Philosophy

An occurring social issue in North America is the representation of the body in the media. Media integrates itself everywhere due to the change in technology. Anything that associates with the media makes its way into almost every facet of our lives. There are very few places where people are not bombarded with advertisements of any sort. Everyone has some type of exposure to media in one way or another. One major fixation the media has is body image, especially in North America, where there are always advertisements pertaining to society’s perception of body image. Not only is it in advertisements, but in magazines, fashion, etc. It is obvious one can find it in any medium of the media such as: television, internet, and magazines/newspapers. The media tends to focus more on the appearance of beauty in body image, instead of the overall realistic view of people. There is a natural sense of egoism in media. It conveys that there is only one ideal way of how the body should look, and does not acknowledge the diverse human beings in the everyday. It is always changing along with society. As media depicts the image of the body, it starts to influence people which can make drastic measures in the personal image a person has of themselves. However, it depends on the person’s choice on whether they will let it influence them or not. By establishing unattainable standards of beauty and bodily perfection, the media compels dissatisfaction to ordinary people and their perception to their own body image. Body image in the media results in giving a negative effect on people today because of its over-powering influence. It raises unrealistic social expectations, as it is only for self interest, and violates the codes of human nature; however, people have to rationalize themselves if they want to be subjected to this perception.

“The average North American watches 3000 advertisements every day. This means, that by the time they are 21 years of age, they will have seen in