To What Extent Does the Media Affect Body Image in Teens and Their Perception of Beauty? Essay Example
To what extent does the Media affect body image in teens and their perception of beauty?
There is no question that the Media has a massive impact on how we perceive ourselves, particularly when it comes to our beauty. From my own experience, I have questioned my own body due to articles in magazines promoting a slimmer body type to various audiences. We shape our opinions through what the Media tells us is right and wrong. For instance, women and young girls are judged highly on their weight and appearance where as men are judged more on their masculinity and muscularity. As the Media is a massive topic, I will focus on looking at magazines, in particular adverts, and how they portray beauty and how we then observe the Medias idea of ‘perfection’. I will also be looking at the effects of exposure to these magazines and adverts to teenagers; one particular focus will be the influences of the Media on Anorexia. “Low self-esteem contributes to a distorted body image, and the distorted body image can't be fully corrected until self-esteem issues are reconciled.” If we don’t address the problem (the problem being the Media labelling a certain body type as perfect) then the issue of low self-esteem in women is never going to stop.
Over 90% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are adolescent or young women, so why do young women and adolescents feel the need to go to these drastic measures to stay skinny? While the Media is not the only factor that can be contributed to the rise in Anorexia, it is a significant aspect. It’s no surprise that teenagers are obsessed with thinness and weight loss because of the way Media promotes a skinny figure to women through the constant images of celebrities’ bodies and also articles that talk about bettering our lives through our appearance.
The Media promotes a skinny figure through constant articles in magazines on celebrities’ figures, for example, Star magazine has shown the same front cover advertising “45 best &
There is no question that the Media has a massive impact on how we perceive ourselves, particularly when it comes to our beauty. From my own experience, I have questioned my own body due to articles in magazines promoting a slimmer body type to various audiences. We shape our opinions through what the Media tells us is right and wrong. For instance, women and young girls are judged highly on their weight and appearance where as men are judged more on their masculinity and muscularity. As the Media is a massive topic, I will focus on looking at magazines, in particular adverts, and how they portray beauty and how we then observe the Medias idea of ‘perfection’. I will also be looking at the effects of exposure to these magazines and adverts to teenagers; one particular focus will be the influences of the Media on Anorexia. “Low self-esteem contributes to a distorted body image, and the distorted body image can't be fully corrected until self-esteem issues are reconciled.” If we don’t address the problem (the problem being the Media labelling a certain body type as perfect) then the issue of low self-esteem in women is never going to stop.
Over 90% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are adolescent or young women, so why do young women and adolescents feel the need to go to these drastic measures to stay skinny? While the Media is not the only factor that can be contributed to the rise in Anorexia, it is a significant aspect. It’s no surprise that teenagers are obsessed with thinness and weight loss because of the way Media promotes a skinny figure to women through the constant images of celebrities’ bodies and also articles that talk about bettering our lives through our appearance.
The Media promotes a skinny figure through constant articles in magazines on celebrities’ figures, for example, Star magazine has shown the same front cover advertising “45 best &