Body image has always played a huge
role in society, whether being too overweight or too thin many young adults,
especially girls. This pressure comes from several sources. Parents, media,
advertisements, and even peers can affect the opinion and pressures felt. While
television and reality shows exploit women and teens in one light with airbrushing
and Photoshop, their truly is no perfect individual. Studies have been done
saying that overall the viewers would rather see the true beauty of an individual
rather than the airbrushed person we see in ever ad and publication.
I, too have felt the pressures of
society, I am by no means tall nor frail, nor am I meant to be, but the
advertising and the pressures extend into the stores where people shop,
clothing made so small, many have to wear two even three sizes up, only
increasing the self-confidence issues. Words like plus, big and tall, add to
the frustration by singling out those who may not be the “right” size.
Reality Television and “Pageant Moms”-
People magazine did a recent article
on the show Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC and it’s the way young girls are being
exposed to some aspects of life to early. While competition can be fun, some
parents take it to a whole new level. One mother stated, "If this were a
sport, no one would question it. This is her sport." The article also discusses
the extremities of what these young girls face including the standard of their
appearance which may lead to obsession with the way they look long before the
age of even being eligible for Miss America.
Psychologist, Dr. Martina Cartwright, said many young adults become
overwhelmed, "There are unrealistic expectations to be perfect. They
strive to be flawless, and they can take that too far." While viewers can
clearly see the standard at which these girls are held to some moms say they
are just trying to make their children happy and would do just about anything
for them.
Many know the infamous Thompson
family from Georgia. Their claim to fame is their daughter, Alana, known to
many as “Honey Boo-Boo”. Alana and her family now have a show about their lives
and it had many up in arms with their “redneck” antics, but Alana isn’t your
average beauty queen, she’s overweight, doesn’t run with elite, but her family
still dished out over $10,000 dollars a year to put her beauty pageants. Alana’s
Mother, June feels she is just trying to make her girls happy and would do
anything for them. While some mothers push their daughters to look a certain
way, June says, "I tell my girls all the time that I would still love them
if they were 1,000 lbs." While many may criticize the fact that Thompson
isn’t the healthiest mother and doesn’t always feed her kids right, she does
love them and makes sure they have everything they need even if it means she
and her husband will sacrifice in the process.
How media affects individuals and how to fight to it-
Outside of the pageant circuit the
pressures are the same, the models seem to look more and more slender each
year. The book The Media and Body Image:
If Looks Could Kill ignites the areas where media has tormented society
with its outrageous views of what perfection. Section 4 covers the change of
models and the effect it not only has on the adolescent people are viewing them
in the media, but the models themselves who are often adolescent and still
feeling the effect as well. Self-starvation and purging often throws models
into eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia, because while we who view
them aspire for the thinness, the models are just as harsh on themselves. Many
are told they are not thin enough and will stop eating all together in order to
conform. Often if they weren’t children they were forced to be the same size of
pre-pubescent girls.
Many therapists are dealing with
the aftermath of the body image issue and have come up with a program to assist
clients and patients to heal the wounds created by not only the media, but the
modeling agencies as well. It talks about the simple judgments we all make and
how they stem out to the media. Pondering on this subject, I realize how much I
judge based on appearance, attire, etc. and it all stems from what I view in
print and in media. Once the damage is done, it seems like second nature to all
of us. It isn’t just the media that may be at fault, but because we as
individual become as dependent on it as we live in the world of technology, we
are now too, brainwashed. The myth of what is beautiful and what is ugly, to
most “fat is ugly”, but why is that? It’s because we have been told to believe
that notion. Fat also may seem unhealthy and lazy, but not all individuals who
are “fat” are lazy or out of the shape, but because they aren’t stick thin, we
believe they are not adequate. But the media hasn’t always been this way, in
fact history repeats itself. “Each decade of the twentieth century had its own
representation of female attractiveness. Each promoted a new look—the
flat-chested, slender figure of the flapper style popularized during the 1920s;
the more curvy figure that emerged in the 1930s and 1940s, highlighted with Marilyn’s
hourglass figure in the 1950s; Twiggy’s stick figure in the 1960s; and, closer
to the end of the century, the emergence of the athletic shape of the 1980s and
the waif-thin appearance popularized in the 1990s. The twentieth century
evidenced a continued emphasis on physical attractiveness as being associated
with success.” If the twentieth century meant success, what will this century
have in store for us?
How to fight back against the media-
The British Psychological Society
is using technology to reach students and adolescents about body image. Using
the very tool that reach them in a negative light, helps them identify a positive
image that is engaging; the video used in the study that targets girls
confronts the images the media uses and bring to light effects of the exposure.
One of the main target advertisements they used was Dove, in fact Dove promotes
it Self-Esteem Fund, which was started in 2008 to promote real women, which the
company uses in its advertising. They have
also created a program called BodyTalk; a program that helps combats the ideal
look and increases literacy in media for adolescents. This program shows all
types of body image and promotes health rather than the artificial displays
often presented. This tool could prove to be very effective in fighting the
damage being done and could help tackle body dissatisfaction.
Could it be the perception of body
image could be based on the amount of exposure one has to media? Television and
magazine aren't’ the only two ways perception can affect individuals body
issues, now there are computers, video games, and music videos. With society
fighting childhood obesity, much of it linked to children’s extended use of
technology, it is clear that a recent study done concerning exposure may directly relating to the perception of
body image may be a huge reason why adolescents face the problems they do.
Maybe the blame isn’t on technology as much as it is the influences in a child
or young teen’s life; maybe their viewing should be limited or monitored. Either
way the media shouldn’t win the battle, parent or program the fight should be strong
against the media and its negative effects.
Conclusions-
The media’s effects are everywhere,
in the palm of your hand, in front of your face, or coming out of your car
stereo, and its images and words continuously affect the lives of young adults
and teens. Through research and studies, I can see the prevalence of a big
issue, that isn’t faced enough. The television industry continues to encourage
the use of perfection through plastic surgery, liposuction, and the false image
of how we “should” look. It’s important we fight this and set our own standard
for what is truly beautiful. Losing the judgments we all make and setting the
example for those who are affected the most truly is a win. As I enter a harsh
energy, I realize the difficulties I will face, but I will continue to fight
for the right to be truly who I am and not who society says I should be. We are
not to be clones, but to be individuals and it is my hope that we don’t allow
others to conform to this notion because without individuality we are nothing.
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