Body Image And The Media

Body image is defined as how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind. It encompasses what you believe about your own appearance, how you feel about your body, including height, shape, and weight (What is Body Image). Our bodies are what make us who we are. Every person on this earth has different unique physical traits that make them different from the next person. At the same time, everyone also has an opinion about what “the perfect body” is. Society as a whole and the media has shaped our thoughts on how we feel about our bodies. Images that are put out by the media whether it be on television, in magazines, on social media, etc. make people strive to become someone else’s so called idea of

Her waist is made smaller, features are either enlarged or made smaller, her skin is airbrushed to perfection or even lightened. Because our society is so exposed to the media its almost as if we have no choice but to be brainwashed by theses ads. Women are just constantly perceived as objects or sex symbols. It becomes hard for women and young girls to see the difference between what is real and what is fake. These companies have the intention of targeting these women and young girls and many of them don't realize that these models and celebrities in the media aren't flawless and the media just continues to deceive women with the use of photo editing. In many magazines and ads women, especially women of color are photoshopped to lighten the color of their skin. Colorism is something that is very apparent in the media and all over the world. It is the discrimination and principle that those with lighter fairer skin are treated with higher regard than those with darker skin. The media has consistently been accused of using photoshop to lighten darker skinned people in order to make them look more appealing. Lighter skin is looked at as the standard of beauty for many people all over the world. People from different countries all over the world are also affected by this western concept of beauty. As discussed in lecture many Asian women

Models that are shown in magazines and in ads are looked at as appealing to society as a whole. These models are usually very thin, have long hair, and perfect fair skin. Everyday women are suffering from the many effects that the media promotes on beauty and on body image. Such effects include and are not limited to dissatisfaction with their body image, low self esteem, depression, eating disorders and the list goes on. This is a major issue in todays society and it must be changed and it absolutely can be changed. The media can stop airbrushing, photoshopping, cropping and all that is they do and they can start featuring women of all shapes and sizes in these magazines and ads. The media needs to promote healthy lifestyles for women to be able to feel beautiful and feel good about themselves. Once they do so women will then be able to stop feeling so pressured and looked down upon when it comes to society and the