Preview

Sociology Essay Example: “How Far Would Sociologists Agree That the Media Causes Eating Disorders in Women?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
913 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sociology Essay Example: “How Far Would Sociologists Agree That the Media Causes Eating Disorders in Women?
“How far would sociologists agree that the media causes eating disorders in women?

In this essay I will discuss how far sociologists would agree that the media causes eating disorders in women. Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the damage of an individual's physical and emotional health. Eating disorders include: bulimia, anorexia and obesity. First Marxists would argue all young females in the west are exposed to the media and the stereotypical view of women is that they are “slim and beautiful”. This means that young females are influenced into trying to be the “perfect” image of a beautiful woman and in order to be able to become skinny start to diet which eventually leads to serious eating disorders. An example of this is a model that died due to the severity of her eating disorder, anorexia. Isabelle Caro, a 28 year old French model died due to suffering from a respiratory disease which was initially caused by anorexia. This suggests that the media causes eating disorders in women as Isabelle was a catwalk model and in order to be popular on the catwalk she stopped eating which shows that if the media didn’t portray women as being a size zero then they wouldn’t want to be so skinny. This also suggests that female are subjected to the hypodermic syringe theory and are injected with powerful images hence their behavior is affected. This means that the media injects images of size zero models into the minds of young females and somewhat brainwashes them into trying to become a “skinny”, “beautiful” person. The media tends to portray female role models as being successful, skinny and beautiful which may influence females into believing success and beauty is due to a person being slim. This means that due to role models being slim females may believe that in order to be a fan of that celebrity/ famous person they will have to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    In the article “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” Susan Bordo argues that the introduction of western media in foreign countries causes reported cases of eating disorders to skyrocket. According to Bordo: In 1998, just three years after the [western television] station began broadcasting, 11 percent of girls [in Fiji] reported vomiting to control weight, and 62 percent of the girls surveyed reported dieting during the previous months. (19) I agree with Bordo’s argument. Western media that glorifies hyper-masculinity and skinny body types puts pressure on viewers to diet, exercise, and in some cases starve themselves simply to be considered beautiful.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Spattigue, W., & Henderson, K. A. (2004, February). Eating disorders and the role of the media. The Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 13(1), 16-19. http://dx.doi.org/PMCID: PMC2533817…

    • 2432 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Psychological report that I read, the authors really accentuated the point that media has made unattainable expectations for girls, adolescent girls, and young women and their bodies. Starting at the age of seven, young girls of all race and body have been thrown into the idea that their bodies aren’t as great as those in media. The media has forced many people to feel body dissatisfaction, causing physical and mental health problems. In this modern day and age, thin women are dominating media, such as movies, magazines and television. Being thin is consistently a more emphasized and rewarded aspect. While being thin is over-represented, overweight characters are underrepresented, and much more frowned upon in media. Most people don’t recognize that modern women in media are thinner than the population, as well as thinner throughout the decades, and because of this, the criteria for anorexia has become thinner as well. Fashion models, cartoons, movie and television actresses, Playboy Bunnies, and Miss America Pageants have all instilled the thought in women that media portrayals are reality. Because of media portrayal, body dissatisfaction has been the core aspect behind consistent eating disorders in women, such as bulimia, as well as low-self esteem, depression and obesity. Modern day media is showcasing bodies that are otherwise out of reach. These bodies are skewed and ingrained in women’s brains to adopt them into reality. Decreased satisfaction in bodies result in some negative eating behaviors such as dieting, bingeing and purging, as well as skipping meals. As mentioned in the report, different test have proven that such constant exposure to thin, or ideal, body images “shapes young women’s…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One common consequence of the media’s representation of the body is that the audience (more particularly women) may turn to an eating disorder known as anorexia nervosa. This eating disorder involves fasting; self-starvation; vomiting; fear of being overweight; an obsession with calories, nutrition and fat grams; and dieting, despite being thin. This is merely one of the ways in which the media impacts social ideologies of women and influence women’s perception of what constitutes the “perfect” physical body. Malson (1998)…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Advertising in teen magazines and on television typically glamorizes skinny models who do not resemble the average woman. In fact, today's models generally weight 23% less then the average woman. Considering the average person in the United States sees approximately 3,000 ads in magazines, billboards, and television every day, your teenager is getting the wrong message about body image much too often.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead, they argue that the media talks about valuable information on health and people’s well being. They also discuss awareness of eating disorders, through magazines, articles, and television programs. Through the media, they educate people about the danger of abusing food and help them be aware that they are not alone in their journey. The media shows a variety of body shapes and sizes; it influences young people about accepting their weight, provides positive plus size role models. What actually affects the self-esteem of these girls’ stems from many causes that have nothing to do with the media’s influence. For example, internal issues, family pressure, and peer pressure can provoke an eating disorder. Not only do women feel pressure from the media to control their weight but also receive peer pressure from, their boyfriends, husbands, parents, family and from stores that carry clothes that only carry sizes that fit small petite girls. Also, if a girl is already lacks the necessary self-confidence that she needs, it would make it easier for these outside influences to make matters…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an article written by Colleen Thompson and Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, it is emphasized that more than just a few individuals in society struggle with the same issue of not being able to fit the ‘ideal figure’: “In North America, men and women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin and fit... Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves trying to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the “ideal” figure.” An individual person with an eating disorder could be singled out and their specific case could be thought has a person problem but with applied sociological imagination, society would realize that it's the obsession for the fair skin and thin body, creating a widespread public issue, that has indirectly affected thousands of boys and girls in the United States alone. Cultural structures such as the media are not the only structures in society that have an influence on what constitutes the idea body size and figure. The sociological approach to what can be considered as the “ideal figure” is respected because it can explain how social and cultural values affect the individual's attitudes towards eating. Furthermore, a sociological approach is useful for understanding eating behavior because it can explain why eating disorders appear in…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several studies have shown that there are many ways in which a woman’s body image, eating patterns, and self-esteem is negatively affecting what audiences see and hear from the media. In 1996, an article titled, “Body Image: A Cognitive Self-Schema Construct, by Altabe and Thompson, indicates that “social endorsements” are inherent in how the media is portraying the “ideal body.” This has created a sense in women to examine the image of their body to determine if they need to radically alter their eating habits in order to offset that undesirable body. This, in turn, may have led to eating disorder. Also, Heinberg and Thompson (1995) indicated that females who were exposed to appearance-related media were less satisfied with their body shape than females who were exposed to non-appearance related…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to these critiques the combination of two trends,the technology enabled media saturation of the american public and the promotion by this media of highly unattainable body types (Gerald Wagner ). “While mass media has been subject to the strongest social critique about factors leading to eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders. Clinical researchers have begun to document the consequences of relentless exposure to such imagery of different stereotypes of body images. The american…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Heinberg L, Thompson K. “The Media’s Influence on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders: We’ve Reviled Them, Now Can We Rehabilitate Them?” Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 55, No 2, 1999. 339-353.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is proven that more than half of a million American teenagers have an eating disorder. Is the media to blame for this large number of eating disorders? These eating disorders have been documented in medical history since the 1800s. The media contributes to what teenagers believe is “thin and beautiful”. Having an eating disorder can cause many negative physical effects to the body. Not only are there many negative physical effects from eating disorders, there are mental and emotional effects too. One opposing argument may be that many people may have is the fact that the media could have a positive affect on eating disorders. Thus, eating disorders can be attributed to the media because the portrayal of thin and beautiful models puts pressure on the average teen.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The media is a powerful tool with a huge place in today's society. However, in a society filled with young women crazed to look like super models, movie stars, and Barbie dolls, the "thin ideal" is silently advertised through various television shows, movies, and magazine articles, projecting the idea that women need to look a certain way in order to be accepted. With such a strong effect on the lives of people, today's media has had a prominent influence on eating disorders among young women.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Media Eating Disorders

    • 1935 Words
    • 8 Pages

    We are constantly surrounded and influenced by the media no matter where we go. With all of the great improvements the media has provided to our lives, it is hard to recognize how much the media has negatively impacted us as well. Media advertises body images that are deemed to be “perfect” which pressures individuals to change their appearance to meet the standards of society’s view of “perfection.” Not everyone can achieve self-satisfaction with his or her appearance. Body image is the mental image of one’s own body based on self-esteem. Since the media does not provide a realistic standard of beauty, it does not help self-esteem and can even worsen one’s body image. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), in the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men will suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life. Out of those men and women, low confidence and self-esteem are already a problem especially since research has shown that those individuals are the most influenced by the media and society. Exposure to the media can strongly contribute to the development of an eating disorder.…

    • 1935 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mass media is designed to reach large audiences through the use of technology. Its purpose is meant to give information we need to function as a society. Mass media is everywhere; there is no escaping from it. From the moment you wake until you fall asleep you are confronted with media. Almost every home in America has at least one television, access to the internet, and cell phones. Someone cannot drive down the highway without seeing billboard signs. Checking out at the grocery store can be tricky if trying to avoid magazines. The media portrays what is considered to be normal for how a female acts and looks, and therefore affects what women in society feel they should look and act like. The media's portrayal of body image affects women negatively through using stereotypes, encouraging thinness, and promoting unnecessary products. Of course there are extremely thin people, but it’s usually unhealthy and not terribly normal.…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    regarded as a problem, however currently it 's not in this class. Anorexia is a complex reaction to…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays