Media And Body Image
Media plays a significant role in our society today around perceptions and descriptions of beauty. We all see pictures of youth and beauty everywhere and feel pressured to meet social impossible beauty standards. Our society constantly changing due to the influence of what we see in the media. Humans significantly more dissatisfied with their own appearance after being shown television ad featuring exceptionally slimming beautiful people. People’s reaction to their reflection in the mirror may depend on recent exposure to idealized images of physical attractiveness. Exposure to magazines photographs of super thin models produces depression, stress, guilt, shame, insecurity. I agree with Kendall’s assertion that the media does have a power
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influence on our society, and does it in a promising and desirable way. Engaging in social media influences and forms our perceptions of beauty, self-esteem, and spending decisions.
I see images of perfect bodies all around us on television, movies, newspaper, magazines, and an online.
Without always knowing it, I make automatic comparisons of myself and situations in my live after seeing images either on TV or in internet. Then I motivate to attain these goals and expectations the world has now put on me. Particularly, the body image advertising portrays affects our own body image. It presents thousands of images and messages daily that portray the “ideal” body image. The media uses the social elite, athletes or actresses to advertise products. In feminist forum, Research Directions in Social Media and Body Image, author Andsager states that “Research on U.S. traditional media imagery on girls and youth women has supported its influence on body dissatisfaction, in part because the images of physical ideal tend to reinforce each other in their consistency across a generation” (408). In other words, the media in the body image are closely related due to the number of images we see in the media and the excessive amount of exposure we have to these images. In addition, photos of female models in print ads are often touched up in order to just squeeze minor flaws or make the model appears even skinnier that she really is. I try to adjust the standards of beauty and fitness that are perceived in the magazines, television and in social media. Moreover, from viral videos of dangerous beauty trends to trending hashtags on Twitter, social media uses significant role in reinforcing peoples pre-existing
attitudes.
Social media damage body image by enforcing a thin ideal and impacts on body confidence. Visual platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, deliver tools that allows teens to earn approval for their appearance. Millions of followers embrace their regiments for diet and exercise. We are constantly reminded of what is considered beautiful. The beauty obsession created by social media has resulted in anxiety from hundreds of sources; beauty advertisements, peer pressure, innate feeling of insecurity, etc. In the article, Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research, as Perloff stated, “individuals with low self-esteem and those who strive for perfection may be especially influenced by media images of a thin ideals”. In other words, people with body image concerns persuaded by media pictures to be perfect. In addition, women use cosmetic to manipulate their appearance. The media negatively affect self-image and influence their choices a woman makes regarding cosmetics. Most women use cosmetics to temporary solve beauty problems and boost their self-esteem. Other more drastic measures such diet, exercise, or cosmetic surgery, cosmetics have become the standards of beauty enforced by society. In the article, The developmental effect of media-ideal internalization and self-objectification process on adolescents’ negative body-feelings, dietary restraint, and binge eating multiple authors mentions that “…media-idealized images have the most harmful and substantial impact on vulnerable individuals regardless of gender…mediated links posited in objectification theory among media-ideal internalization, self-objectification, shame and anxiety supporting the body and appearance, dietary restraint, and binge eating”(Dakanalis,Carra, Calogero, Fida, Clerici, Zanetti, Riva 997). In other words, media influences people with low-esteem by using pictures of perfect body, flawless complexion, perfect make up, etc. When wearing cosmetics women considered to have more prestigious jobs than when they were presented without makeup.
Media is powerful tool that influences people’s opinion on everything and influences their decisions. The media has a target to audience and they will do everything to pursue them. When social media is constantly advertising their looks, it begins to affect our buying decisions. As Perloff emphases his point of view is that “Social media and contemporary digital technologies are playing field of today’s youth, places where lessons are learned, attitudes are formed, and body image concerns can be cultivated and metastasized into convictions” (373). It means that social media plays a significant role in how mostly young people view beauty and it affect their conception of attractiveness. For example, my buying decisions would be different, if we didn’t see perfectly complete outfits on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. I’m very intrigued by fashion, so I follow a lot of fashion bloggers and fashion icons on social media. Many women, including myself, use Pinterest, fashion brands and celebrities on Instagram, use it as fashion inspirational site. Seeing what celebrities are wearing has never easier that now. It’s natural to want dress like celebrities and wear that they are wearing. Designers and brands are finding new inventive ways to use social media to boost their business and exposure. As I become familiarized with brands products like Michael Kors, or Chanel, I started to gravitate even more toward most popular trend, which it further sways my buying decisions. When I watch TV shows, media networks and then feel as if I need to have what celebrities have, so I buy into what they sell and I feel like I’m living a life just like theirs. Media stimulates consumer desire and in result I spend more and end up with smaller savings accounts and larger rates of spending.
As I stated before, I believe social media networks have caused an increase for the expectations of body images. Social network has a negative influence towards body perception of beauty. Mass media and access to social networks has evolved substantially causing the effects of negative self-image and what consider beautiful. The growth of various social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest brings these expectations of self-image home. It’s present entity in the lives of Americans and helps explain the world around us. Thus, it is necessary to understand that social media effects on our own perceptions of ourselves when we look through the refracted lens provided by social media.
influence on our society, and does it in a promising and desirable way. Engaging in social media influences and forms our perceptions of beauty, self-esteem, and spending decisions.
I see images of perfect bodies all around us on television, movies, newspaper, magazines, and an online.
Without always knowing it, I make automatic comparisons of myself and situations in my live after seeing images either on TV or in internet. Then I motivate to attain these goals and expectations the world has now put on me. Particularly, the body image advertising portrays affects our own body image. It presents thousands of images and messages daily that portray the “ideal” body image. The media uses the social elite, athletes or actresses to advertise products. In feminist forum, Research Directions in Social Media and Body Image, author Andsager states that “Research on U.S. traditional media imagery on girls and youth women has supported its influence on body dissatisfaction, in part because the images of physical ideal tend to reinforce each other in their consistency across a generation” (408). In other words, the media in the body image are closely related due to the number of images we see in the media and the excessive amount of exposure we have to these images. In addition, photos of female models in print ads are often touched up in order to just squeeze minor flaws or make the model appears even skinnier that she really is. I try to adjust the standards of beauty and fitness that are perceived in the magazines, television and in social media. Moreover, from viral videos of dangerous beauty trends to trending hashtags on Twitter, social media uses significant role in reinforcing peoples pre-existing
attitudes.
Social media damage body image by enforcing a thin ideal and impacts on body confidence. Visual platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, deliver tools that allows teens to earn approval for their appearance. Millions of followers embrace their regiments for diet and exercise. We are constantly reminded of what is considered beautiful. The beauty obsession created by social media has resulted in anxiety from hundreds of sources; beauty advertisements, peer pressure, innate feeling of insecurity, etc. In the article, Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research, as Perloff stated, “individuals with low self-esteem and those who strive for perfection may be especially influenced by media images of a thin ideals”. In other words, people with body image concerns persuaded by media pictures to be perfect. In addition, women use cosmetic to manipulate their appearance. The media negatively affect self-image and influence their choices a woman makes regarding cosmetics. Most women use cosmetics to temporary solve beauty problems and boost their self-esteem. Other more drastic measures such diet, exercise, or cosmetic surgery, cosmetics have become the standards of beauty enforced by society. In the article, The developmental effect of media-ideal internalization and self-objectification process on adolescents’ negative body-feelings, dietary restraint, and binge eating multiple authors mentions that “…media-idealized images have the most harmful and substantial impact on vulnerable individuals regardless of gender…mediated links posited in objectification theory among media-ideal internalization, self-objectification, shame and anxiety supporting the body and appearance, dietary restraint, and binge eating”(Dakanalis,Carra, Calogero, Fida, Clerici, Zanetti, Riva 997). In other words, media influences people with low-esteem by using pictures of perfect body, flawless complexion, perfect make up, etc. When wearing cosmetics women considered to have more prestigious jobs than when they were presented without makeup.
Media is powerful tool that influences people’s opinion on everything and influences their decisions. The media has a target to audience and they will do everything to pursue them. When social media is constantly advertising their looks, it begins to affect our buying decisions. As Perloff emphases his point of view is that “Social media and contemporary digital technologies are playing field of today’s youth, places where lessons are learned, attitudes are formed, and body image concerns can be cultivated and metastasized into convictions” (373). It means that social media plays a significant role in how mostly young people view beauty and it affect their conception of attractiveness. For example, my buying decisions would be different, if we didn’t see perfectly complete outfits on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. I’m very intrigued by fashion, so I follow a lot of fashion bloggers and fashion icons on social media. Many women, including myself, use Pinterest, fashion brands and celebrities on Instagram, use it as fashion inspirational site. Seeing what celebrities are wearing has never easier that now. It’s natural to want dress like celebrities and wear that they are wearing. Designers and brands are finding new inventive ways to use social media to boost their business and exposure. As I become familiarized with brands products like Michael Kors, or Chanel, I started to gravitate even more toward most popular trend, which it further sways my buying decisions. When I watch TV shows, media networks and then feel as if I need to have what celebrities have, so I buy into what they sell and I feel like I’m living a life just like theirs. Media stimulates consumer desire and in result I spend more and end up with smaller savings accounts and larger rates of spending.
As I stated before, I believe social media networks have caused an increase for the expectations of body images. Social network has a negative influence towards body perception of beauty. Mass media and access to social networks has evolved substantially causing the effects of negative self-image and what consider beautiful. The growth of various social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest brings these expectations of self-image home. It’s present entity in the lives of Americans and helps explain the world around us. Thus, it is necessary to understand that social media effects on our own perceptions of ourselves when we look through the refracted lens provided by social media.