Below are listed some other great blogs that my classmates created. If you have time, definitely give them a glance!
https://mediaand.politics.blog This blog, presented by Saltanat Bekbanova, talks about how the recent uprising of media involvement has effected our society’s political opinion.
https://sexualizationofwomen.blogspot.com Tillabay Galiya’s blog discusses how women are presented to be a sexual object in the media and how these women are viewed as “ideal” by society.
https://daisymaynard.wordpress.com/This blog, created by Victoria Schuma, introduces the topic of support groups and how there is not much information about the different types that are available to our society.
https://igvsreality.blogspot.com/ Adela Liskova’s blog discusses how individuals on instagram might not look like they do in real life and how it can negatively effect other viewers.
https://disabilitiesimpact.home.blog/ This blog, created by Audrey Turner, talks about the misrepresentation of person’s with a disability in the media and how there needs to be more awareness.
In today’s day and age, society is
very influenced by the mass media we are exposed to everyday. Much of the media
that is displayed to our society is filled with unrealistic looking people that
are perceived to be ideal. Children grow up seeing these impractical people and
the positive responses they receive, and want to be more like them. But, a
recent marketing trend has increased the exposure of “real” looking people who
are all different shapes and sizes. With the growth of body positivity in mass
media, there could be less body shaming and a more positive body image outlook.
The current problem of negative
body image as a response from the media is because of the recognition that
society has on what the “ideal” person should look like. The media typically
shows women in a sexual nature. In the media most of the women we see are thin,
fit, and “sexy.” Whereas in reality, the average woman wears a size 10-14 dress
and these “ideal” women that the media shows us are a size 0-4 dresses (The
Media and Body Image, 2019). Only 5% of women have the
genetics to make it possible to look these “ideal” looking women (Media and
Body Image, 2016). Since many of these women are photoshopped and
airbrushed, it is an unreachable goal.
Women are not the only targets when
it comes to the ideal body. Men in the media are also mostly seen as “ideal” in
their sexual nature when they are tall, dark, and handsome with large muscles.
Most of men’s negative body image correlates with not just their appearance,
but also in terms of physical ability. It is often seen in mass media that the
strong tall man gets the success and the pretty woman. Therefore, men who do
not have these traits that are acknowledged to be attractive can have a
negative view on their body image.
The idea that a person should
strive to look like these unrealistic people in the media has many negative
effects on the viewers. According to the Park Nicollet Melrose Center, 53% of
13 year-old American females are dissatisfied with their bodies, and by the
time they reach 17, the number increases to 78% (Park Nicollet Melrose Center).
Media plays such an important role in this body-shaming trend. In 2010 the Girl
Scouts of America conducted an online survey resulting in 9 out of 10 girls
reporting that they feel pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny
(Gallivan, 2018). The result of negative body image includes mental illness,
unhealthy eating habits, and low self-esteem. Without confrontation, these
problems will continue to grow, and negative body image will be a larger
problem.
In recent years there has been more
of a movement towards positive body image in the media. These trends became
popular in 2017 with the 4.3 billion hashtags of #BodyPositive (Jia, 2017). Many
of this body positive medias include different races, genders, ages, and
physical state, therefore making all different sorts of people appealing to the
public eye. Media can become more body image friendly with more inclusion,
diversity, positivity, and acceptance from society. With more participation
from the media, this body positive trend can grow and become impactful to
society.
Both men and woman can have a
negative view on body image. These unrealistic people that the media exposes
our society to can lead to mental health issues and eating disorders. With more
body positivity in the media, less people will have the desire to look like
these altered people.
The article, Male Body Image Issues written by Ahmed Zambarakji, talks about how women are not the only ones effected by the “perfect body type” and men are just as objectified and manipulated in the media. The author goes into detail about the ideal and most popular representation of the man in the media.
“The images are, invariably, of white, middle class, heterosexual men and, in line with our patriarchal structure, there is — to my eyes — the threat of violence about the overly muscular body types that are often featured.”
Ahmed Zambarakji
The author also brings forward the statistics
and consequences that mass media have on body image of men and suggests the
need for a large change in the future.
Five Ads that Took Body-Shaming to a Whole New Level
The article, Five Ads that Took Body-Shaming to a Whole New Level written by Jake Hall, goes into detail about 5 awful advertisements that were somehow approved and released to the public to promote a product or service. Definitely worth the glance!
Media and Body Image
The article, Media and Body Image by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, answers important questions that woman might ask when they are dealing with mental health and body image. The information on this website give women honest answers about what a healthy diet is, defining an eating disorder, and warning signs for an unhealthy body image. It also gives links for resources for those who are dealing with mental health issues.
How Does Social Media Affect Your Body Image?
The article, How Does Social Media Affect Your Body Image?, talks about how lots of exposure on social media can pressure people to compare themselves to others. This article gives quotes from real students who have struggled with body image because of social media. Some quotes from the article have been posted below.
“It’s only the ‘standard beauty’ who gets the ‘likes.’ I feel like to be the hot girl, you have to be like that, or wear your shirt too low and your skirt too high.”
Kirby, 18
“When I look at other people’s photo albums, the comparing is automatic. I end up feeling like crap. I went to Photoshop a picture of myself on Facebook. I was changing a lot of things, then I saw the picture and I stopped myself, thinking, ‘this is not who I am. I want to be who I am.’ “
Daniela, 17
“I know a ten year old girl who stopped eating after reading comments online that people had made about a picture of teen star Demi Lovato. Things like comments or tweets may seem simple, but they can really impact girls in a negative way by causing them to have unrealistic expectations about what thin is. I’ve seen that and experienced that.”
Negative portrayal of body image in the media
can lead to many mental health problems and health issues, such as an eating
disorder. The article, Body Image, Media,
and Eating Disorders written by Jennifer L. Derenne and Eugene V. Beresin
talk about the correlation between the exposure of mass media with obesity and
negative body image. The article explores the historical context of this
problem and advises for future change. As the authors look into the history of
body image, they point out the fact that body image changes with history,
making it almost impossible for many males and females to genetically reach the
ideal body of a particular society. The article concludes by asking parents to
limit their child’s exposure to media and promote a healthy lifestyle to their
child.
The research of mass media affecting a person’s body image has primary been focused on females. The academic article, The Impact of Media Exposure on Males’ Body Image, has attended to the effects of media exposure on male body image. The article explains the experiment of 158 male volunteers that half of them were exposed to televised advertisement of the ideal male body and the other half exposed to neutral advertisements. Results were based on the males’ attitudes, which showed those who watched the ads with the ideal body image had a significant increase in depression and muscle dissatisfaction compared to those who viewed the neutral ads. This experiment concluded that males are just as influenced by the media as females.
Citation: Daniel Agliata, Stacey Tantleff-Dunn (2004). The Impact of Media Exposure on Males’ Body Image. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 23, 1 Special Issue: Body Image and Eating Disorders: Influence of Media Images, pp. 7-22. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.23.1.7.26988
It is interesting to think
that many people put celebrities on a pedestal and see them as being happy and
confident because they are famous. But in reality, many of our favorite
celebrities deal with the same body shaming problems that the average person deals
with, just on a larger scale. Celebrities, who are constantly attacked on
social media by viewers, are fluctuating in weight for certain roles, and are
labeled by critics, also suffer with mental health issues and unhealthy habits.
Being an actor, singer, or model is their job, and just like in any career, you
must respect your employer and follow orders in order to keep your job and make
money.
It has not been until
recently that celebrities have started standing up for themselves and the
industry:
Richard Madden, Bodyguard star, speaks out about being told to lose weight for his role and how it “actually gets in the way of the job.” More Info
Ashley Graham, a model, has made a great impact on the fashion industry by promoting curvy women, and constantly deals with body shamming. She was constantly being told that she was “brave” for wearing a bikini in unedited advertisements. Her response was, “You can be sexy and feel good in your skin, no matter what size you are.” More Info
Lili Reinhart, the Riverdale Star, spoke out after social media critics claimed she was “too skinny” to have body image issues. She stated that, “Mental illness gets worse when people say that you don’t have a right to feel the way you do.” More Info
More insight from Riverdale actress, Lili Reinhart on body image and self love
This relates to the topic of body image
portrayal in the media for several reasons. One being that everyone, even
celebrities, are affected by the “ideal body” that media presents to society.
Another reason is that celebrities are aware of this issue and are beginning to
speak out against it, hopefully bringing attention the problem.
A current issue that is
important to mention are children being affected by the stress of body image. A
childhood is supposed to be a fun and carefree time for children, but recently
this does not seem to be the case. Children are the most influential when it
comes to their surroundings. According to a childcare charity survey, kids as
young as three can begin to worry about their appearance and weight. For
example, if a little girl sees her mom complaining about her weight or the way
she looks, the little girl might start to take these interests in herself. Therefore,
a carefree childhood would no longer be the case.
Kids are also influenced by the media around them, and can be quick to learn about these stressors, even if the media is not intended for children. An example of this would be children seeing clothing commercials on television targeted for teenagers, or seeing advertisements for different stores or gyms. It is nearly impossible to keep all exposure of media away from children. There are also problems in the child-targeted media. Most nice and friendly cartoon characters are good looking, in shape, and are seen to be intelligent, social, and successful whereas characters that are meant to be disliked or evil typically are not attractive, might have higher body weight, and have negative social behaviors. This could possibly connect the idea that being overweight or not attractive is equivalent to being bad in a child’s mind.
Children’s body image is an
important connection to my main topic of body image portrayal by the media,
because they affect one another. Whether a child develops these negative
stressors through their parent, tv shows, or other media, it is all based on
where negative body image started, which as we know, is the media. The ideal
body image according to society is not realistic and it is affecting children
perspectives on themselves.
The general population spends over 300 billion hours a year watching TV. 30% of the television we watch is advertising. This is not even including popular magazines, radio ads, and social media. Exposure to this media shows advertisements and images of what the media perceives to be the “ideal” looking male or female. Unfortunately, many of the images we as a society are exposed to are altered and photoshopped. Because media is so influential in our society today, these unrealistic body exposures can affect the media viewers in a negative way and can possibly cause mental health problems, eating disorders, and self-esteem issues.
I personally find this issue significant because it affects a range of different groups of people. As a person who has been affected by body image in the media, these false advertisements and unrealistic perceptions of what beauty is could lead to unhealthy lifestyles and problems with mental health. This blog has been created to create awareness to the negative effects that can occur due to false body representation in the media, and bring light to accurate and positive body image portrayal in the media.
