The Perfect Body Image

Body image is an issue known around the world, just like eating disorders, it is most commonly seen in woman; however, there are men that suffer from this issue as well. The social issue of ideal body image affects people of all ages regardless of gender or ethnicity. Body image is the way one sees their own body in their mind, and they may not feel confident within their own skin, or they may feel unaccepted in society. A person may feel they might not be skinny enough, big enough, tall enough, dark enough, ultimately they will feel they are not enough to fit into what is acceptable in the social order around them. People begin forming rash conclusions or observations of their own body’s attractiveness, health, and appropriateness, in early childhood. However, for today’s ideal body image, it is just another passing trend that does not reduce the desire children, teenagers, or even adults may have to follow ideal standards of beauty and attractiveness. Meanwhile because of the epidemic with body image there has been one-half of females and one-third of males as young as six that have engaged in some sort of dietary behavior. Social influences that can potentially cause people to form ideas about positive and negative body image can play an important role in the way a person may live their lives, and such influences can be things such as, family, friends, and social media.

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.,

Preview of Main Points: I will begin by explaining how the perfect body image shown in the media is unrealistic, then, I will talk about how the unrealistic images lead to both men and women to have a low self-esteem and eating disorders that develop due to people wanting to look like the images shown in the media. Lastly, I’ll talk about a solution we can do to stop the portrayal of an unrealistic body image.

In recent decades, acquiring the body image and figure popularized by mass media and popular culture is becoming a rising and prevalent concern amongst people. Apparent increases in the efforts to achieve, match, and maintain the ideal body gathers attention and worry that it might impact perceptions on what sort of body stature is acceptable or not. Even some youths are beginning to pick up the idea that a body type that is not ideal to the type popularly portrayed by society is unfavorable. This desire for the ideal body is becoming immensely widespread that some people have even come to sign it as a priority, making this matter as an issue of concern. Susan Bordo expands and discusses in her essay “Never Just Pictures,” the development of

Modern society portrays good looking men to have broad shoulders, toned arms, six-pack abs, and a small waist while good looking women are viewed to have the characteristics of being slim and fit, having a small waist, lean hips, and perfect skin complexion. As a result, many people are affected by our own society's portrayals of good looking men and women that they feel pressured into doing whatever it takes and going through extreme measures, most of the time, spending countless hours in the gym trying to achieve that perfect body. Body image is evident in the gym, as the men are lifting weights they are frequently looking in the mirror examining every angle of their body making sure no area is lacking muscle. On the other hand, women tend to partake in the same behavior as men, showing a sense of insecurity about their own bodies, frequently making trips to the scale to keep track of their weight making sure to stay slim and fit. Society has a profound effect on many people, making them feel insecure about their own bodies. The mass media's use of such unrealistic images sends an implicit message to men and women that to be considered good looking they must partake in unhealthy diets, extreme exercises and unhealthy body modification enhancers, which in turn can have detrimental effects on one’s health. Such standards of beauty and appearance are almost completely unattainable for most men and women and most of the models displayed on television and in advertisements is

Sports Illustrated, Victoria’s Secret, Vogue. What do these titles have in common? They are all brands that are prevalent in the media, all brands that feature the same underweight, unrealistic figures, with models void of stretch marks or body fat. In today’s technological society, the influence of the media is irrefutable; however, it has become increasingly evident that on the issue of body image, the media has failed its audience. Rather than portraying the average population, media such as television and magazines have become accustomed to casting actors and actresses who have similar, ideal body types, and photoshopping models beyond the point of recognition. By perpetuating these unhealthy, unrealistic images, the media is, perhaps unintentionally,

A female should not feel insecure with her body when she is comfortable in her own skin, whether or not she weights 130 pounds or 150 pounds at 5’5”. According to Rehab’s study of the evolution of the female figure over one hundred years, “the body shapes of the most admired models have remained consistently slimmer than that of the average American woman.” Due to the significant increase in mass media throughout the twentieth century of the United States, there has been a noteworthy impact on the popular image of women. A woman being dissatisfied with their body is a everyday trend around the world where as

There are still some that hold by this ideal, but many are tired of it. Even if someone’s body image is skewed and they can never be happy with their body, they should teach the next generation better, so they won’t feel the same. Dara Chadwick, a magazine columnist, in her book about teaching young girls to have a healthy body image talked about her work with Shape. At the time Chadwick was writing a weight loss diary for the magazine and she was showing her work to her daughter. When the issue came out her daughter realized that her mother’s photo had been manipulated to make her look bigger so that her weight loss would be more dramatic (100). What Chadwick did was incredibly smart, her daughter had a firsthand experience with how the media

Exercising for hours, starving one’s self, crash diets and fixatedly recording and calculating calories are some of the processes people go through to achieve society’s perception of the idealistic body type. Throughout history in the western culture and cultures around the world this emphasis on the perfect body is associated with being successful, having wealth and other socially desirable traits. Because society constructs this image that is considered to be the norm some individuals strive at all cost to meet the bar that has been set and when they perceive they haven fallen short dissatisfaction with their body occurs. This ideal human physique is seen in the media and every facet of society; it is has integrated into cultures and the

Mass media shapes the world and the ‘perfect’ female is depicted through magazines, TV, music, internet, billboards, toys, movies, commercials etc. on a daily basis, impacting women and girls on how to perceive their own bodies, how to look and how to behave. Beauty standards have changed throughout the decades, even centuries, and has always placed immense pressure on females. From 1400s-1700s, an overweight body was considered attractive and the ‘perfect’ shape. Through the 19th Century, the curvaceous body was the ‘ideal’ body shape – large hips, large breasts and slender waist. The thinner ideal was eventually fashionable in the 1920s but was replaced again to the curvaceous shape in both the 1940s and 1950s. By the mid 1960s, successful model icon Lesley Lawson ‘Twiggy’, influenced the new ‘perfect’ body image with a slender shape, short cropped hair, long eyelashes, overstated makeup and wore daring, skimpy clothing. The super thin ‘ideal’ was once more the beauty standard and still remains to be the fashionable body image today - the image is of an unrealistic appearance – a slender figure, tall, a large bust, caucasian and light coloured hair.

When people think of the new body image, we automatically think models. Well, yes, models are a major factor in the body image persona, but it’s not just models. The media broadcasts the “thin ideal” in every possible way that we can think of. Researchers have found that the ongoing exposure to the “thin ideal” can shape and distort adolescent female’s perceptions of beauty, particularly in television media. Take the movie Cinderella for example. Cinderella is portrayed as a beautiful, thin, feminine female while her “ugly” stepsisters are shown as short, overweight and masculine. However, it is not just

The ‘perfect’ image is of an unrealistic appearance – a slender figure, tall, a large bust, caucasian and light coloured hair. Advertisement and marketing within the beauty industry is extremely powerful and influential. The ‘ideal’ female body images are airbrushed to unattainable standards of beauty, convincing feminine consumers to purchasing beauty products and for many, even to the extreme of modifying themselves with cosmetic surgery - trying to achieve the unrealistic, desirable stereotype established, believing all that is presented within the media.

The current idealistic attractive image portrayed in the media has a negative impact on the self-esteem in both men and women. Every day the media displays ideals of attractiveness for both genders, and in a matter of time, society will begin to demand these same media standards among individuals. According to the press, idealistic men tend to have defined chest, broad shoulders, muscular arms and slim waist. On the contrary, idealistic women tend to be surprisingly thin and well-toned. This portrayal of attractiveness is often manipulated by media industries and impossible for the majority of viewers to achieve. Some individuals internalize these standards of attractiveness, and they tend to suffer adverse effects such as body-focused anxiety

The media puts forth a plethora of information to the general public. Appearance is a major idea in society that is constantly put out on mainstream media. The image of seemingly perfect celebrities and stars are heavily rotated, and have lasting effects on millions of Americans who are unhappy with their body image. Plastic surgery has become common amongst middle class women, and a rapid increase in male plastic surgery has been noted in recent years. Constant exposure to the “perfect” body image in the media puts harm in the very idea that the human body comes in all shapes and sizes. Despite the temptations of a perfect body and plastic surgery to fix imperfections, it is completely possible to maintain a positive sense of self while facing standards and expectations that are nearly impossible to obtain.

Body image insecurity is an issue that a large majority of females in our world face on a daily basis. Celebrities have been idealized by the media to a point of unreachable standards, not always by their own desire. Modifications and enhancements are made to nearly all published photos, making the perfect body type one that does not truly exist in the real world. Because of today’s technological advances, celebrity news is never more than a smart phone click away. This constant availability has enabled females to compare and analyze their own bodies more than ever before. Individuals ideal self-image seems to have grown farther and farther from their actual self-image, presumably due to the “perfect body” stereotype that is projected to