Media Influence

Media Influence on Body Image Media has become a major compact and influence on society. Throughout the decades media has engraved information in our minds telling us how bodies should look like. Others think it boondoggle a gesture that media plays such a role in society. Media does play a major role in the influence of body image, but although media influences majority of people’s body image, the people around them influence body image too. Well known mediatized models influence body image. At a young age, we are influenced by televised cartoon characters and often affect lots of children as well as adults view of how a gorgeous female should look like such as Minnie Mouse. “The message is if your body doesn’t fit into a designer dress, drastically change your body (source e)” This shows that you shouldn’t change your body image to fit into a cuter dress, we should change the dress. This affects people around the world that they need to be “[bone thin super model]” to be loved. This argument in this source would not have been brought up if they did not change her because we all know and love Minnie Mouse not because of her body image but of who she is. Televised media models influence a majority of people, furthermore in one of the sources; it is factual through research that “Researches from Durham university in the UK enlisted 100 women to view pictures of models of various sizes (source d),” Also including the quote “The more I thin models the subjects saw, the more they preferred thin bodies(source d)”. This shows that the majority of the type of body images around an individual to strive for the majority view of body image. Celebrities shown through media such as Kim Kardashian, Minnie Mouse, and Barbie influence body image “I am really glad to be able to promote a healthy, natural body shape, casting well and exercising and appreciating the shape you naturally have (source f).”Media influences body images not only negatively but also positively. People, although influenced by media are being affected positively because of how they change their “[dress not their body image](source e),” Referred to in the quote in paragraph above on Minnie Mouse. Also the image of a female seeing herself as Barbie in the mirror proves my speculation of how a well-known celebrity influences body image. Barbie is a slender, thin waste, dream body model image for Girls around the world. Research shows that if a female were to have the waste of the Barbie doll she would explode because she wouldn’t be able to hold all of her organs in her body. So Media Influences body Images that can only be achieved through pain and death and I’m sure that no one wants to die to achieve a body image. Although Body Image mostly affects our views through media, The people around us play a role on what should be our body image. As you could see in Source a, a female figure is looking in three mirrors and is satisfied, neutrally satisfied, and not satisfied in each three. This influences viewers that a super thin body is the best while a little more added weight on a body is bad and causes sadness. She would be happy if she was wearing a dress that actually fits her instead of the same dress which is probably uncomfortable. You can analyze she is sad because she wants the body that every desires from media. Furthermore you can compare this quote to the image, “Body image concerns communicated to me in my practice are not only problems with what we see in the mirror—our issues also include coping with changes as we get older, our sense of sexuality, dealing with chronic illness and surgeries, and striving to fit into the culturally constructed beauty ideal (source c).” Again in the quote compares how we see ourselves in the mirror but gives us factual evidence that as our hormones change and sexuality changes as we get older and we desire a better body as you see everyone mature and get clothes that show more skin or that expose your body more because you are trying to be sexual.
Although social media was the most impact on our views of body image, outside influences, alter our perceptions. We need to get our own individual idea of how our body image should be, rather than changing to fit social standards another person’s idea. It is better to set our goals of positive body image and we shouldn’t be criticized by the media and their opinions of our opinions. If media were to televise on how every body image is ok there would be less depressed people in the world on their body.