The media plays a prominent role in people's lives today. It hasn't just become a source of entertainment, communication, and information access but also a way of life. Media can be beneficial by spreading news quickly and making it easier to do things like communicating with people, getting directions, or hearing the latest news. Nevertheless, media also contains harmful elements such as creating unrealistic images and unattainable goals for advertisements, allowing more opportunities to cyber bully, and constantly providing a source for comparison. The dependence and expansion of media today, in all of its forms, is a significant problem that has caused its fair share of trouble. The biggest, most upsetting issue with the media is its affect on people's self-esteem and body satisfaction, specifically young girls. The pressures to conform to the beauty standard portrayed through the media have greatly affected all people in the United States, especially girls as young as age eight. The affects it can have on a person can be extremely damaging to them emotionally and physically, even life threatening. The media affects female self-image and the standard of beauty today in an immensely negative way.

The word media is the singular form of the word medium. It is defined as collective communication outlets or tools that are used for a multitude of reasons such as storage, communication, entertainment, or transmission. Many people think media only pertains to its most popular forms like television and magazines; however there are numerous forms of media that people may not encounter as regularly. Types of media including print media, movies, music, television, software, social, and many more. The many forms of media surround people throughout the day. Whether the masses watch more television or read more magazines than somebody else, there is always some form you encounter in a day. The key benefit of media in today's society is to make things fast and easy. For example, making research fast through online search engines or making it easier to communicate with someone by simply sending them a text message. With the advances in media and technology, things have become much more efficient and practical. While the benefits can make our lives easier, the constant overload of media has a negative side as well. It has made the population continually more dependent on its services, causing laziness, impatience, misinterpretation, violation of privacy, transmission of false information, and even forms of addiction. In a world that thrives on media, it is difficult to recognize the harm it can also bring. While media harm takes different forms, the most damaging is its affects of self-esteem and body image in its viewers, especially women. 

The media affecting people's body image and self-esteem is not breaking news. This issue has been continually occurring over the years, basically as long as media has existed, and gradually becoming worse. Media figures, particularly women, are being depicted more and more unrealistically each year. The main issue isn't the fact that the media causes self-dissatisfaction, it's the extent it causes self-dissatisfaction today. Body dissatisfaction begins a strong segway into body Dysmorphic Disorder. BDD is developed mostly in adolescents and teens and is characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance (Adda.org). A study conducted in the year 2013 found that eighty percent of women say that images of other women on television, in movies, in magazine and in advertisements make them feel insecure. Forty two percent of girls first through third grade desire to be thinner and eighty one percent of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. More than half of teenage girls are/think they should be on diets and about three percent of these teens will become anorexic or bulimic. Over fifty percent of teenage girls and thirty three percent of teenage boys are using restrictive measures to lose weight at any given time. Forty six percent of nine to eleven year olds are sometimes or very often on diets. (eatingdisorderhope.com) These statistics come as no surprise when we live in a world where the average American woman is 5'4'', weighs 140 lbs. while the average American model is 5'11'' and weighs 117 lbs. (healthresearchfunding.org) The ideal body type for women has changed dramatically over the years. For example during the 1930's having a curvaceous, fuller figure was the beauty standard. This was obviously a more realistic body ideal considering the majority of women have some form of curves and obtain this particular body type by living a regular lifestyle and eating normally. Even advertisements from the 1930's used more shapely women, depicting a more realistic type of beauty. Today however, the body ideal consists of nearly impossible standards. "Beautiful" women in this day and age are taller women with flat stomachs, long, athletic legs with a gap between the thigh regions, slender yet toned arms, long necks, medium to large breasts, perky buttocks, larger lips and eyes and smaller noses and ears. (Cathleen, Cher. Buzzfeed.com) These combination of these ideals are extremely rare to be born with, therefore in order to fit the standard completely some must use dieting, fitness, plastic surgery, or all three. If someone is born with a few of these assets, they are likely to think those are their most attractive features and focus on accentuating them, causing one to pick themselves apart resulting in low self-esteem. This problem is a part of a vicious cycle created mainly by advertisers and entertainers. Media uses people who have all the desired features in order sell. For example, a company will use a supermodel with flawless skin and a perfectly symmetrical face to sell their make up, making the masses feel inferior and causing them to buy the product in hopes to look a certain way. This process then creates the beauty standard. Because modern media and technology allows the ability to retouch and edit pictures, the beauty standard has become extremely hard to obtain, resulting in body image issues from its viewers. 

Body Image is the subjective picture or mental image of one's own body. (Nationaleatingdisorders.org) Body image can be affected by multiple elements such as media influence, pop culture, celebrities, past experiences, sexual or physical abuse, bullying or harassment, and comments from peers or family. The largest spectrum is media influences because it is the source responsible for the transmission of the images or information regarding body ideals and takes many forms. Multiple studies show that exposure to images of idealized beauty greatly increases body dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety, anger and low self-esteem. Body dissatisfaction is defined, as a negative subject evaluation of the weight and shape of ones own body (Dictionary.com).  Typical insecurities under this category include weight, clothing size, and skin color. Depending on the severity of the insecurity, it can lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, surgery, or extreme exercise. 

While eating disorders have usually been associated with young, white, upper class demographic, research has proven differently. Done by the National Eating Disorder Association, studies show that minority women are less likely to seek treatment for their disorders than white women, causing an error in the data. Essentially, eating disorders do not discriminate against ethnicity, race, sex, class, or body type. Eating disorders are a daily struggle for 10 million females and 1 million males in the Unites States alone. The three most common types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Bulimia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by an obsessive fear of gaining weight and an unrealistic reception of one's body image. Behaviors include limiting the quantity of food consumed and a distorted perception of one's own body. It has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Individuals who suffer from Binge Eating Disorder will frequently lose control of the amount they consume. The main symptoms are guilt and distress after overeating, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. While this specific disorder does not focus on becoming thin, it is also triggered by anxiousness, anger, and depression, which is likely from a form media exposure. Finally, Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder that involves binge eating followed by behavior to compensate for the overeating for example, forced vomiting, excessive exercise, and use of laxatives. Symptoms can be gastrointestinal problems, severe hydration, heart difficulties and extreme feelings of shame. (eatingdisorderhope.com) While eating disorders are a significant symptom of body dissatisfaction, they aren't the only ones. Other affects include seeking surgery, excessive grooming, skin picking, obsessiveness, depression, jealousy, and anxiety. The majority of these issues is psychological and requires intense behavioral therapy or medication as treatment. Some people suggest that the best way to fix body image issues is to explain to younger generations that media beauty is different from reality, however this solution is difficult to instill when media is a prominent element in society and continues to grow. 

While many people recognize the media's harmful affects, some people see it as a benefit in regards to body image. Because media is such a largely used source, it allows news and information to be spread rapidly and far and wide. This could be used as an advantage when trying to spread the word about things like Aerie's untouched Campaign, The Lane Bryant Campaign, or the Dove Campaign, all supporting women of all sizes to model their clothes and not be edited in the advertisements. To specify, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty mission statement is "At Dove, we have a vision of a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. Our mission is to ensure the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look -- helping girls raise their self-esteem and realize their full potential." (Dove.us) These "real" advertisements could provide a sense of support to its viewers by showing that all shapes and sizes should be celebrated. In the article "Does Instagram Promote Positive Body Image?" by Sarah Gervais, the topic of social media promoting unedited and diverse beauty is discussed. Gervais claims that because the media sets the beauty standard, the social media site Instagram has the power to portray images of all types of beauty. She claims that Instagram could have the power to promote positive body image by showing pictures of all kinds of people to show that beauty comes in multiple forms. (Gervais, Sarah) While these ideas are logical and have a strong basis, there is little to do to fight with all media outlets about the way they portray their models or set their beauty standard. 

In conclusion, while there are arguments that media benefits body image, the overall affects are negative. Because media is such a largely used element and comes in so many forms, it is nearly inescapable. Whatever the media portrays, as ideal beauty is what the world sees as ideal beauty. Because many media outlets are used to sell, many use flawless models in their advertisements to create insecurity in women and cause them to buy the product or continually watch the show to look like the people used in the media. This cycle is the best way to sell products and get consumer attention; therefore it is difficult to change. Because of modern technology and the ability to retouch, the beauty standard set by the media is nearly unattainable without making some artificial changes. For women without personal trainers, diet coaches and plastic surgeons, reaching the current ideal, including d-cup breasts, a small waist, sculpted abs, a thigh gap, and a large butt, is nearly impossible. (Tunell, Alexandra) While some women see this ideal as ridiculous and obviously unreal, eighty percent of women still say they feel insecure after being exposed to models or advertisements in the media and want to change themselves to look like people in the media. Teenagers have the highest rates of body dissatisfaction measured by depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, however studies have still shown that the media affects all types of people regardless of sex, race, or size. (Agliata, Daniel) The media is a growing source that has reached it's peak use in the past years, also affecting the most people it ever has. If not slowed, the media could eventually have even stronger, negative affects on the entire population. Some say that the best way to change this problem is to fix the media itself using supportive campaigns and showing untouched women in advertisements. Examples of this include the Aerie Campaign in which none of the underwear models are retouched after their photo shoots and the Dove "Real Beauty" Campaign using women of all body times, races, and styles in their advertisements to emphasize beauty of all types. These campaigns, while beneficial, aren't enough to stop the entire media process, which has been in action for decades. The majority of large companies and corporations will still use the same methods as before due to its success. If the media itself cannot be changes, then the masses must be changed. The seemingly most successful fix would be education about the unrealistic elements of the media and how it can affect people. This education should be given in the form of classes, taught in school curriculums and available to all people who wish to take them. Classes should be offered to those of any age and demographic with a special emphasis on the way the class should be taught depending on people's lifestyles. For example, parents with children should have a class offered that provides parenting skills that are usable to make children feel secure and confident in the face of media. This call to action is one of the only options that will actually work when dealing with the body image and the media problem. The cycle of media greatly depends on the masses to fall into the trap and keep the system flowing, therefore changing the masses outlook and usage of the media could break the trend. 
