Altering Women's Body Image Research Paper
Brianca Wright
Social Psychology
Word count: 4000
An Examination of the Negative Effect of Altering Women’s Bodies in Advertising on Adolescent Female’s Body Image
Research Question: To what extent has altering women’s bodies in advertisement impacted female adolescents to have a negative perception of their own body image?
Abstract
Altering women’s bodies using advanced technological editing software is a common marketing practice within today’s advertising companies. Practices such as photoshopping allow advertisers the technological means to alter women’s bodies making them appear flawlessly beautiful. As this practice becomes widespread, this phenomenon raises the question of how …show more content…
“If those bodies are real and that’s possible, but you can’t attain it, how can you not feel bad about your own body?” (“Body Image”). Body image is defined as one’s perception of their body. Influential factors that influence a person’s body image are their perception, emotions, and physical sensations which fluctuate according to their mood, physical experience, and environment. Adolescent’s body image can be highly dynamic because they experience so many physical changes during puberty. Body image is more influenced by self-esteem and self-evaluation than the judgment of others. “It can, however, be powerfully influenced and affected by cultural messages and societal standards of appearance and attractiveness” (Croll). Studies at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found 70% of college women feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines. One of the severe results of feeling negatively about your own body can be the development of an eating disorder. Sixty-five percent of women in the United States suffer from an eating disorder ("65% of Women in U.S. Have Eating Disorders."). Ninety-five percent of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. Fifty percent of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight and 80% of 13-year-olds have …show more content…
The media influences how we perceive our bodies by restricting the definition of beauty. Mass media is the most influential source of social learning through visual and verbal models that show how people perform behaviors. According to the 1997 Body Image Survey, 43% of women reported that ‘‘very thin or muscular models’’ make them feel insecure about their weight. This was true for 28% of men. Just under half of women, 48%, indicated that very thin models made them want to lose weight to look like them. Recent studies found that it is not the number of times of exposure to media images but the accumulation of years of exposure (Sheldon,
Social Psychology
Word count: 4000
An Examination of the Negative Effect of Altering Women’s Bodies in Advertising on Adolescent Female’s Body Image
Research Question: To what extent has altering women’s bodies in advertisement impacted female adolescents to have a negative perception of their own body image?
Abstract
Altering women’s bodies using advanced technological editing software is a common marketing practice within today’s advertising companies. Practices such as photoshopping allow advertisers the technological means to alter women’s bodies making them appear flawlessly beautiful. As this practice becomes widespread, this phenomenon raises the question of how …show more content…
“If those bodies are real and that’s possible, but you can’t attain it, how can you not feel bad about your own body?” (“Body Image”). Body image is defined as one’s perception of their body. Influential factors that influence a person’s body image are their perception, emotions, and physical sensations which fluctuate according to their mood, physical experience, and environment. Adolescent’s body image can be highly dynamic because they experience so many physical changes during puberty. Body image is more influenced by self-esteem and self-evaluation than the judgment of others. “It can, however, be powerfully influenced and affected by cultural messages and societal standards of appearance and attractiveness” (Croll). Studies at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found 70% of college women feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines. One of the severe results of feeling negatively about your own body can be the development of an eating disorder. Sixty-five percent of women in the United States suffer from an eating disorder ("65% of Women in U.S. Have Eating Disorders."). Ninety-five percent of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. Fifty percent of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight and 80% of 13-year-olds have …show more content…
The media influences how we perceive our bodies by restricting the definition of beauty. Mass media is the most influential source of social learning through visual and verbal models that show how people perform behaviors. According to the 1997 Body Image Survey, 43% of women reported that ‘‘very thin or muscular models’’ make them feel insecure about their weight. This was true for 28% of men. Just under half of women, 48%, indicated that very thin models made them want to lose weight to look like them. Recent studies found that it is not the number of times of exposure to media images but the accumulation of years of exposure (Sheldon,