Is Body Image in the Media Unrealistic?

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Is Body Image in the Media Unrealistic? “In Hollywood, I’m obese. I’m considered a fat actress. I’m never going to starve myself for a part. I keep waiting for that one role to come along that scares me enough into dieting, and it just can’t happen. I’m invincible. I don’t want little girls to be like, ‘Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner.’ That’s something that I was really conscious of while training. I was trying to look fit and strong, not thin and underfed.” --Jennifer Lawrence The epigraph above is a quote from Jennifer Lawrence talking about body image in the media. Body image is highly affected by models, actresses, and actors. With the exception of Jennifer Lawrence and some others, most of these models are not good role models. There is an ongoing argument about how people in the spotlight affect women and men’s perception of themselves. Some individuals say that the images of beauty in the media do not affect how men, women, and children perceive themselves. However, there is research to suggest that the media’s image of beauty is absolutely unrealistic and could cause harm to men and women’s confidence. Eating disorders have become more common than ever before. Weight loss plans and dieting schemes have become a part of almost everyone’s lives. This is because magazine, television shows, and movies portray beauty as “thin and underfed” in the word of Jennifer Lawrence. The Global Foundation of Eating Disorders states the fact that “eating disorders affect more than three times as many people as Type 1 Diabetes and nearly as many people as asthma” and that “one in ten people will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives” (GFED 6). There are many causes for people having eating disorders. These reasons include but are not limited to, peer pressure, genetics, and social acceptance. Some women and men want to

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