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Argumentative Essay On Media And Body Image

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Media and Body Image “My childhood was happy and pleasantly uneventful. I was the youngest child by 11 years and grew up in a middle class family with loving parents and sisters. I was a good student, a strong athlete and a happy and well­-adjusted child. Somewhere in the middle of Grade 6, however, my safe and simple childhood world began to unravel – and I didn't know how to react. Once puberty hit, it felt as if the game had changed but no one had explained the rules to me. Social structures at school became complicated, and peer pressure became unbearable. I regularly felt intimidated and belittled by my peers for not doing or saying the 'right things'. The pressures of fitting in and dealing with alcohol, drugs, appearance and sexual …show more content…

Some websites even claim that the media had nothing to do with what the standards are today. “It’s easy to understand how many people think that the media and models cause eating disorders. A fear of becoming fat is a prominent feature in many (though not all) eating disorders. I often told people that I’d rather die than gain 5lbs. But I wasn’t just another dieting diva or wannabe model. I was afraid of gaining weight, because that meant giving up the rules and rituals that had come to govern my life. True, I enjoyed the squealed comments from salesgirls in clothing stores that I was so skinny. But, a lack of this admiration and envy wouldn’t have deterred me from starving myself.” The website continues and says, “I was no stranger to advertising. No one really is. But I knew that most ads were digitally altered and that bodies – real bodies – didn’t look a thing like what was portrayed on the pages of glossy magazines. Weighing roughly half of what I currently do, what I did know was that I was terrified of food and eating. Consuming more than the bare minimum of calories left me feeling dirty, and I felt oddly compelled to purge the extra calories via exercise or other methods.” The website basically states that if we all appreciate each other and didn't negatively comment on someone’s life then maybe just maybe people wouldn't be starving

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