Society’s perception throughout history has put extremely unhealthy looking women in the media spotlight as the ideal image of beauty. “The desire to fit the cultural ideal of thinness drives many women to diet severely. In some vulnerable young women, this leads to bingeing and purging or self-starvation,” says Terence Wilson a psychologist at Rutgers University (Smolack). “The general public seems to have an unhealthy obsession with celebrities. The media is constantly bombarding us with images of celebrities with extremely thin bodies.
This really bothered me for many reasons. One of the biggest issues that I had with this program and major element of the photo business is the effect it has on young girls, especially girls aged 9-15. This is a very critical age for girls because, during this time, puberty happens. During this time, more girls will stop doing what they love because they are self-conscious about their bodies enough without the help of the fashion industry. It isn’t fair for a girl to open a magazine and think that the images they see are how they should look.
There are a number of women who have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia trying to look like Miss USA when really it just might not be their body type. Women who starve themselves and call themselves fat on a regular basis. Well they would have nothing to compare themselves to if we as a society weren’t constantly flashing slim women on TV or in magazines. I wonder if there was a Mr. America pageant if men would start to doubt their body types and conform to what is socially accepted for a mans body. All in all I was shocked when I read this and think it is very sad that on national television there is a body type this is accepted.
Most women these days would do anything to look pretty and attract the opposite sex. This story gives us the importance of body image to women and they get judged about it. Amber the “finger throated sickness one”. She gets teased because of her anorexic appearance. This is a mental illness common to the young woman.
The Toddlers and Tiara girls go through hours of make-up, to different hairstyles, and wearing big fake wigs. They get spray tans, and even fake teeth known as flippers. The girls look so ridiculous for their age and at what a cost. These parents are spending thousands of dollars just to teach their kids that beauty is on the outside. This sort of behavior is only setting children up for body image and mental health issues later down the road.
The slender, “beautiful” women are regarded as influential, successful, and erotic. This being said, it is very much so based on facts and reason, also known as logos, in the aspect that real life is often viewed this way. Throughout Elementary school up to High school, no one wanted to be best friends with “the fat kid”. As the world already knows, girls and women in general seem to stress over their physical appearance and have been especially concerned about weight for many years now. The emotional effect media has on a woman’s mindset, or ethos, could very well send her overboard into what is commonly known as an eating disorder.
Keske1 Drew Keske Mrs. Haaser P.1 2/28/12 Body Image Essay Most people like to keep up with the Jones' as far as body image goes. This is the outcome of the astounding media people see and hear every day. Many people wish to lose weight and look like models for the sake of “fitting in.” The media affects the minds of most nearly all teenagers and adults into feeling guilty about their bodies and do what ever it takes to have that waist-size, forcing them to the extremes of harsh dieting, starving themselves, or becoming anorexic or bulimic. This harsh media takes its toll on many teenagers, the most unstable period of a person's life. Teenagers feel guilty about their bodies due to the media, and how they see themselves.
The many celebrities like Miley Cyrus and magazines who all try to portray their idea of a woman, alter and distort their perception of womanhood. These girls wear overtly sexual and suggestive clothing and opening act promiscuously in their interactions, forced to go through extreme diets, wear large amounts of make-up and even modify their bodies through surgeries all due to the cumulative pressures of friends, family and their developed self-confidence issues to become this counterfeit ideal. These girls wear uncomfortable heels, constricting clothing and skimpy outfits to hyper sexualize themselves. This is what they believe it takes to become fun, sexy and a desirable woman in today’ society. They go out, drink, “grind” and “twerk” (different forms of highly sexual dancing), and hook up with random guys.
“The construction of gender stereotyping of both males and females in the media is based on outdated and unfounded beliefs and therefore has had and continues to have a detrimental impact on society.” (Yes!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUyfD1F7k1I Women are subjected to many stereotypes in today’s society. Movies and television shows suggest that all women are airheads, whose sole purpose in life is to please men and rear children. Magazines and other advertisements push photographs of very slender, over groomed and “sexy women” into our minds. Men’s magazines write articles on how to seduce a girl into sleeping with them.
A study published in the Journal of Communication found that high school girls as young as thirteen are affected by the media’s portrayal of ultra-thin models and celebrities. The article goes on to say if children grow up and see thin women in advertisements, on television, and in film, they accept this as reality despite evidence in the ‘real word’. This is called the cultivation theory. Ultra thin women depicted in the media are constantly influencing American female youth who are most prone to developing eating disorders as a result of repeated exposure to such images. This article is saying the reason for the increase in eating disorders is directly related to the