Media's Negative Influence On Body Image

Studies prove that the media can have a negative impact on self-image. TV, movies, magazines and the internet all pressures what their bodies should look like. In the article, Too sexy too soon: A mother’s battle against the sexualization of girls by Tina Wolridge quoted, “One of the hardest responsibilities of being a parent to a 13-year-old girl is explaining the sexualized images of young women that are seen on TV and in skimpy clothing, magazines and sexy videos…I want my daughter to be valued for her mind, for what's on the inside and for being a good person. I want her to understand that you don't need to get your value from your looks alone (Wolridge, 2013).” It is sad that millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold. They feel so much less because in their heads they see that’s what it takes to be noticed or worthy. Images they see are nothing, but air brushed ideas of what is the vision of perfection. The insecurity one holds buries the true beauty and worthiness that person actual holds. It is sad how the media can have a negative impact to make someone feel ugly and insecure about themselves. They all should be able to love their self for who they really are and how they present themselves no matter what anyone else says.

As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.

Media is popular in these years now; we can see the image everywhere in the world. The celebrities on the TV, ads, Internet and magazine always look perfect. Most of the people wishes they can be look as perfect as celebrities, usually the young people and girl in particular. But most of the people do not realize that the images in the media are fake and unreal.

There are many negative and positive influences that media has on people. For example a negative thing is that the entertainment industry often pressures celebrities, especially actresses to look thin. Since some people look to celebrities as role models, this can have a severe impact on societal perceptions of body image. Some celebrities maintain their body images through extreme measures, including plastic surgery and eating disorders. Though celebrities do not directly cause people to seek out these extreme measures, the National Eating Disorder Association says that the media impacts the ways people define ideas of body image. A positive influence media can have is that many environmentally conscience topics, such as global warming, have

The media has a significant influence on our point of view, especially on teenagers who are still forming their values. Can you see the real you in the mirror? Body image is based on the definition of beauty. However, it used to be twisted by media. In the past, we were told to lose weight to fit in whether it is healthy or not. When you turned on TVs or opened magazines, all you could see was skinny girls wearing skinny jeans. Thus, you stopped eating donuts and went on a diet only because you felt ashamed which is entirely unnecessary. Pursuing unrealistic thinness was exactly why eating disorders increased. Nonetheless, something has changed. We have replaced “skinny” with “fitness” and take health more serious. In fact, there is a standard

How does body image affect a person’s well being? A person’s body image is the way they perceive their body, including thoughts, emotions, behaviour and attitude towards the perceived mental image of their body. Many teenagers become obsessed with their body and how it appears to themselves and others. With all the various sources of distorted media, it is easy for people of all ages to develop negative body image, which can lead to unhealthy measures. The fashion industry has a major influence due to the fact that it is the very thing that puts clothes on our backs.

“70% of 6-12 year olds already have the mindset that they need to be thinner.” (Just Say Yes.org)Many factors influence individual’s perception of his or her own appearance. Media has greatly increased the “ideal image of beauty.” Barbie, models, and actors give people false hope that they will look just like them, and if they look different then they aren’t beautiful. Social media and peer pressures influence the way teens see themselves. To fix this problem people need to learn to self-love, respect themselves, and understand that people on TV were given the job because of the way they look to appeal to the audience.

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.

What is body image? Body image is the way someone perceives their selves and imagines how they look. Having a positive body image means that most of the time a person views their selves accurately, feels comfortable in their own body, and feels good about the way they look. However, many people ranging from all ages have a negative or distorted body image, some more severe than others. People can develop a warped body image from media influences, or viewing people around them who have different body types. Having a distorted body image can lead too many different dangerous mental or physical health conditions that are difficult to overcome. The way beauty and or body image is portrayed in the media affects the way people interpret how they should look physically.

media’s eyes this is the ideal image of a perfect women. With flawless skin and makeup, skinny long legs and an amazingly slim body with long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Media has a distorted view on beauty because to look like those girls is an unattainable goal. As the photos are edited, photo shopped and unrealistic. Media gives girls insecurities because they feel like they aren't beautiful like the girls on the cover of the magazines. Girls try to fit themselves into this image of perfection forgetting beauty is more then just a phiscal thing.

The Subjectivity of Women to Modern Mass Media’s Construed Views of Beauty and How Their Effects on Body Image

Media promotes a never-ending emphasis on physical appearance. Because of this, American culture has produced a standard of female beauty that is unrealistic and unattainable (Derenne, Eugene, and Beresin, 2006). The media tells us that perfection is achievable and they prove it by parading the images of models and actresses on every magazine cover, billboard, beauty product and television commercial. Young girls are constantly bombarded with the message that their personal value is dependent on their physical appearance. Sure, we can raise our children to know that their worth isn’t dependent on arbitrary things such as physical appearance, but what influence can we really have when media’s influence is reaching them through computers, magazines, television, and even their cellphones? Media’s control in society is undeniable and it is easily seen by its’ ability to persuade women to buy beauty products, have surgeries, trying rapid weight loss diets, or even starving themselves if it means they will finally meet the

What do you see as beauty? Is it having perfect body, or face? Many teenagers do not understand that the perfect body image that they see on media is not realistic. Numerous teenagers are not comfortable in whom they are because of lack of confidence. They look up to the celebrities that appear the prettiest or the ones who have a picture-perfect body. Why is it so important to change who you are because of others say? Media manipulates our minds by making us do things that we are not comfortable in because it’s the new trend. Media has taken the center stage of influencing the behaviour of teenagers to have a negative insight on their body image. These negative effects include having eating disorders, and having emotionally, physically, mentally depression, and obligating plastic surgery.

The media promotes low self esteem among women because it presents one image of beauty, one that women can not live up to. This causes harm to women’s mental health as they are being compared to a standard of beauty that is simply unattainable. “Body image develops partly as a function of culture in response to cultural aesthetic ideals” (Kim and Lennon 3). The media uses photoshop, airbrushes imperfections, and depicts slim, middle to upper class, white women as an ideal standard of beauty for all women. “The current standard of attractiveness for women portrayed in the media is slimmer than it has been in the past to the point of being unattainable by most women ... Unattainable media images influence women’s satisfaction with their bodies ... because women compare their bodies with these images ... Such comparisons may cause depression, anger, body image disturbance..., and low

In a survey of adolescents in grades 9 through 12 (approximately ages 14-18), more than 59% of females and 29% of males were trying to lose weight. Over 18% of girls and 8% of boys had gone without food for 24 hours or more to lose weight in the last 30 days. Of the girls, 11.3% had used diet pills and 8.4% had vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight (Attie). Many people in America face the problem of the media’s “ideal” body image. Many teens and adults, especially women, go to extreme unhealthy lengths to achieve this image. It is a major problem that is widely ignored and not taken seriously. Body image associated with the Media has an exceedingly negative effect on teens in America by causing them to develop eating disorders, creates emotional issues, and causes them to get the wrong idea of what their body “needs” to look like.