Body Image and the Media

Body Image and the Media

Everyday while watching TV, reading magazines or even searching on the Internet, people is bombarded with several images that just show them the perfection in women and men. This popular perfection suggests that the ideal man is extremely muscular, tall and strong. On the other hand, the perfect women are unusually skinny, sophisticated and with body and facial features that are not a standard in the world. The media definitively should not transmit information or commercials in which the image of a person is defined by unusual characteristics because this kind of information can be very harmful for the society. Inappropriate diets and exercises, eating disorders, sudden change in mood and abuse of the use of anabolic steroids are some of the problems that the influence of the Media can lead.

The media is affecting perception of children by showing them body unusual characteristics and features that they can consider as ideal. A study about the influence of the Media on the body image of Children and Adolescents revealed that boys and girls show similar scores for the media influence to increase muscle size, in the case of boys or to look slimmer, in girls (Lawrie, 360). Children just start getting used to new things and forming thoughts about different topics, if they are not being well oriented, they can understand those things in wrong ways and adopt behaviors that are not proper or ideal for their age. Another research by McCabe and Ricciardelli revealed that "Girls were more likely to adopt strategies to lose weight and boys were more likely to adopt strategies to increase muscle mass" (qtd. in Lawrie 360). This can also be extremely dangerous because it implies that girls can start adopting erroneous ways to lose weight such as stop eating or doing exercises that are not ideal for their age, height and weight.

In the same way that the media affects the perception in children, it can also be harmful for teenagers and adults. Ashley Hutton says, "The average person sees 400- 600 advertisements every day in magazines and on television, which means that by the age of 17, we've seen around 250, 000 advertisements. One in every eleven has a message of beauty" (42). Another study, which used as a sample people with low, normal and high body max index (BMI) discovered that low and high BMI participants behavior changed when they saw a media image that was different to their owns. Participants with high BMI ate less, while participants with low BMI showed an increase in their self- esteem, but still show a motivation to become a heavy model (Smeesters, Mussweiler & Mandel, 945). People are daily bombarded by commercials and advertisements that just cause a feeling of discomfort and denial of their own body image. Unconsciously they start believing that their bodies are not good enough and that they need to follow a fictional stereotype that would make them look better and successful, no matter what kind of sacrifices it involves.

As a solution to get the longed perfection, some women find in anorexia nervosa an easy way to lose weight. Manley considers that "The media promotion of thinness as healthy and a sign of success is one of the potential antecedents of anorexia behavior" (qtd. in Curry & Ray 360). Anorexia nervosa affects the minds