Society's Body Image Ideals

Society’s Body Image Ideals, Media, and its Effect on Women

There is a saying that beauty is only skin-deep; this skin must be very deep because beauty seems to affect every woman’s life. Why is that men are judged by what they do, what they drive, possess, etc, while women are judged by how they look? We live in a cruel, cold world, where a woman is not a complete package if she does not meet the society’s standard of beauty. For a man, their mind matters, where for a woman, the outer matters so much more. This, unfortunately, is the superficial world we live in. Women have become slaves to this ideal beauty, and it has affected women negatively physically and emotionally. The truth is, the more beautiful a woman a regarded, the better
chances there are for a woman to become successful. The world regards beauty morally suspect and ugliness with gritty allure. However, trying to meet society’s standards of beauty is unrealistic and dangerous.
Advertisers and businessmen help the world to define what is considered beautiful. The media channel desire and narrow our ideas of what is considered beautiful. A crowd-pleasing image becomes a symbol of beauty, and it is then followed by imitators after imitators. These beauty standards set by the society and media, are unattainable by most women.
“If everyone were cast in the same mold, there would be no such thing as beauty.” – Charles Darwin
Throughout human history, women have scarred, painted, pierced, padded, stiffened, plucked, bound tight, and buffed their bodies in the name of beauty (Etcoff 5).
Women have sacrificed comfort, health, time, and money in pursuit of meeting the ideal image, and it is continues on to this day. An extreme example is feet binding of Chinese women in the name of beauty in the early history.
Chinese foot binding is an ancient tradition of beauty and torture, passed from mother to daughter, generation to generation, that lasted for almost 1,000 years. Foot binding was seen as a sign of beauty and attractiveness. Once a girl was of marriageable age, prospective mother-in-laws would come around and pick a wife for her son by the appearance of the girl 's feet. Foot binding was the act of wrapping a three- to five-year old girl 's feet with binding so as to bend the toes under, break the bones and force the back of the foot together. The bound foot was also a symbol of identity and virtue. A bound foot signified that a woman had achieved womanhood, and served as a mark of her gendered identity (Mao). The fact that many young girls had to endure this pain to be considered attractive is horrendous, but even more shocking is the fact that their parents enforced it. Perhaps the parents thought t they were preparing their daughters for a better future with the tiny feet, so that their
daughters would be able to become “marriageable” to a “good husband”.
Aside from all the pain, foot binding also left the girl prone to infection, gangrene, and severe joint problems. Approximately ten percent of all girls subjected to the procedure died from infection ("Small Feet of the Chinese Females"). However, it is saddening when it comes down to it, women are the ones who have to go through this pain to be physically attractive. Men did not have to conform to anything as drastic as this practice. Nothing was mentioned regarding the women’s intelligence, personality, or talent. The small, bound feet spoke for everything considered beautiful during that time.
The evidence that women still strive to appear beautiful and meet the society’s standards of beauty is proven by the sales of make-up in the make-up industry. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow (Etcoff). Attaining the beauty ideal requires a lot of money. Expensive cosmetics and appliances (e.g., makeup, moisturizers, and hair dyes and straighteners) are among the most popular and are thought to be the most effective. Beauty is also very time consuming. We joke about how long it takes for women to get ready, but the reality is that many women take the time to appear as beautiful as they possibly can.
The pursuit to reach the beauty ideal has reached epic proportions, and this is a sign of a diseased culture.
It is a cry for help, yet the society keeps this going by the media and social support. The influence of the U.S. media is perhaps the most prevalent agent that negatively affects body image. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, approximately 10 million people today suffer from some form of an eating disorder; eating disorders are most common among women. Eating disorders are not just a “fad” or a “phase.” People do not just “catch” an eating disorder for a period of time. They are real, complex, and devastating conditions that can have serious consequences for health, productivity, and relationships. Unlike other self-destructive behaviors, eating disorders are especially unique. Humans by nature have to eat to survive, but for women and men with eating disorders, it is more than practicing "moderation”. The conditions of an eating disorder are very complex, and for many individuals, recovery is literally a matter of life and death. Various types of eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating, where people feel like they have to control their intake, purge what they consumed in fear of gaining weight, and obsess over their
weight.
Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Symptoms include: refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for height, body type, age, and activity level, Intense fear of weight gain or being “fat”, Feeling “fat” or overweight despite dramatic weight loss, loss of menstrual periods, and Extreme concern with body weight and shape (National Eating Disorder Organization).
Another eating disorder prevalent in women is nervosa bulimia. It is characterized by a secretive cycle of binge eating followed by purging. Bulimia includes eating large amounts of food, more than most people would eat in one meal, in short periods of time, then getting rid of the food and calories through vomiting, laxative abuse, or over exercising. Symptoms include: Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging, feeling out of control during a binge and eating beyond the point of comfortable fullness, purging after a binge (by self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives, diet pills and/or diuretics, excessive exercise, or fasting), frequent dieting, and extreme concern with body weight and shape (National Eating Disorder Organization). With images of thin bodies all over the magazines, ads, and television, is easy to see why women would get obsessed with becoming thin. These ads promote that perhaps thin people are happier, more beautiful, and more successful. Women will go to extremes of risking their health to strive to reach their ideal body shape. They may reach that ideal weight or figure, but inside, they will still feel inadequate because their minds are affected negatively. They may find that even though they reached their ideal weight of body shape, they still have problems and underlying self-esteem issues that need to be addressed. Women mistakenly believe that once they have reached these ideals, they will reach happiness. This can lead to depression. They think, “Ok, I’m thin now. I have dieted, risked my health, but I’m still me. I’m a better version of myself.” Inside, they are still suffering.
Self-esteem and self-image are two very important aspects of a person’s life. Together they determine a great deal of one’s happiness. In fact, numerous research studies show a direct link in the self-esteem of women and unhealthy eating habits (Etcoff). While it is true that family and friends have an impact on self-esteem, the media’s effect is much worse. Most often the media impacts self esteem and self image in a negative way through various advertisements and its constant focus on thin, beautiful women. The media has the power to influence what people wear, what they eat, and where they shop. Although there is much debate over how much of an impact the media has, it plays a tremendous role in the decisions people make and how they perceive themselves.
Aspects of the media that affect people are: billboards, television, clothing sizes, actresses and actors, websites, cosmetic ads, magazines, and models. The media glamorizes the beautiful and thin people. The standards of beauty in the western culture have been raised, with an ever present push to be thin. This influence can be detrimental to the self-esteem and self-image of numerous Americans and people across the globe. In today’s perfectionist society, the average model weighs 23% less than the average woman (National Eating Disorder Association). Unrealistic standards such as these often cause eating disorders in women.
Many people have false ideas about weight. They think that if they are thin, they will be happier people, Standards such as these are not realistic and the comparisons made by studying fashion magazines or photos of celebrities cause feelings of inadequacy, which can lead to dieting and eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause very serious physical health problems. Anorexia or bulimia may cause dehydration and other medical complications like heart problems or kidney failure. In extreme cases, eating disorders can lead to severe malnutrition and even death. People with eating disorders need serious help in order to recover from the destructive cycle. They first need help psychologically (National Eating Disorder Association).
Is it worth being thin at the expense of health? Many people risk their health to strive to become something that is idealized by the media, but realistically unattainable by many. People may be of healthy weight and normal, but perceive themselves as subpar and not thin enough, and desperately long to be thinner and compromise their good health. The media has such a tremendous influence in people’s lives, and it is affecting people negatively with their unrealistic portrayals of thinness. "The media" has no face and no name, and it is easy to think that people are powerless to do anything about these issues.
In society, attractive people are deemed to be more intelligent, better adjusted, and more popular. This is described as the halo effect - due to the perfection associated with angels. Research shows attractive people also have more occupational success and more dating experience than their unattractive counterparts do (Lorenz). An explanation for attractive people achieving more in life is that we automatically categorize others before having an opportunity to evaluate their personalities, based on cultural stereotypes, which say attractive people must be intrinsically good, and ugly people must be inherently bad (Etcoff). For better or worse, the bottom line is that research shows beauty matters; it pervades society and affects how we choose who we want in our social circles. People considered attractive earn more salary and get more promotions than average looking people.
The ugly truth, according to economics professors Daniel Hamermesh of the University of Texas and Jeff Biddle of Michigan State University, is that plain people earn 5 percent to 10 percent less than people of average looks, who in turn earn 3 percent to 8 percent less than those deemed good-looking. (Lorenz)
Society keeps people striving for the ideal because of social reinforcement and support. It is human nature to be wanted and deemed beautiful. We women have become slaves to this ideal because we want acceptance and happiness. We associate meeting these perfection ideals with happiness. From a very young age, girls have grown up watching Disney movies, and all Disney movies’ Princesses seem to have similar physical characteristics. They are all deemed beautiful, with thin body frames, and exaggerated features such as a tiny waist, and super long legs in proportion to their bodies. This can lead to girls at an impressionable age that that is what they need to be in order to be considered beautiful and find happiness, perhaps attract a Prince Charming, because that is what Prince Charming like in women.
Beauty and the pursuit of beauty will always be present in our lives. It is a timeless issue that will always be there, and will continue to be present in the future. Beauty is so fleeting, yet it is amazing what women will do to achieve the ideals for a short time of their lives. It may help if society did not support the beauty ideals, but the social support for attempts to achieve the ideal image exists. Awareness of this issue may help women who become unhappy with their appearance. Raising awareness may be able to empower women who feel like they must try to fit the mold society has set for this diverse world. It would better if it celebrated the beauty of uniqueness in everyone, so that women can stop being enslaved to unattainable standards and focus on other things that truly matter in this world besides outer appearances.

Works Cited

Etcoff, Nancy L. Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Print.

Lorenz, Kate. "Do Pretty People Earn More?" CNN.com. Cable News Network, 11 July

2005. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

Mao, John. "Foot Binding: Beauty And Torture." Internet Journal Of Biological
Anthropology 1.2 (2007): 8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Nov. 2012.
"Small Feet Of The Chinese Females." Gender Issues And Sexuality: Essential Primary
Sources (n.d.): 6-10. Gale: Gale Virtual Reference Library (PowerSearch). Web.
24 Nov. 2012.

"Types of Eating Disorders." National Eating Disorders Association. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

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