Schuyler Boggs
Karen Morris
English 1102- XX
3 February 2011
Media’s Influence on Body Image
The media has an unyielding grip on its victims. With magazines, movies and most beauty advertisements, people are questioning their bodies. Others believe there is always room for improvement and that it is the media’s job to shame and direct people to care about their appearances. Exercise junkies and naturally thin people expect others to have the drive and motivation to be thin. Why would they choose to be fat or unattractive? With the current ideal body image that the media is presenting, women compare themselves to photo-shopped and airbrushed models. Not only is this presented “perfect woman” image detrimental to a woman’s confidence, it is becoming a problem for developing adolescents and men, too. SeedMagazine, an online magazine, states that," Modern life takes place amidst a never-ending barrage of flesh on screens, pages, and billboards. These images convey assumptions about what is desirable in our physical selves while dispensing with reality” (par 2). The media has taken “perfection” and contorted it into an unfeasible expectation and goal for viewers and consumers. According to the American research group, Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc, “One out of every four college-aged women [uses] unhealthy methods of weight control—including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting”( Beauty and Body Image in the Media, par 4). These statistics show how detrimental the media can be and that its negative effects are extensive. The media is responsible for exuding unattainable beauty and body standards which jeopardizes the mental and physical health of women, adolescents, and men.
With beauty ads in every woman-targeted magazine, from Allure to Better Homes, dieting and beauty secrets lurk on every page. Images of size zero women with their flawless skin and hair haunt all women, from hardworking housewives to developing teenagers. With an unyielding standard for what is considered beautiful, be it young and perfect or thin and bronzed, some women can never realistically compare. So, magazines thrust products that will make cellulite disappear, stretch marks vanish, hair shine, and skin look twenty years younger. What are women to do? Not only do these images that the media present trouble women mentally, it can also harm their physical wellbeing. Since the body images that are illustrated are typically painfully thin, women starve themselves, induce vomiting, or begin smoking cigarettes to control their weight. Not only do these methods trigger other health complications, they are fleeting because the human body can only take the stress of these approaches for so long. Women also engage in various plastic surgeries, like breast augmentation and liposculpture suction lipectomy. These surgical procedures reek with health complications and harsh labels stamped by society. However, famous exercise instructors, like Richard Simmons, claim to care about their viewers’ health. On his official website, he declares his loyalty and devotion to his fans. Do people like him really care about the viewers or the money that they bring in? It’s wrong and immoral to play on people’s weaknesses by showing them false compassion.
Research has shown that the pressure to be thin can start at outrageously young ages. Adolescents are exposed to media’s damaging affects, too. Toys, movies, and clothing lines are targeting children, encouraging them to act and look like teenagers and adults. Epigee, a website dedicated to women’s health, studied the effects of a popular toy among young girls. “The Barbie Effect,” is based on the study of juvenile girls who are exposed to Barbie dolls, and then asked their opinion on ideal body shapes. After viewing Barbie dolls and Barbie pictures, the children stated that slimmer was ultimately better (The Barbie Effect, par 3). Children’s movies also depict unrealistic and mature body images for children. The Disney movie, Cinderella, shows a beautiful young woman with an unrealistic waistline. Actresses, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, who appear in popular children shows, are exceptionally thin and dress maturely for their ages and for the young girls who regularly watch their shows. Preteen clothing stores, like Abercrombie, advertise scantily clad young girls and boys, with low necklines and short shorts, similar to the adult store, Abercrombie and Fitch. Amid all of these impressive standards, how are the average adolescents supposed to dress and act?
The media is also having its toll on men’s ideal body images. Affirmed by SeedMagazine, “Every bit as unattainable as Barbie-doll proportions and the heroin chic look are the broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, fat-free, and muscle-sheathed male physiques littering today’s media ”(The Media Assault on Male Body Image, par 2). From the latest exercise supplement ads to the newest action movie, the media bursts with perfect, sweat resistant, hairless, and odorless men. Not only do these images cause men to be self-conscious of their lacking bodies, it raises female expectations of what men should be. Not only are men becoming conscious of their overall physical size, they are beginning to obsess over facial hair thickness and the smell of their own sweat. The media is taunting men with unrealistic goals and expectations. This leads men to partake in steroid abuse and extreme solutions to thicken facial hair or painfully wax body hair, which can all be damaging to men’s health.
Ultimately, the media is responsible for the negative effects that is conveys to its readers. When perfect and unattainable bodies are thrust into the world, viewers can only be expected to aspire to be flawless. The media uses its influence to sale beauty products that promise miracles for women, exercise supplements that guarantee men the perfect physique, and to promote merchandise that will make children appear more mature, allowing them to obtain a glamorous life similar to their role models. Not only is the media compromising the health of its audience, it degrades peoples sense of self-worth and destroys hard-earned confidence. In a world where bodies are as unique as the personalities that they contain, individualism should be celebrated, not squandered. The media should not be permitted to demean “any body,” whether it be short, tall, plus-size or petite. The media should not be allowed to disgrace people into altering themselves to fit a certain ideal image.
"Beauty and Body Image in the Media." The Media Awareness Network, n.d. Web. 18 Jan 2011.
Simmons, Richard. "Welcome From Richard." RichardSimmons.com n. pag. Web. 10 Feb 2011.
"The Barbie Effect." Eating Disorders. Epigee, n.d. Web. 4 Feb 2011
"The Media Assault on Male Body Image." SEED. Seed Magazine, 15 Sep 2006. Web. 4 Feb 2011.
Schuyler Boggs
Karen Morris
ENGL 1102- XX
16 February 2011
Process Reflection Essay
When I began writing the first draft of my essay, there were so many things that I wanted to write. My thoughts were jumbled and I didn’t know where to begin. My issue, the media, is something that I have grown very passionate about since I began writing my weekly “wikis.” As I continued researching my topic, it became apparent of the severity of this issue. Since I had to research my topic deeply, I learned many of the reasons why the media uses its influence to persuade people and how the media manages to be successful at changing onlooker’s opinions. While researching, I discovered that the media can have a very strong pull on its viewers’ ideas and beliefs. The media can change your opinion about anything. It can sway a person’s belief in religion, the way a person views their body, and even the way someone feels about another person. While researching my topic, “Body Image in the Media,” I learned that the media uses imagery to persuade viewers into believing what is ideal and not ideal. Beauty advertisements use thin, flawless women to support their cosmetics. They undermine women into believing that they are not good enough without the company’s products. The media advertises products, such as protein powders, to encourage men to take them. Media advertisements also use images of burly body-builders in their advertisements to emasculate average healthy men. I had so many examples of the cruelties that the media subjects its viewers to, but how to express them in an organized yet compelling way? So, I just began writing. My final thesis was, “The media is responsible for exuding unattainable beauty and body standards which jeopardizes the mental and physical health of women, adolescents, and men.” However, at first my essay only included women. Then I began to write about how adolescent girls are negatively affected by seemingly innocent objects, like the Barbie doll. Still, I came across an article about how men’s body images are affected by the media. Soon all of these factions merged together to form this thesis, “The media is responsible for exuding unattainable beauty and body standards which jeopardizes the health of women, adolescents, and men.” Yet, I then began to notice that many of the effects that the media has on the distinguished groups had both consequences for the physical and the mental wellbeing of media viewers. As I kept writing, my ideas seemed to flow together harmoniously. Then I had to write the paragraph about men. How am I supposed to deeply explore the topic of how men’s body images are affected by the media? I do not have any personal insight. Therefore, I had to search through the article and truly digest and try to relate to how men must feel about their “flaws.” It turned out to not be much different than women’s “flaws,” surprisingly, so linking men into my essay turned out to be much simpler than I thought it would be.
In my opinion, the best feature of my writing is its “story-like” feel. I try to compose essays that are easy and enjoyable to read and I believe that I do this really well. However, I do need to tone down my “flowery” language and start providing more facts and evidence to support my claim. I also feel that I tend to use the same vocabulary throughout my writing, which slightly degrades the amusement I seek to provide my audience with. Overall, I believe my writing to be very persuasive and interesting. I consider my writing style to be unique and informative, without being monotonous.
