Images of Beauty
Psych. 10
February 12th 2014
Images of Beauty:
Every day, men and women are taken captive by the lies that our media portrays. Through magazines, movies and billboards, the media promotes images of so called beauty. In today’s society, this promotion has extremely harmful effects, to both men and women. These lies are detrimental, not only physically but also psychologically. The conveyed messages have led to numerous reports of eating disorders, distorted body images, lowered self-esteem, obsessiveness over physical appearance, body dissatisfaction and the list goes on. Although women are most commonly targeted by the media, men have been increasingly affected over the past few years as well. Many may state that this harm by the media is not intentional; however the standards they have set are unrealistic. In sum, these images of beauty are so harmful for our society. Both men and women are being affected by these messages the media has portrayed. These harmful images of beauty can affect all gender and ages. Children are being manipulated by what the standards are to be beautiful. For example, think of all the Barbie’s and GI Joes with their unrealistically toned bodies or perfect physical appearances. These types of toys have set a standard in children’s minds of what they must become to be beautiful. So when these children grow up and do not meet these standards, they believe that they are not beautiful. They compare themselves to what was ingrained in their minds at such a young age. To some extent, this social comparison seems to come naturally for women. In Duane A. Hargreaves and Marika Tiedemann’s study on Social Comparison Processing and Individual Vulnerability, they called this The Automatic Comparison Tendency. It is seen
as normal for woman to compare themselves to each other or to wish that they are thinner. It is often forgotten that men are suffering from this as well. Men may not want to become thinner, but
February 12th 2014
Images of Beauty:
Every day, men and women are taken captive by the lies that our media portrays. Through magazines, movies and billboards, the media promotes images of so called beauty. In today’s society, this promotion has extremely harmful effects, to both men and women. These lies are detrimental, not only physically but also psychologically. The conveyed messages have led to numerous reports of eating disorders, distorted body images, lowered self-esteem, obsessiveness over physical appearance, body dissatisfaction and the list goes on. Although women are most commonly targeted by the media, men have been increasingly affected over the past few years as well. Many may state that this harm by the media is not intentional; however the standards they have set are unrealistic. In sum, these images of beauty are so harmful for our society. Both men and women are being affected by these messages the media has portrayed. These harmful images of beauty can affect all gender and ages. Children are being manipulated by what the standards are to be beautiful. For example, think of all the Barbie’s and GI Joes with their unrealistically toned bodies or perfect physical appearances. These types of toys have set a standard in children’s minds of what they must become to be beautiful. So when these children grow up and do not meet these standards, they believe that they are not beautiful. They compare themselves to what was ingrained in their minds at such a young age. To some extent, this social comparison seems to come naturally for women. In Duane A. Hargreaves and Marika Tiedemann’s study on Social Comparison Processing and Individual Vulnerability, they called this The Automatic Comparison Tendency. It is seen
as normal for woman to compare themselves to each other or to wish that they are thinner. It is often forgotten that men are suffering from this as well. Men may not want to become thinner, but