The Role Of Airbrushing Disorders In Advertising And Social Media

In the article “Never Just Pictures,” the author, Susan Bordo, addresses the cultural reasons behind the rise in eating disorders. She asserts that modern media and advertising campaigns have played an integral role in this increase. Though unfortunate, the media’s focus is not on the well-being of its viewers, but on the level of cash flow they provide. The advertising moguls use their agencies as double edged swords; they will make ads for McDonalds, then go in the next room and conduct a photo-shoot with a six-foot-two, eighty pound woman. The world of advertising needs to realize their work is being seen by millions of people and is affecting some of those people in extremely negative ways.

While these cases were obviously false, neither impacted the self-esteem of impressionable teenage girls like some of the advertisements of today. Many false advertising cases, which heavily impact teens, come from cosmetics and weight-loss supplement companies which promise immediate results. These results are fueled by the desire to have flawless skin and to be extremely thin, like the models are portrayed as in the advertisements, but what these susceptible young girls do not see is the airbrushing and photoshopping and intense editing that happens before any photos are published. The desire to be like the models in these false advertising cases has caused a spike in depression, eating disorders, and hyper-sexism in teen girls.

Health professionals and experts have come forward to inform that repeated exposure to skinny models in advertisements causes young girls to develop these dangerous eating disorders. This year, the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London called for a warning symbol to be placed on airbrushed pictures of models and also a ban on ultra-thin models. This group of doctors has referred to an excessive amount of evidence showing false images of female perfection help trigger eating disorders in young girls and makes it difficult for them to recover. Additionally, the Royal College slams fashion magazines for their “unhealthy obsession” with diets, as well as criticizing celebrities’ bodies. Also, the Royal College goes too far by “glamorizing” excessive weight loss (Carmichael, 2010).

It is apparent that with the increasing popularity of social media today, there has been a shift in dietary changes within our society. Individuals are subconsciously changing how and what they eat. The question arises, why are so many young women dissatisfied with their bodies, despite their size? Although there are several forces believed to play a role in this dissatisfaction such as peer criticism and parental influences, the thin-ideal body is dominating the media (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). Thinness is largely emphasized and praised for women in magazines, television shows, movies and commercials (Stice & Shaw, 1992). Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that stems from this ubiquitous obsession to be thin and is often associated with a pathological fear of gaining weight, distorted self-body image and emaciation (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary).

Beauty standards in the media are one of many reasons feeding and eating disorders are a rising problem. The unrealistic body types of being extremely thin, in pop culture, are influential factors for many teens, especially teen girls. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), anorexia nervosa is a “restriction of energy intake, intense fear of gaining weight, and a disturbance in the perception of one’s body size” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals diagnosed with anorexia tend to place a high value on their shape and weight, which can interfere with their daily lives. Individuals diagnosed tend to view of their body shape in a distorted representation. The motivation to become

This is particularly apparent with the effects of advertising media. Bordo points out that “miracle diet pills and videos promising to turn our body parts into steel have become as commonplace as aspirin ads,” (par.1) which influences an idea of the kind of body one should aim to achieve. Additionally, it presents the notion that, with such products, reaching one’s weight goal will come with more ease. It gives an incentive and makes people accustomed to the belief that losing weight is necessary. By exhibiting this pattern and concept that advertising media is inducing, Bordo gives insight as to why there is an influx in the desire to lose weight and to achieve it by any means necessary. She also suggests that the “ideal of the body beautiful has largely come from fashion designers and models” (par 2).With the exaltation and emphasis on the gratifying physique of a woman’s body, many young women find themselves corresponding to the ideals the fashion industry places on both its fashion and models. Remarkably enough, Borodo conveys that, not only are females following in the fashion industries’ steps, men are falling underway as well as “more ads featuring anorexic-looking young men are appearing too” (par.2). In presenting the fashion industry for what it represents and influences, Bordo effectively reveals a fellow cause of

Today’s society is a consumers’ society in which trying to obtain perfection is one of the fastest selling businesses (DeLaMater Pg. 12). Mass media, advertising, and fashion industries are being accused of feeding off females dissatisfaction with their bodies by portraying unhealthy thin role models in order to sell their products. This unachievable physique and lifestyle has led today’s adolescence down a dark path of such extreme eating disorders as anorexia and bulimia. Although it may sound nice to be societies perception of thin, there are consequences to these eating disorders such as cardiac failure that lead to horrifying defects or even death.

In fact, media is contributing to many false advertisements and unrealistic images that cause eating disorders. Media gives us these false beauty standards by making teens think they have to be thin and tall. Meanwhile, many teens want to be like the models and they try to be thin but instead of doing it the healthy way. The way they do it is to skip meals and that develops eating disorders. For instance, Arnett says, “Marketing and advertisement agencies focus on models such as tall, thin women or a muscular man with a chiseled jawbone when casting for photo shoots and television commercial” (265.) Therefore, we experience and seen is that the media do give us a false beauty standard which makes teens want to do everything that is possible to become like models. This has contributed

The average American woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds, while the average American model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds (Chojnacki, 2017). Those models’ digitally enhanced pictures are published in magazines, posted online, and shown on television. Individuals scroll past filtered images of the “thin ideal”, flip through the pages and images of magazines as they stand in check out lines, and are drawn to advertisements of beautiful, happy, and skinny people. All of these encounters happen several times daily without even thinking twice about the message that is being sent. The enormous audience that the media can now reach due to advancing technology is both a blessing and a curse. Technology has allowed the public to connect with people thousands of miles away at the touch of a button and

In Joanna Poppink’s essay entitled “Educational Programs can Help Prevent Eating Disorder,” she writes, “Sometimes parents are afraid that educational materials about eating disorders will stimulate an eating disorder in their teenager. They also fear such material will encourage a teenager with an eating disorder to try new and different methods of acting out the illness” (143). Poppink understands the parental concerns that come with education programs, but she reassures that the knowledge that society obtains from these types of programs will not cause their child to develop an eating disorder (144). Instead, educational programs can help prevent eating disorders by explaining their risks, teaching people how to recognize an eating disorder in someone they know, and discussing different ways on how to begin the treatment of an eating disorder. Also, American society must do everything it can to stop the idea that beauty, popularity, and success come with thinness. In order to start the prevention of eating disorders in teenage girls, the society must first stop promoting women who are unhealthy and under the average BMI. By promoting women of all different sizes and shapes in the media, American society can help girls facing eating disorders become more comfortable in their bodies and help them understand that people have various body sizes to suit their unique

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

Anxiety, stress, and depression are merely a smidge off the surface of anorexia nervosa. Upon researching Anorexia, a compelling ad for anti-anorexia appeared. It stated, “You are not a sketch. Say no to anorexia,” and in this ad, it displays an image of a model in a fashion design sketch and an image of an “authentic” model right beside it. The sketched model consists of overstressed proportions and extended lines typical of fashion illustration. The “actual” models are illustrated with the same meticulous proportions. Even though the models have been painted to impersonate the idealistic sketches, it’s petrifying how intently they resemble authentic models seen every season at Fashion Week. Arizona State University recently published research that revealed that women are more observant to guilt-inducing advertising messages about weight than they do to the judgments of their peers, even when those peers do not deem them obese. The fashion business is predominantly the leading cause, as it habitually uses under-age girls as models for clothing intended for adults. While those girls may merely be slim and not anorexic due to their youth, it subconsciously influences anorexic adults to replicate those appearances when purchasing items off the rack. Anorexia is a form of punishment, but within the community, it is thought of as a lifestyle and the only penalty is set into motion if

The average American sees around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements every day ( redcrowmarketing.com ). Advertisements are everywhere consumers look, including on television, billboards, menus, and apps. Most of the advertisements that are published are airbrushed. Airbrushing is an popular method that a myriad of companies use to make their products look higher quality. Even the models shown with the product are airbrushed. The airbrushing completely distorts the model’s physical appearance. Although it may not seem harmful, airbrushing the models and products is not healthy for consumers to see. Many major companies, such as Aerie and Seventeen Magazine, have decided to stop photoshopping. Airbrushing models in advertisements should be banned

Along with those pressures, the media shows an unrealistic model for young girls to consider the ideal body. Fashion magazines, subway ads, television screens affect and influence girls to lose weight. In result, anorexia and other eating disorders have rocketed in response. Having constant pressure to look a certain way is not something girls should follow such as in magazines or on TV.

“The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it