Negative Body Image Issues

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.

“People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder,” according to Salma Hayek. Society should have a positive outlook on body image, rather than face a disorder that can change one’s whole life. Negative body image can result from the media, with photoshop and editing, celebrity fad diets, and society’s look at the perfect image. Negative body image can lead to dangerous eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia. It can also take a risk to unhealthy habits, such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs. It is important to stress the effects of body image, because the world still struggles with this today. Society should not be affected by

Millions of teens and adults are faced with eating disorders and negative body images everywhere they go. Celebrities promote unrealistic standards and display what the “acceptable” body is. Because of our stick thin role models we have in the media today much of our society holds their own body image to the unobtainable standards of celebrities. People are bombarded with images of what’s “sexy” instead of what’s healthy (Helmich). In a world based around celebrities and media, shouldn’t they be promoting a healthy body image instead of the negative ones we are being smothered with?

Body image is how a person feels toward their bodies, and how they picture what other people see them as. Stereotypes started by the media cause normal women to sometimes feel insecure. This can case eating and mental disorders. These disorders can be dismissed by people that think the victim is just seeking attention, but these problems are real. The media, magazines, advertisements, and other social practices are negatively affecting women and how they view themselves.

Body image has become a topic of conversation, with girls as young as five years old. Their conversations consist of their freckled complexion, the color of their hair, and even worse, their weight compared to others. The fact that at such a young age they are already finding concern and dissatisfaction with looks, can be alarming. With images of unattainably thin and flawless bodies scattered all over the media, there is no wonder that our younger generation is questioning their beauty and image. These images appear all around; on bill boards, in magazines, on television

Picture the world controlled by the media. Could you imagine how ugly, scarce, and hateful it would be. What would you do if a magazine or a television show told you that your body weight had to be twenty pounds lighter to be all most perfect? Would you actually consider the fact or let ignore it? Teens, mainly girls, will be sucked into these magazines. (National Eating Disorders Info Centre 15) These could be magazines like Seventeen and Cosmo Girl. In addition with many others of course. All though, the media is a bad example at times it is not precisely the main issue for negative body image. (National Eating Disorders Association 1) All though, these constant screaming messages the media produces

Body image may be viewed as the way people see themselves and even imagine how they make look based off how they may feel about themselves. Yet it could also be viewed as the way other people see you. Body image, in medicine and psychology refers to a person 's emotional attitudes, beliefs and views of their own body (Positive and Negative Body Image). According to Positive and Negative Body Image, a negative body image develops when a person feels his or her body does not amount up to family, social, or media standards. Many people feel as if they don’t measure up to the belief of others. People who have accepted the way they look often feel good about their image and would be considered to have a positive body image. One’s appearance may not be measure up to how their family expects it to be or how it is perceived to be in the media, but once people learn accept and be proud of the way they look they’ll be better off in the long run. When a person is measured against the standards of the beauty seen frequently in the media and it doesn’t compare to how they feel about themselves it become discouraging. Having said that, long-lasting negative body image can affect both your mental and physical health which could lead to eating disorders down the road.

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,

In Gullone and Kostanski (1998) study what is found is that body mass and psychological variables are significantly related with the perceived body image dissatisfaction. Their findings also support how the general public can perceive their body image to be negative due to gender, self-esteem, and body mass.

they are understandably angry at being badly treated because of their body type. Although school psychologists generally recognize that boys today are having severe body image problems, they are at a loss about what to do to solve those problems.

Body image issues are a delicate topic within the male gender. The ideal man by American societal standards, is supposedly tall, slender, and tan, with somewhat defined muscles at the least. Body dissatisfaction is generally seen as feminine issue, something that is a likely factor in why so few men speak up about their body image problems. Homosexual males, however, generally do speak up more about the issues they face with how they look. A lot of these men are affected by the beauty myth in a similar manner as females; because they are not seen as masculine, they tend to turn to their looks as what they have to offer to potential partners and their peers. Unlike females, homosexual male’s body issues go beyond the too fat narrative, many

proportions. With extremely long legs, a tiny clinched waist, and supposedly large breasts, she gives young women “an unrealistic idea about the way we should look or what we should weigh” (Mirror-Mirror). However, in a study released in 2010, 117 6-10 year old Dutch girls were given one of three toys: an Emme doll, a Barbie doll, or Legos. The girls played for 10 minutes, before the researchers asked the girls questions about their body image. They determined that toy did not affect their body image.

Body image is not only a corporate social responsibility but raises important ethical issues which require recognition and due attention. However, as evidenced in the media today, fashion designers and the entire fashion industry have proven themselves incapable of self regulation in the responsible portrayal of healthy body images as they continue to capitalise on the consumer’s feelings of lifestyle inadequacies and body image insecurity. To date, enforcement and regulation of responsible body image portrayal remains unattainable (Kristan Dooley, Rachael Wong 2010). Ultimately, it is the consumer, not the fashion designer who controls their own minds and bodies and the way they perceive themselves in the modern world. It is up to the consumer

Rebeca has always been the tallest and weighed the most out of all her friends since elementary school, as they grew up the other girls grew as well but just not as fast. Rebeca was the first to go through puberty, as she started to gain weight all over her friends began to make fun of her and call her names. Rebeca’s mother told Rebeca that this is totally normal and soon that her friends would be going through the same thing and probably feel horrible for treating their friend so horrible. But hope for the future and hope that her friends would stop making fun of her did not stop anything that was going out then at that moment. For numerous years’ body imaging has been a huge controversy throughout the whole world. Everyone even myself has been through, it happens all throughout the day when you are getting ready or even just flipping the magazine. This is what leads me to say that the media, advertisements, and celebrities affect how we think and determine the attractiveness we desire.

This issue of negative body image and unrealistic beauty standards is not one of the issues that are just numbers on a graph, everyone has either dealt with it or knows someone else who has. As it affects so many people, I myself know multiple people who have dealt with it in varying degrees. From people who only have difficulties accepting and believing compliments about themselves to those who have hated how they look so much