Media and Body Image Influence

Media and Body Image Influence

Rachael Dunkman


PSY 250-Developmental Psychology

Professor Conrad

December 8, 2014

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Abstract

This paper will look at different magazines and how they

affect the viewer’s about their own body images. The media has

given off an unnatural standard of what people should look like,

and people have become self-conscious because of that. This paper

will also look at two journal articles that analyze the

psychology aspect of how men and women are persuade by the media.

Also, the author will analyze her own life experience with eating

disorders and struggles with her relationship with food.

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What we look like matters. This is the message being

portrayed to both males and females across the nation. Our body

type will determine our worth and whether or not we will be found

attractive by someone else. The media portrays different body

images for males and females as the standard to live up to.

Everyone at some point in his or her life will worry about their

body weight and become self-conscious of if they will be able to

change it for the better. Society has been shaped around the idea

that the thinner or more muscular a woman or man is respectively,

the more likely they will be seen as attractive by others.

Magazines are more than just telling about the latest celebrity

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gossip, they also tell every one of all ages and shapes how to

look younger and more appealing. Each magazine has at least one

photo of a famous celebrity, and how they managed to be

successful in career and marriage, which the editors have turned

around and gave a message that shows how to be attractive.

Society has ruled out that personality and inward beauty have

nothing to do with making friends or being popular. What ever

happened to the saying, “it’s what’s on the inside that really

matters?” What magazines are not aware of is they’re giving off a

dangerous message, especially to young girls who might develop an

eating disorder to look like the Victoria Secret models, in order

to be as pretty as they are. Girls are more likely to develop

eating disorders, because society stresses a woman’s physical

appearance more than what they’re capable of doing and their

overall character. Males are no exception to the ideal body image

either; because they are told to build more muscle while girls

tend to focus on losing fat. Exposure to thin models can have a

very quick impact on someone’s view of their own body, compared

to seeing someone of a bigger body build. The media should take

advan-tage of the power they have over their audience’s body

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perception. Females are generally more critical of their bodies

than men are, and think more internally about themselves and how

they believe others see them. I have personally struggled with

dieting and let the world tell me what I should look like. I

struggled with food all throughout puberty and late adolescence,

and had a difficult time accepting myself for how God created me.

When looking at a variety of magazines, no one is safe from

the media’s ideal body image. Playboy, Victoria Secret, Teen and Seventeen

magazines tell young girls what they need to look like in order

to be popular in school and be attractive to men. From the man’s

perspect-ive, most of the models are blonde and the women

photographed are seen as sex objects. This is also why blonde

girls are seen as dumb, because they are photographed in very

explicit and inappropriate pictures that are appealing to the

males’ eyes. Women are already undervalued in society as it is,

and the popularity of Playboy doesn’t help the push for gender

equality. Playboy in particular tells adolescent and even young

adult girls that living a successful life in a large mansion

surrounded by many attractive men involves having well-developed

breasts and a very small waist. What young girls and men fail to

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realize is how fake the models actually are in terms of actual

appearance. The photos are not really of what the model looks

like, but a photo-shopped version of them with their name in the

caption. The only part of the model that might actually be in the

photo is her eyes, body, hair, or none at all. Photographers edit

different parts of other models and piece together one model that

doesn’t even exist. Editors will also edit the photo to make the

model look thinner and have a darker complexion than in reality.

Not only do girls strive to look like the models that they see in

magazines, but men also long to have a woman that looks like

that. Seventeen and Teen magazines target the other side to

appearance and that’s clothing and hairstyles. They want to give

off the message of showing off your great body with clothing and

jewelry. Not only are girls supposed to look a certain way, but

the fashion styles speak volumes in and of themselves. Clothing

is a non-verbal communication style that can tell everyone around

you what kind of day you’re having. Someone who goes to their

final exam dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie might have had a

long night of studying and just wants the semester to be over.

Someone else to comes to the same final dressed in a plaid shirt

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and jeans might come off as being more confident by his or her

peers going into the final. Magazines fail to recognize that the

brand named clothes celebrities wear might look great on them;

however, it’s also a recipe for disaster to break the bank. The

readers are told either to buy the most expensive brands or

suffer being looked down upon. Magazines are telling girls to

have a certain body type and dress a certain way if they want to

be liked by others. Girls are a lot more self-conscious of their

appearance, and are constantly comparing themselves to other

girls. The thinner they are, the more they will be liked. Girls

will start to believe they won’t be accepted and loved without

looking a certain way, and will most likely become bulimic or

anorexic. Eating disorders are more common in girls and will go

to extremes to be thin. No, the media is forcing girls to look

like the models, but editors are holding an unrealistic standard

of what women should look like. Not only can the media have the

power to tell girls how to look, it could also influence them to

buy things they really don’t need. There are other factors that

can play a part in girls having an eating disorder, but the media

is the most powerful and isn’t helping the cause at all by

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distorting what beauty should be. Girls need to let their natural

beauty and personalities show and not try to be something that

they’re not. The models in the magazines do not look like that

24/7, so girls should not be convinced that they have to either.

God created every girl uniquely and beautifully, each having her

own style to give to the world. Not only have the magazines found

their way to negatively impact girls’ body image, but so has

television programs.

The media cannot be avoided. Everywhere we go, the media has

surrounded us one way or another. Television programs also can

make female viewers feel worse about themselves in not very much

exposure time at all. According to studies and observations, “94%

of female characters in television programs are thinner than the

average American woman”(Yamamiya, Cash, Melynk, Posavac, 2005,

pp. 74). The message that producers are trying to get across here

is that thin people are more accepted and are loved more than

average or overweight people. Americans watch an unhealthy amount

of TV on an average day, so the exposure to thin and attractive

actors and actresses is high. Younger girls are at the highest

risk of media influencing their body image, as they strive to be

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just like the characters they see on TV. When Hannah Montana

first debuted on Disney Channel in 2005, no one expected how big of

a hit the show would become. Girls everywhere across the world

wanted to live like and look like the pop star. The actress that

plays the blonde character is a thin, Caucasian, young, and

attractive female, who lives an ordinary life but secretly was a

celebrity. Every young girl ages 6-12 thought she was the most

down-to-earth person to ever be on TV. In order to pull off being

a singing sen-sation, girls have to wear the blonde wig and wear

glittery outfits. Girls are always subcon-sciously comparing

themselves to older or more attractive women without thinking

it’s a legitimate problem that holds dangers down the road.

Again, this is another example that girls not only need to change

their physical appearance to have an attractive beach body like

the characters on TV, but also their clothing styles. As a

female, I will admit that we are very complicated beings.

Generally, girls are less pleased with their physical bodies than

men are (Yamamiya, 2005, pp. 79). If a girl is short, has curly

hair, blue eyes, naturally pale complexion, she will complain

about wanting to be taller, having straight hair, brown eyes, and

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naturally darker skin. Same goes for girls who are tall, have

brown hair, brown eyes; they will want to be shorter, have blue

eyes, and blonde hair. Bottom line, women cannot be satisfied.

Ladies, who are not comfortable in their own skin, are more

susceptible to developing an eating disorder: “body

dissatisfaction has been recognized as a precursor to dieting and

often precipitates dis-ordered eating” (Agliata, Dunn, 2004, pp.

7). What women fail to understand is that there will always be at

least one person who is thinner than they are, so comparison is a

slippery slope of disappointment. Men are defined by their

success as to whether or not they have a respectable career,

while women are deemed as valuable based on their marital status,

which is seen as only achievable through diet and exercise.. Thin

girls want to become thinner if they are single, in hopes of

finding a special someone who will cherish them forever. Instead

of feeding the horrible body image monster, the media can destroy

it once and for all by using realistic models of what women truly

look like: “the media could use average-sized models instead of

thin ones, as the former may be equally effective in ads without

adversely affecting the body image of women with high

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internalization”(Yamamiay, 2205, pp. 79). Instead of giving off

the message that thinner is better and making body image a

competition, the media should focus on using more realistic

models. While women are used to comparing themselves to thinner

models, men focus on getting bigger in muscles.

Women are not the only ones, who are affected by the media

men can be too. With men, their standard is to have bulkier

muscles while being lean, not necessarily a small waist like

women. The male models in magazines hold an unrealistic view of

what the male body should look like, as opposed to the average,

healthy male figure. Women’s magazines only tell of why to look a

certain way, while the men’s magazines actually tell you how to

succeed: “there were significantly more exercise and weight-

lifting advertisements in male magazines”(Agliata, 2004, pp. 8).

The message being presented is that the more muscle a man has,

the more women will be attracted to him. While this can be a

positive promotion for living healthier, the dangers are the

models being too revealing in their photo-shoot that can give off

the wrong kind of message to the audience. Just like men enjoy

seeing pictures of half or fully nude women in Playboy maga-zine,

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it’s not uncommon for the tables to be turned. The media wants as

many subscribers as possible, so it’s no surprise that nude men

can also make an appearance in women’s magazines: “many of the

sexist advertisements also depicted males as sex objects”

(Algiata, 2004, pp. 10). The dangerous side is showing that men

are nothing more than eye candy; therefore, any attract-ive man

doesn’t have anything more valuable to offer the world except for

sexual intercourse. Although women are most likely to be used by

the media for modeling, no one is truly safe from it. Men are

more likely to have gym memberships and spend most of their time

lifting weights, while women prefer to run or do more cardio

exercise. What women don’t realize is that lifting weights will

not make them bulkier, but rather leaner in body shape. Muscle

doesn’t take up as nearly as much mass as fat does.

The media has made a bigger monster of body image than they

realize. I have watched what I ate multiple times when I was

younger, mostly so I could stay thin. I remember seeing a Jennie

Craig commercial and asking my mom if I was as thin as the women

on TV. I told her that I wanted to stay thin, because people

seemed to be happier and more liked if they were. I naturally

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have a fast metabolism, but that was mostly because I was so

active in sports. After taking a break from sports, I became very

paranoid of gaining weight and becoming fat. I started counting

my calories when my friends from high school would comment on how

much I ate and how healthy they were eating. To say I was upset

during this phase is an understatement, I was absolutely

miserable when dieting, but I couldn’t get myself to stop;

because I felt like I just had to do it for my own sake. There

were some days I would eat as little as I possibly could and

still manage to be thin. There were a couple of instances where I

would either get sick or pass out for that reason, only digging

myself into a deeper hole. I do want to maintain a healthy

lifestyle by staying in shape of have lean, toned muscles; but I

never want to go back to how I was. Because I’m an athlete,

people tell me all the time it doesn’t matter what I eat, because

my fast metabo-lism will burn it off anyway; however, whatever I

put into my body is what I’m going to get out of it. I want to

care good care of my body, which is a temple of the Holy Ghost

and not be con-suming empty calories, carbs, sugars, and

saturated fats that will only make my body feel worse. During my

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unhealthy dieting phase, I developed a love for running and got

quite good at it. I was scared of lifting weights, for the same

reason a lot of women are, out of fear of becoming bulky like the

women in fitness magazines. Running became my escape from life’s

struggles and I loved every minute that I was able to do it;

however, I was literally running my body into the grave. I

refused to take any days off from exercising and only wanted to

get faster. Dieting was a lot harder than I thought it was going

to be. I had to carefully read every label of every food I ate.

It did become quite annoying and there were some days I gave up

counting; because I got too annoyed with it and saw it as a waste

of time. On those days, I only felt guilty for not sticking to my

counting plan, so again I put myself in a very deep hole that I

couldn’t get out of.

What’s on the outside is all that matters. How a person

looks and dresses is an indicator of whether or not the person is

attractive. The media has come up with an unrealistic standard

that everyone should compare himself or herself to. Magazines

have depicted men and women as sexual objects to be lusted for,

or long to be just like. Playboy magazine targets the male audi-

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ence to view women as inferior and gives men the unnatural

standard of what beauty is and what to look for in a significant

other. Seventeen, Victoria Secret, and Teen magazines do have female

models as well, but the message is targeted at women of what they

should look like if they want to be loved. Women are exposed to

negative images more than men are, but that doesn’t mean men

aren’t capable of being targeted either. Teenage girls are more

vulnerable to the latest fash-ion trends, and the media has taken

full advantage of that. They look for the most innocent and down-

to-earth celebrities that young girls will want to grow up to be,

and give them more atten-tion than necessary. The publicity that

the media gives to celebrities can make them go off the deep end.

Miley Cyrus, for example, was bound to always stay true to

herself, and not fall into the temptations of wild parties like

her movie star peers. Too much attention for Miley encour-aged

her become no one else saw coming. Girls everywhere wanted to be

just like Miley for her normal personality, but not so much

anymore. The more girls are exposed to the distorted body images,

the higher the likelihood they will develop an eating disorder.

Men and women both are unaware that the images they’re seeing and

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longing for aren’t realistic in the slightest. The images are

photo-shopped to look very attractive when in reality, not a

single person looks like how the final images turn out. Men

aren’t able to hide from the media either, as they are told that

the higher muscle volume equals higher attractiveness. The

media’s ideal body image has also found its way into TV

programming, where typically people spend most of their free

time. The majority of TV characters are thinner than the average

Joe, thus body shapes will determine someone’s level of success.

Dieting has never and will never be a fun experience for me, and

I don’t recommend anyone else to try it. I wanted to compete

against Hollywood stars and stay thin, but I had a friend in high

school that beat me in that competition everyday. She could eat

whatever she wanted and stay freakishly thin. She liked to brag

about her small figure, which actually wasn’t very beneficial for

her overall health because she was extremely thin. I looked to

running as my means of not only getting out stress, but also

staying thin and keeping my metabo-lism high. I do recommend

eating healthier and staying in shape for everyone, but only if

it’s to make a better you and not to be for anyone else’s

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approval. In my opinion, watching how many calories you consume

in a day is rather pointless. The best way to have great results

that last and feeling great about your body is sticking with the

food pyramid, focusing more on getting stronger muscles rather

than just losing fat, and getting enough sleep. The only one to

compete against for a better you is you.

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ReferencesAgliata, D., Dunn, S. T.(2004). The impact of media exposure on

males’ body image. Journal of Social and Clinical

Psychology. 23(1), 7-22.

Yamamiya, Y., Cash, T. F., Melynk, S. E., Posavac, H. D.,

Posavac, S. S.(2005). Women’s exposure to thin-and-beautiful

media images: body image effects of media-ideal

internalization and impact-reduction interventions. Body

Image, 1 (2), 74-80.

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Body image I do not have a very healthy relationship with food. I like

to avoid desserts like the plague, and would much rather

stick with healthier options that I know will be better for

me in the long run. If I do have sweets during the holidays

especially, I will feel incredibly guilty and sluggish for a

few days afterwards.

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I respect my body to a certain degree, but not as much as I

should. I take care of myself fairly well and don’t eat much

junk food at all, but I don’t always supply it with the

proper nutrients it needs to function well.

Body Perception Questionnaire Answer each of the following questions regarding your

perceptions of your current body.

1. What is the strongest part of your body?a. My legs

2. What is the weakest part?a. My arms

3. What is the oldest part?a. My brain

4. What is the youngest part?a. abdomen

5. What do you consider the most attractive part of yourbody?

a. My smile

6. What is the least attractive?a. My eyes

7. Where does your body have the most warmth?a. My thighs

8. Where is your body coldest?

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a. My feet

9. What is the most vulnerable part of your body—the placemost quickly or easily hurt?

a. My shins

10. What is the smoothest part of your body?a. My hair

11. What is the roughest part?a. My feet

12. What is the hardest part?a. My hips

13. Where do you carry tensions in your body?a. My shoulders

14. What part of your body do you most want to change?a. My core

15. What do you least want to change?a. My hair

16. What part of your body are you ashamed of?a. My tummy

17. What part of your body do you feel most proud of?a. My smile

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