The Media's Influence On Body Image

Words: 438
Pages: 2

From a young age, people are exposed to one of the most fearsome factors of today’s generation, the media. The media is what can greatly influence how people think and act in a variety of ways. That is why when people are surrounded with countless images of thin, female models and actresses who are perfect according to the modern standards of society, they look up to them as role models and begin to grow an aspiration of wanting to lose weight. All of these messages from the media portray the idea that body image is the most important part of life. It shows that in order to be happy and successful, a thin figure is required. Because of this, insecurity is becoming more and more prevalent, and these issues are what lead to the serious problem that …show more content…
Especially because of the fact that today’s generation is surrounded by the obsession of looks and glamour, the media has an advantage in pushing people to succumb to the unrealistic and dangerous pressure towards thinness, causing eating disorders. The idea of what everyone is expected to look like is perfectly set out by the media. By showing images of women with the perfect long and lean legs, flat abs, and skinny arms, they cause people to go out of their way to achieve what is required to be accepted by society, perfection. The basic concept and idea of what the media is aiming for, is to take advantage of the low self-esteem that people have gained from seeing so many unrealistic and ideal images that are presented in the media. This is what then leads to the problem that people don’t realize that the standards of the perfect body image is mostly impossible to obtain and is completely out of reach. Because of this, they continue to attempt this impossible goal of achieving society’s ideal figure by starving themselves, vomiting, and unhealthy