Body Image In The Media

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“I am ashamed. I am embarrassed. I am irrelevant. I am a failure.” What does a person see when they look in the mirror? Perception of body image is prevalently increasing in our society, and evidently, not in a good way. Our society bases its standards of perfection through media, thus providing many with unrealistic desires of personal appearance. Through sources such as television, magazines, social media, etc. men and women are daily subjected to a barrage of photos of models and celebrities, often shown by companies as products of being thin or muscular. The media’s portrayal of these stars and models are often the cause of damaging problems for people, whether it be mentally and/or physically, leaving them with a sense of irrelevancy in …show more content…
Due to the vastly unavoidable outlet of social media, people find themselves orbiting in a seemingly inescapable idea of an “imperfection”, thus providing the morose concept of body shaming.
Body image is constantly changing and the media’s portrayal of it is often unrealistic to the modern American. Generally, the seemingly unending barrage of photos of supermodels, whether it be ultrathin women or extremely muscular men, often provides unhappiness to the average American (Derenne). This dissatisfaction generally leads to negative diseases such as: depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders such as anorexia. Although the rise between media and these diseases have been parallel to each other, some critics believe otherwise. Few, such as (Casey), so rudely stated that many people, especially women, do not have eating disorders, they are just “fatties”. What Casey so ignorantly did not know is that eating disorders have no size. Whether thin or heavyset, diseases such as bulimia can affect anyone. Eating disorder rates are rapidly rising, coincidentally, the same time as access to media finds itself at an all time high. Diseases such as anorexia and bulimia are starting to become more common in the world. Men and …show more content…
Is he tall? Is he strong? Is he handsome? Many do not believe that men are objectified or bothered by the images they view in media. The growing significance of male physical excellence only supplies the insignificant body image boys and men see in themselves. Many men have repeated thoughts of the failure, of not having the perfectly sculpted bodies that are often portrayed through the likes of media (Godsey). Many men whether they are fit or not still compare their physique to the celebrities they see constantly throughout social technology. Less importance should be placed on looks and appearances, because focusing on a man’s figure only illuminates his insecurities and self-doubts. These insecurities seem to apply men of all ages. Men from their early teens to their late 50’s have been reporting the shame they hold about their bodies (Kingkade). Many people do not realize that men feel the same self-doubt and fragility that women have. These feelings of imperfections, similar to women, affect men on a daily basis, often isolating themselves from friends and family due to their self-loath. One may wonder how society can combat the ever-growing affect over media. Society must accept everyone. The world must include different body types, even if the media portrays otherwise, and reject the inexecutable body
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