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Western Influence On Society

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Proponents of Western culture’s influence on society will often praise the new clothing styles and trends or innovative fashion designers. However, there is one social group that continues to be heavily impacted by the social constructs formulated among those in the Western society: women. More specifically, women have become extremely subject to upholding the absurd beauty standards set by modern society. With the implemented preconceived notion that beauty is derived from being tall, thin, and hourglassed shaped, women have resorted to unhealthy eating trends to compensate for their low self esteem. With the considerable amount of research conducted on how Western culture influences eating disorders upon young women, it was reported that …show more content…

The corset originated in Greece, becoming extremely popular in sixteenth-century Europe and spreading to the United States shortly after. This article of clothing was utilized to change the physical appearance of the bodies of women by shrinking the waist. The widespread use of corsets among the women in colonial America radiated the impression that a slim figure was equivalent to having more beauty. However, the singular benefit of a corset is highly outweighed by the disadvantages that is has. Corsets can cause shallow breathing, extreme bruising, pelvic fractures, acid reflux, mood swings, decreased core strength, fainting spells, and deformed organs (“Peer, Parent, and Media …show more content…

These images used to be limited to traditional mass media such as magazines, movies, and advertisements, which was consumed on a weekly or monthly basis. As history progressed, the presence of media in the daily lives of not only women, but also men, increased with the development of new technology. Now with the rise of social media, the average person engages with these types of images multiple times within one calendar day. The constant engagement with these images and the analysis of adolescents who absorb them suggest that there is a higher rate of body dissatisfaction (“Social Media Helps Fuel…”). Social media amplifies the obsession of having the ideal body; Psychological factors of disorders, like anorexia and bulimia, are common in women and are associated with unrealistic body images displayed on social media.Due to the growth of social media platforms, exhibiting only the typical model frame, the search for the ideal body increased tremendously. Rachel Simmons, a leadership development specialist at Smith College, honed in on how the history of body image has been affected by the introduction and daily use of social media platforms. She provides valid evidence that psychologists have found evidence that links social media usage to self-objectification in adolescents, dieting,

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