Media And Body Image Research Paper

In today’s highly developed information technology era, a variety of information is full of our world. The influence of the media on women’s body image has gradually expanded. Body image refers to people’s perception and evaluation of their bodies, including how individuals perceive their bodies, and how they perceive others to evaluate their bodies. A positive body image is very important for everyone; it can let people feel comfortable and confident in their body. Writing in the Women’s Studies Encyclopedia, Freedman argues, “women tend to distort body image in the negative direction, just as depressed people in both sexes do… men tend to distort body image in a more positive direction, just as nondepressed people do” (Freedman, 1999). The
impact of media on women’s body image is greater than that of men, and they are more susceptible to external influences. In the media, we can find a variety of perfect female images. They may be actresses, female singers, models or network stars. Without exception, they are all having a perfect body proportions, fascinating and full of temptations. Most researchers believe that most women with negative body image are because of women in real life are surrounded by these perfect female images, and they perceive their body unlike what they really are. This essay will explore why the media has a great influence on the women’s body image because it causes female eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression.
In our society, the media is responsible for creating and disseminating the ideal body image; they are often an indicator of people’s lives. In Fitts’ writes on Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, he states that:
Western cultural standards of beauty and attractiveness promote an unhealthy body ideal for women to be thin… [Popular media] encourage women to be thin through the use of unhealthy diet and weight control methods in order to feel good about themselves, be successful at work and school, and attract friends and romantic partners (Fitts, p. 83).
In the various media convey information on women’s body image, the “thin ideal” is a frequent message. This information is full of repeated broadcast on various types of weight loss advertising on television, appeared in the fashion magazines in the skinny female models, they through a variety of guerilla advertising and convenient Internet quietly into the women’s field of vision, and then into the female consciousness. “Thin is beautiful” has been implanted into the aesthetic ideas and values of many women, and thus lead to dissatisfaction with their bodies and made to resist the behavior of the diet. As a result of media stimulation, many women have the negative body image, eating disorders is an important message. Many women will be through overeating to obtain psychological satisfaction or through excessive diet to achieve the purpose of rapid weight loss, but these are not a good choice. They violate the body’s normal dietary needs and will have great damage to the health of their bodies. Greenberg’s study found that, in the television media, the women characterized of obesity are always linked to negative personality traits (Greenberg, 2003). Therefore, the media is the “thin culture” the most favorable communicator, but also the key to causing female eating disorders.
Women’s over-emphasis on their physical appearance is related to social culture and media. Since the social culture and media to the role of women belittle, cause the women’s appearance receive more scrutiny and judgment than men (Perloff 2014). The female body curve, the appearance, and age as the only measure of women’s value scale. The media is often convincing women to doubt how they look making them produce low self-esteem. The female image more often only available as an ornamental object exists; their identity, independent personality, and ability to show are weakened and diminished. Women through the media guide to learn to judge the standard of “beauty or ugly”, and use this “standard” to measure their own and others, so they are often tend to fall into the low self-esteem. Especially for young people, who are more susceptible to external influences and more attention to what others think of them (Wright, 1989). However, under the influence of the media, they are often on their own cognitive errors, and then lead to their own requirements too high and self-loathing. So, the media have obvious effects on the women’s body image and causes female low self-esteem.
Nowadays, many women face psychological struggle because they are under too much pressure from the media.
Media created a large number of perfect female images; however, they are impossible to exist. This phenomenon tends to make women dissatisfied with their appearance, and more serious even lead to depression. “Experiments have demonstrated the detrimental effects media have on adolescent females’ body image” (Kerr, 2010). Researchers found that reading a magazine model is led to a decrease of women’s physical satisfaction and self-esteem, it revealing that women are susceptible to influences of the media and then leading to dissatisfaction and exclusion of themselves. Sinton and Birch also found that, “even in girls as young as eleven years of age, awareness of media messages are associated with higher body dissatisfaction scores” (Sinton and Birch, 2006). These studies have proved that the media for the female body image has a great negative impact; these destructive cultural effects affect women’s mental health and even lead to depression. In addition, from the statistics on media effects, it proves that “following the viewing of images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angrier than prior to viewing the images” (Rader Programs, 2014). Thus, the media have a great influence on the women’s body
image.
In conclusion, the media have an important influence on women’s body image, and women produce a negative body image by comparing themselves to the perfect image on the media. From the pro and con checklist about the issue of media create the perfect body image, it also shows media have great influence on people’s body image, whether good or bad. Through comprehensive study and analysis of their status to help people to develop a healthier media forms. This essay explored why the media has a great influence on the women’s body image because it causes female eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression. The media are an important channel for people to get information; it should be positive and healthy. The media should be through constraints and screening of their content and information, so as to promote the correct ideology and help women to develop a positive and healthy body image. Parents should also create the right environment for children to help them develop the right way of thinking and behavior, so that they have a positive body image and not vulnerable to outside interference. According to Ondina Nandine Hatvany, a “healthy body image means you are comfortable with the body you have. It does not mean you think your body is perfect, rather, that you accept it and commit to loving and caring for it.” Having a positive body image can make people feel comfortable and help achieve self-worth, so everyone should strive to develop a positive body image.