The Media's Influence on Women's Self Esteem Essay Example
How the Media Affects Women’s Self Esteem
In today’s society and even past decades, women have been expected to live up to certain societal standards. Photo-shopped models in magazines, commercials, and other forms of advertisement define what is socially acceptable. Stick thin leading ladies epitomize the acceptable figure for women to attain. These different media, as well as these portrayals of beauty, are the constant goal for women around the world, especially young women, and the impact has been a negative one. Young girls grow up believing that looking like those models in the magazines will make them happy, wanted, and accepted. The media are propagating this belief while the culture and pace of life are contradictorily pushing women to lifestyles of unhealthy eating habits and a lack of exercise.
Each magazine that is geared towards women has multiple pages of advertisements with size zero models front and center. These models represent the type of women that the rest of the world finds attractive and pressures every day women to try to look the same. Young men and women don’t always realize that even the models are digitally enhanced and form impossible expectations of themselves and others. The magazines talk about embracing your body, but contradict these statements by showing that only one body type is worth printing. Additionally, dieting and exercise articles in magazines have been on the rise. Now, not only do you need to be pretty and petite, you also need to be fit. The idea is that if someone is thin, then they are in control. If someone is overweight, they are thought to be lazy and have no self-control.
Women feel like they need to not only meet the proportions of the model, but also match the style. In her book, “Fat is a Feminist Issue,” Susie Orbach states that the image the media portrays of women is ever changing. Every year there is a new look or a new fad. Women are constantly required to keep up with the current fashion in order to
In today’s society and even past decades, women have been expected to live up to certain societal standards. Photo-shopped models in magazines, commercials, and other forms of advertisement define what is socially acceptable. Stick thin leading ladies epitomize the acceptable figure for women to attain. These different media, as well as these portrayals of beauty, are the constant goal for women around the world, especially young women, and the impact has been a negative one. Young girls grow up believing that looking like those models in the magazines will make them happy, wanted, and accepted. The media are propagating this belief while the culture and pace of life are contradictorily pushing women to lifestyles of unhealthy eating habits and a lack of exercise.
Each magazine that is geared towards women has multiple pages of advertisements with size zero models front and center. These models represent the type of women that the rest of the world finds attractive and pressures every day women to try to look the same. Young men and women don’t always realize that even the models are digitally enhanced and form impossible expectations of themselves and others. The magazines talk about embracing your body, but contradict these statements by showing that only one body type is worth printing. Additionally, dieting and exercise articles in magazines have been on the rise. Now, not only do you need to be pretty and petite, you also need to be fit. The idea is that if someone is thin, then they are in control. If someone is overweight, they are thought to be lazy and have no self-control.
Women feel like they need to not only meet the proportions of the model, but also match the style. In her book, “Fat is a Feminist Issue,” Susie Orbach states that the image the media portrays of women is ever changing. Every year there is a new look or a new fad. Women are constantly required to keep up with the current fashion in order to