Nearly every magazine has headlines promising fat blasting secrets or weight loss tips along with a skinny, tan, perfectly toned individual on the front cover. It is not just magazines though, there are infomercials on almost every television channel who are trying to convince you to buy their most recent weight loss pill. Even on Instagram and Twitter you can find pictures of people who are idolized by the media for their “perfect” bodies. Body image refers to a person’s subjective mental image of their own body. It is formed as one compares themselves to others. People are incapable of escaping exposure to countless media images and feel increasingly pressured to change their bodies. The media creates a captivating illusion and people are finding themselves questioning their self-worth because of it. People obtain an idea of beauty based off the image the media portrays of the “perfect individual.” They think that if they reach this “perfect image” they will feel happy or successful in life but in actuality, it lowers their self-esteem. Dissatisfaction with one’s body image can lead to numerous problems, ranging from depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. The connection between the media and body image tends to be detrimental to both women and men’s health and even though social expectations do not dictate that we change ourselves, the media negatively affects body image because models, celebrities, and expectations have established what an individual should be striving for. By establishing unattainable ideals of beauty and bodily perfection, the media drives ordinary people to dissatisfaction with their body images.

Body image is developed at a younger age, usually in one’s teenage years. Teenagers spend a lot of time thinking about their appearance because during adolescence one’s body seems to be in a constant state of change. Most teenagers have similar concerns about their bodies due to what is considered “normal.” In a time when an adolescent’s main concern is fitting in, body image is an immense part of their total self-image. Both boys and girls are experiencing growth spurts and sexual development during their adolescent years. It takes a while for them to get used to their new “image,” “teenagers are very susceptible to criticism, teasing, or negative comments. Some teenagers lose confidence in their appearance if they receive negative or insulting comments about their looks, racial or ethnic features, physical abilities or body changes associated with puberty” (Walker, 1). With all the focus on the body’s appearance, teenagers forget to appreciate other important aspects of themselves, such as their personality and inner strengths. The society we live in today causes us to overlook these crucial characteristics and focus mostly on outer beauty because it is what the media is promoting. 

Salenna Rusello shares her insight about the effects of media exposure on men and women. Rusello states that according to the U.S. Census Bureau taken in 2006, Americans will spend approximately 3,592 hours a year on media usage. With this amount of exposure to media it is only plausible to assume that something we spend so much of our time on has some negative effect on us. Unfortunately, one of those negative effects is self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as a measure of how one feels about themselves. If one’s self-esteem is low enough it can cause them to be more vulnerable or susceptible, especially to media images.  Ruesllo has evidence of research that has shown that “low levels of self-esteem in both men and women are predictive of more weight concern compared to those who have high levels of self-esteem” (Rusello, 4). How an individual feels about his or her body is an extremely important part of how he or she feels about themselves. Many individuals are not satisfied with their bodies due to their self-comparison to media images. Low self-esteem caused by the media goes hand and hand with body image because if an individual does not feel confident in their own skin, based on what the media is superficially advertising then they will try to change the way they look.

Mirror Mirror Eating Disorders is a blog site created solely to help educate and support women and men who suffer from eating disorders. One contributor suggest that marketers will do anything they can to successfully sell a product and make a profit, even if it means degrading women in the process. In the media, there are very direct messages associated with body weight. According to Farrar, “celebrities, fashion models and show hosts are often seen as role models, especially by teenagers” (Farrar, 1). They appear to demonstrate the qualities needed to be successful and popular in life which is what every teenage girl aspires to be. In the field of social psychology, researchers have progressively looked at what is called “thin-ideal media,” which refers to media images, shows, and films that contain very thin female leads. This idea is something that is seen a lot in fashion magazines, clothing catalogs, and pop culture television shows; all things that teenage girls tend to love. Farrar writes, “thin-ideal media highlights the idea that thinness is a good and desirable thing to be, even if it is to a level that is potentially damaging to a person’s health” (Farrar, 1). Regardless of the negative impact that unattainable images have on women, marketers and advertisers will continue to place unrealistic ideal into the faces of teenagers since ultimately beauty is what sells.

In 2004, a study was conducted by the Foundation of Change to experimentally examine the effects of exposure to the thin-ideal body image on women. The Foundation of Change wanted to test the effect of self-esteem, body satisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and level of internalization of the thin-ideal. The foundation decided to use college women as their focus of study. In the study, the college women were randomly shown photographs from popular magazines containing either thin-ideal images or neutral images. The study found that “the college women’s exposure to thin-ideal magazine images increased body dissatisfaction, negative mood states, and eating disorder symptoms and decreased self-esteem” (Hawkins, 1). This study proves that media images are a large part of how women feel about their bodies and are having a negative impact on their wellbeing and mental health.

In 2013, M Stew did a Ted Talk where she talked about young girls striving for perfection because in their minds the only way to be beautiful is to be perfect. Our media is flooded with unrealistic expectations due to media technology such as Photoshop that changes the way these models and actors look. The media is undoubtfully cheating by using technology to create unrealistic standards for guys and girls. They are obsessively using Photoshop to remove pounds and wrinkles from celebrities, making “perfection” harder and harder to achieve for the common individual. The image of these celebrities are tweaked, airbrushed, and cropped, minimizing their flaws, and constructing what the media’s version of “beautiful” is. Most people are not aware of how much high tech computers drastically change the way we see people because our society has always been regularly exposed to the media. Men and women have no choice but to be brainwashed by advertisements on television or magazines because it is hard for them to generate a difference between what is real and what is false. The deception of these advisements is the reasoning behind so many individuals being insecure with their bodies. M Stew sadly stated that, “58% of young girls are unhappy with the way they look and that number increases to 78% by the time they hit 17 years old” (Stew). These unfortunate statistics are negatively impacting body image due to the construction of media images made by technology and superficial adverting.

David Moye wrote the article, “Real-Life Ken and Barbie Explain Their ‘Plastic Love’ for Each Other.” The article is about two individuals, Pixee Fox and Justin Jedlica who are committed to plastic and cosmetic surgery because they believe it will help them achieve their dream look. Fox and Jedlica’s goal is to become a real-life Ken and Barbie doll as well as become a 100% plastic. The two of them have spent an estimated combined $500,000 on various surgeries that range between nose jobs, shoulder, back, cheeks, biceps and rear implants, as well as rib removal. Fox has had 17 operations while Jedlica has had more than 340 cosmetic procedures. Despite judgement from other people Fox and Jedlica believe that Ken and Barbie are the essence of beauty and will continue their aspiration to become them. Fox and Jedlica believe that what they are doing is a form of art and individuality. Although their story could argue that the media can positively influence body image because it helps with self-expression, it is still known that the media is harmful to both men and women’s body image. Ken and Barbie dolls are designed to be flawless and Fox and Jedlica are putting themselves in danger by destroying their bodies to look like a plastic doll. By idolizing these plastic dolls the media has created an unrealistic standard for people to attain.

Traditionally, most of the concerns related to media influencing body image have revolved around girls but, researchers and health professionals are more and more turning their attention to boys. Everyday more research proves that although guys are less likely to talk about their insecurities, they too experience anxiety about their bodies. Cultural standards say that men cannot be insecure when it comes to body image but, body dissatisfaction is extremely common amongst guys and the media fuels it. Muscular male sex symbols are constantly idolized in the media and men are pressured to meet unrealistic standards. Those “unrealistic standards” however, such as perfectly air-brushed abs or nicely sculpted arms, are not just coming from male sex symbols but, also idealized images of women the media portrays.  In a study done in 2008, it was found that “young men were more self-conscious about their bodies after reading ‘Lad Magazines’ featuring photos of sexualized, scantily-clad women, based on that girls would expect similar idealized physiques from men as well.” (Johnson, 1) As a result, more guys are suffering from depression and low self-esteem because they are continuing to compare themselves to these idealized images. 

The media influence on body image is more than just an issue of insecurities amongst common individuals though. Numerous celebrities have felt the pressure from the media to change their appearances. Victoria Beckham, former member of the Spice Girls and current fashion designer, publicly admitted to being insecure with her body and acknowledged to struggling with an eating disorder in her early days of being a Spice Girl, “I was obsessed. I mean, I could tell you the fat content and the calorie content in absolutely anything,” Victoria told ABC’s 20/20 in 2003. While being a Spice Girl, Victoria was under constant pressure from management and the media to lose weight and to stay slim. This extreme pressure also brought Victoria to an obsession with her appearance and because of it she developed an eating disorder. Another celebrity, Richa Chadha who is a current Bollywood actress revealed that like Victoria she too battled an eating disorder. Chadha spoke out about feeling pressured to look a certain way for her film roles based on what the media and management disapproved about her. In a TEDx Talk, the 29-year-old film star admitted that her "confidence began to evaporate" when she was told to fix her body. She was consistently criticized for her appearance in the media and was told to "gain weight, then lose weight, fix her nose and inflate her lips, get a boob job, lose the puppy fat, grow out her hair out, or cut it, get highlights, or fake eyelash extensions, squat for a bigger booty, get fake gel nails, run in heels, wear Spanx, pout while talking, focus on dilating the pupils, and listen attentively. Chadha said that she crumbled under the pressure like a wrecking ball had hit her." The media’s expectations on body image for celebrities are obviously too high just like they are for a common individual. These quotes given by Victoria and Chadha are prove that the media’s expectations for body image is detrimental to those working in the industry. 

The media has negatively affected one’s body image in countless ways. Models, celebrities, and expectations have set the bar extraordinary high for what we as individuals should look like. The media is using unfair techniques, such as Photoshop, thin-ideal media, and even toys to set beauty standards for both men and women. These standards however, are tending to be detrimental to both men and women’s health. These harmful health concerns range from depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. If the media would stop promoting unrealistic images we could ultimately stop living in a cruel and superficial world. Changing the media would not only help change our perceptions of our own bodies, but also our perceptions of those around us. Changing perceptions would eliminate harsh criticism and create a better example for the future. Hopefully in the future people can feel more confident in their own skin and know that they are beautiful just the way they are. 
