Introduction 1.1 Background. Body image is an intellectual or idealized image of what one's body is or what one’s body should be like. A lot of women suffer from body image difficulties that are related to their self-image and self-esteem because of the pressures they are subjected to by the society, by their peers, by the media, by how they engage with each other in the community, and by the expectations of what a perfect body is and what it means to be beautiful. This essay is aimed at elaborating the initial origins behind the body image issue which many women may be subject to or might have, the effects that body image issues have on women and the extreme lengths to which women would venture out to in order to obtain the socially accepted …show more content…
Body image issues stem from the need that some women have to be accepted within the society, their struggles with acceptance may lead to them having distorted body images where even if psychologists give them information to counter their image they are unable to embrace themselves. This may result in the women doing things that compromise their health and in extreme conditions it may lead to death. The signs that a women with a negative self/body image may display are avoiding social situations due to their appearance, always wearing heavy makeup, believing that they would be happier with themselves if they change the way they look and believing that the way she looks prevents her from doing certain activities. These ideas thus increases the women’s body image anxiety especially around people who are unfamiliar to her or people who are said to be …show more content…
Western culture today glorify the idea of thin women and refer to such women as beautiful and perfect. Such body image ideals are the reason for the development of poor body images that young girls have between the ages of 10-18.Boys as young as 14 years old are being found to use anabolic steroids in an attempt to gain muscles. It is usually assumed that negative body image issues are present in girls and women only, but this is not the case. Men and boys suffer from negative body image issues too, but they are less likely to admit to being affected than girls and women are because it is socially unacceptable for men care about what they look like. A poor body image can cause eating disorders such as anorexia where the women or girl will prevent herself from gaining weight by severely reducing her intake of food, vomiting after every meal or substitute food intake by eating cotton wool. The binge-eating disorder occurs when the individual overeats in order to feel better about themselves or the situation in which they are in. Body image issues also result in depression, anxiety problems, and substance abuse problems. These effects may lead the girl or women to resort to cosmetic plastic surgery, which is said to be the best way to fix what a person believes to be wrong about their