Media's Influence On Body Image Of Women

Introduction
All women come in different shapes and sizes. It has a lot to do with genetics and lifestyle habits. Media and Advertisement draws an unattainable image in a woman's mind of what they should look like in today's world. Everywhere you turn you see a thin beautiful women being the main focus in some advertisement. Media is painting an image for women that is causing them to take extreme measures in becoming what they believe is “beautiful”.

Research Question
How is the media influencing body image perceived through the woman's mind? What age group is it targeting the most? Is there any media or advertising trying to make a positive change?

Significance Statement
A woman should feel good about herself and body no matter what

It is how she feels about the way she looks whether is positive or negative. When a person has a positive body image they take charge in their life. They live healthier and more active lifestyles. They have a great self-esteem and self-worth. Which leads to a healthier attitude. Women that have a bad body image may struggle with their self-esteem. They focus on picking out their flaws and judge themselves harder than anyone else would. When a woman is dissatisfied with their body image they may form an unhealthy behavior. They could be destructive to their body by over exercising and limiting their body with the nutrition they need. Bad body image can cause serious mental illness like anorexia or bulimia. Why are women setting such high standards for themselves and creating too much pressure to have the “perfect” body? Media plays a huge role especially in younger woman’s image. Media sets unrealistic and unattainable body goals for women. What the women don’t see is all the photoshopping it takes to making the model look as perfect as they do (Healy,

Girls as early as the age of seven become overwhelmed with the pressure of obtaining a thin appearance. This information was provided by girls and young women with a variety of body sizes and race. The question that is constantly asked is why are girls so dissatisfied with their appearance. This study concludes that thinness in media is constantly rewarded. The actress that are beautiful and thin are more likely to be the main characters in television programs as well as have more air time. Over the years celebrities, models, and actress are becoming increasingly thinner. The media creates an illusion of the woman's body that is so unattainable leaving women despondent about their body image causing them to be desperate and willing to try anything to appear as media portrays them. The experiment that was conducted was to examine the correlation between women’s feelings of their body image after seeing various images of thin women through media. There was two subject groups. One group looked multiple pictures of beautiful thin models. The other group was the controlled group looking at pictures of common items like couches or tables. After both groups reviewed the photos they were then asked to complete an assessment with the focus being on body image. In result, the women that were