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Negative Body Image

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“I've gone through stages where I hate my body so much that I won't even wear shorts and a bra in my house because if I pass a mirror, that's the end of my day.” ― Fiona Apple, American singer-songwriter Negative body image and self-loathing are no longer surprising in people of all ages, particularly adolescent girls. People may not be acquainted with the word but they sure know how it feels. We live in a world where the need to look flawless is higher than achieving a superior GPA. Everyone is fixated with the way they look. Family and peer pressure along with media lead to establishment of unrealistic expectations, which instigate body dissatisfaction. Young girls starve themselves to loose weight in order to look like their peers, …show more content…

There are several theories to support this claim. The Social Comparison Theory being one such theory. This theory states that comparisons with thin waif like models leads to lowering of self-esteem. This appraisal introduces the notion in their mind that to be considered striking or attractive, one needs to be thin. Society gravitates towards women with thin bodies. Women believe that weight loss is the solution to all their problems; regardless of how unrelated the issue is and that they are more likely to achieve social professional and personal success if they are thin as compared to women with healthier bodies. Therefore, in order to achieve the socially desirable body, women tend to take extreme measures such as dieting and …show more content…

Social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram provide a permanent platform for comparing one’s physical appearance with his or her peers. This often fosters body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. Teenagers desire to look a certain way based on how their friends look. They starve themselves to become thinner in order to meet the benchmarks set by the members of their social circles. Media via magazines and television often regulates these standards. These standards cause them to discuss different diets and ways to lose weight and make slimness seem desirable and

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According to a survey done by Jesse Fox, Ph.D., 80% of women feel bad about themselves just by looking in the mirror (Dreisbach). This has happened because of social media being changed to make girls feel like they need to have a certain body shape. Models and celebrities in magazines and media show unrealistic beauty and it contributes to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and much more (Seventeen magazine). Media has put lots of stress on women throughout history with changing body shapes. A survey done by Dove found results that 9 out of 10 women want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance.

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At age 17, 78% of american girls are “unhappy with their bodies”. Television, movies, magazines and the internet all show images of women that put pressures on what their bodies should look like. The media does this by portraying an impossible body image. Millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold. There is way too much pressure on girls today to have the “perfect” body.

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Social media has become an integral part of the daily lives of teenagers in the digital age. The vast majority of teenagers use social media, with Instagram being one of the most popular platforms among high school girls. Instagram is a photo and video-sharing platform that allows users to post images and videos of their lives. However, the platform also has a dark side that can negatively impact high school girls' body image and mental health. The issue of body image is of great concern for young people, particularly high school girls who are more vulnerable to negative self-image and low self-esteem.

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Given these points, the thin and muscular ideal being portrayed through the use of media constantly reminds individuals about how that is a standard that they should meet, leading them to have a negative body image. The idea of body dissatisfaction starts when individuals are very young in today 's society, and is supported by many around the world. Being so accessible to the media allows individuals to become more vulnerable to viewing images of celebrities that will affect them in a negative way and will have them wanting to change their appearance, even if that is not how those celebrities really look. Body discontentment has reached a whole new level to where the rate of eating disorders has increased. Individuals commonly compare their

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Face should be white and clean, no wrinkles, cannot have a little freckles, dark circles; even dyed hair, it must shiny satin, best hair waist; figure was waist long legs, from the ankle to the knee, arm from the wrist to be slender, so have abnormally thin body has a C cup.. They started to put much effort to keep their body image look good. Media also affect the view point of themselves. Women want to be thinnest. Overweight is seen as physically unattractive and it is negative.

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What molds a female’s view on her poor self-image and dissatisfaction of her own body is that of the lack of parental and peer support, poor dieting and also a negative attitude. Industries can influence a young girl’s view of body image. Think about how many little girls play with a Barbie doll. 90 percent of girls ages three to eleven own a Barbie (Cash & Pruzinsky). Not only does Barbie’s perfect figure and appearance contribute to weight and shape consciousness in young girls but also the fact that the primary reason for the toy is to change her clothes and to make Barbie look good (Cash & Pruzinsky).

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One of the most dangerous illnesses in the United States is an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. It is most commonly found in pre-teen and teenaged females. While peer pressure, bullying, or a need for control may influence the eating habits of a young woman, the major factor is the influence of the media. The media distorts how young women feel about their bodies and as a result, they turn to eating disorders in order to achieve their ideal body. The only way to halt the rising numbers of those with an eating disorder is to spread a positive message about body image.

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From an early age, we are exposed to the western culture of the “thin-ideal” and that looks matter (Shapiro 9). Images on modern television spend countless hours telling us to lose weight, be thin and beautiful. Often, television portrays the thin women as successful and powerful whereas the overweight characters are portrayed as “lazy” and the one with no friends (“The Media”). Furthermore, most images we see on the media are heavily edited and airbrushed

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In the early era, people who spot advertisements would agree that there were a great quantity of commercials and advertisements that promote pills to become thin, and that they also reinforce the idea that to be happy and successful we must be thin. The wrong concept, alerted young girls to create an image of what a perfect body looks like. Women are dying to have slim bodies, so they decide to go on a ‘strict diet’, in which they starve themselves for days. It seems like the media is trying to pressure women to obtain a perfect body. It is really upsetting how the media could influence up to 69% of girls, who have admitted that magazine models have had an influence on them (Magazine Models Impact Girls' Desire to Lose Weight, 1999).

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The article states “with adolescent females being more inclined than males to discuss appearance and weight loss concerns with peers … girls talked to friends about dieting”(Lawler, Nixon 60). This shows that the desire to lose weight is something very common among adolescent girls and it is something that is talked about causally. The desire to be built differently is something that is not even seen as normal without the thought of how damaging it truly is to adolescents' self-esteem. The article also states “Body image dissatisfaction is of growing importance owing to its implication as a risk factor in the subsequent onset of eating disorders (Stice et al. 2002), depression (McCreary and Sasse 2000), emotional distress” (Lawler, Nixon 59)” This shows that the a negative body image cause a great deal of emotional anguish, and has a very negative effect on one mental and emotional health.

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With the rise of mass media throughout the 20th century, the popular image of women in America has undergone a substantial change. From Marilyn Monroe to Kate Moss, the body shapes of the most admired models have remained consistently slimmer than that of the average American woman, representing a nearly impossible ideal. This has resulted in a severe rise in weight anxieties and negative body image among women and girls. Dissatisfaction with weight is nearly universal among women, while dieting is ubiquitous. This trend has likewise been reflected around the world wherever this media culture has become dominant.

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It has long been known that the social context in which we see others affects the way we perceive them. Studies on social comparison began as early as the 1930’s with Sherif’s pioneering research on the effects groups had on the development of one’s reality. In his 1936 study, Sherif designed a box that showed a pinprick of light. He then asked participants to report when they saw the light begin to move and how far they estimated it had moved from its beginning location. Unbeknownst to the participants, the light never actually moved.

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Men and women nowadays are starting to lose self-confidence in themselves and their body shape, which is negatively impacting the definition of how beauty and body shape are portrayed. “...97% of all women who had participated in a recent poll by Glamour magazine were self-deprecating about their body image at least once during their lives”(Lin 102). Studies have shown that women who occupy most of their time worrying about body image tend to have an eating disorder and distress which impairs the quality of life. Body image issues have recently started to become a problem in today’s society because of social media, magazines, and television.

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By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4“ and 140 pounds (Wolf, 1991). On top of that, less than 10% of female television characters are overweight or of average weight (Gonzalez-Lavin & Smolak, 1995; Heinberg, 1996). II. Various media sources such as fashion and fitness magazines, television, movies, music videos, advertising, and social networks promotes ‘thin

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So when people look and see that they don’t look like they’re favorite super-model it can put a downer on their self-confidence. This causes many girls feeling that they aren’t good enough in society, society won’t accept them because they aren’t perfect and they start to not like their body. When for many females they can’t lose as much weight as their friend can just because of their genes and how they were born. “The lack of connection between the real and ideal perception of their own body and firm willingness to modify their own body and shape so as to standardize them to social concept of thinness…” (Dixit 1), being focused on unrealistic expectations can cause women to lose themselves and change their attitude on how they view their body, and not for the better.

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