially in adolescent girls with lower self-esteem (Veldhuis et, al. 2014 p.157).” In addition, Veldhuis, Konijn, and Seidell believes that adolescent girls should receive information about the thin body ideal and how the photographer takes photos of the models and edited the pictures to make them appear thinner than normal. (Veldhuis et, al.

The pressure to have a perfect body is even greater due to media. But the truth is, most public figures are 15% below a normal and healthy BMI. This beauty standard is becoming increasingly difficult because most women (96%) are not born with this specific body type causing women to take extreme measures to accomplish this ideal. Media exposure of the thin-ideal body and materialistic values is causing eating disorders, body dissatisfaction and affecting a person's well being.

In today’s world everywhere you look there are images of what our society considers beautiful. Television uses pretty skinny girls for the popular TV shows, magazines use pictures of skinny women in the articles, store windows use pictures of skinny models modeling the stores clothes, and billboards use young skinny pretty models modeling jewelry or other products. In reality, these women do not look like what these pictures portray them as. These

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

As its name implies, the perceptual aspect of body image is the way one envisions his or herself. It is what one sees when he or she looks in the mirror as well as the mental representation he or she has of their physical self. For some people, there is a disconnect between how they see their body and what they actually look like. For example, a person might perceive them self to be overweight when in fact he or she is underweight. Such a disconnect often leads to negative sentiments concerning one’s appearance.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association the media has a major influence on what a woman’s body should look like. Every print and television advertisement suggests that the ideal body is extremely thin. However, most women cannot achieve having a super-thin body that the media favors. The resulting failure leads to negative feelings about one’s self and can begin a downward spiral toward an eating disorder (National Eating Disorders Association).

Society’s pressure on women not only creates eating disorders, but it also creates mental disorders. This pressure can cause women to develop anxiety, depression, problems in relationships, and substance abuse. New research suggests that ten million women in the UK are depressed because of the way they look(Sanghani). The media managers take size zero models and morph their bodies into unrealistic sizes. Women and teens look at these fake pictures of models and start thinking that that is what they are supposed to look like. They put themselves through diet and exercise to try to get to the “perfect body” standard. However, if they do not see results, they are disgusted with themselves which makes them think negatively of themselves all the time. Women often do not go shopping because of the size they are. They avoid two-piece swim suits and crop top shirts. Women should not idolize these fake models the way the media does. The media should not think as highly of these fake models in the way that they do.