The Effects Of Media On Children 's Body Image, Self Esteem, And The Internet

A body image is a subjective combination of all the thoughts, emotions, and judgments that an individual may perceive about his or her own body. Each individual has a unique perception of his or her own body. This image is strongly influenced and often times skewed due to the increasing pressure created from outside, societal factors. With a world that is continuously creating new forms of social media and entertainment, individuals are constantly exposed to images that supposedly define bodily perfection and are then expected to resemble these images in order to fit in and/or please society. The expectations that have been put in place by society has created unwanted pressure on individuals who feel as if they need to resemble these images to get society’s approval.

Media has become a significant component within society. While media provides many pros, it supplies various cons as well. One very prominent fault that the significance of media has is its visual depiction of women. There is an abundance of media portraying women to have ideal bodies, and this undoubtedly has a negative effect on adolescent girls. Two of the many effects of media on females are depression and self esteem issues, as well as eating disorders. Unfortunately, body dissatisfaction caused by media is becoming more and more common.

Over time, the perfect body image has changed in many ways. This is very evident in the female sex, especially through media. “Americans spend about 68 hours per week exposed to various forms of media” (US Census Bureau 2009). This media exposure through outlets such as t.v., radio, music videos, movies, and the internet, all influence the way people think about gender. The media influence is very evident in the way people view women and think about women in different cultures. Media influence on women creates negative viewpoints with how women view themselves and even how men view themselves, in turn making it hard to break certain beliefs and stereotypes instilled on society.

Television, movies, songs, and social media are the cultured lenses in which we view the world. What we perceive through a screen can change where we stand on certain topics; for example, gender messages and body images.

For many years the media has been blasted as the cause of numerous negative events that continue to happen in our society. Anti-media supporters have placed the blame for increased violence in the nation on media’s exposure to violent entertainment shows and movies. Media’s promotion of the thin ideal in female models and actors as well as media’s use of very muscular male models and actors may perpetuate the idea that the average person should either be skinny or muscular. An average person who is not skinny or muscular may feel as though they are not living up to society standards which greatly effects their emotional self-esteem. However not every person encountered indicates they are negatively affected by media’s emphasis on skinny or muscular people.

Today’s society is a consumers’ society in which trying to obtain perfection is one of the fastest selling businesses (DeLaMater Pg. 12). Mass media, advertising, and fashion industries are being accused of feeding off females dissatisfaction with their bodies by portraying unhealthy thin role models in order to sell their products. This unachievable physique and lifestyle has led today’s adolescence down a dark path of such extreme eating disorders as anorexia and bulimia. Although it may sound nice to be societies perception of thin, there are consequences to these eating disorders such as cardiac failure that lead to horrifying defects or even death.

Popular culture in today’s society is capable of reaching out to more people than ever before at ease. Growing up, popular culture affected us even if we may not have realized it happening. Everything from who your favorite sports team is, to your favorite television when you were younger, directly relates to pop culture. Although most people do not realize this phenomenon taking place it is not surprise that mass media has a firm grip on what they want children to believe and think when they are going through one of the most important stages of their lives. The messages that they convey are the thoughts that children reproduce, and the personas that they build of themselves are all relative to how popular culture has effected them.

In this advertisement it shows a little girl measuring herself with a measuring tape. By looking at this image, it already outlines that we as society relay on having the perfect ideal women body, which is being thin and skinny. Society also implies that valuing body image and perfection is significant that children at a very young age are already influenced negatively growing up with a corrupted mindset. The little girl in the photo is already measuring her waistline with a measuring tape at such a young age. She is already feeling like she must be skinny to fit into society and is conscious of her size, teaching her that she must look a certain way. The issue is that in society the media has advertisements, commercials and magazines that portray standards such as women being thin, tall and skinny. This according to the Western countries is having the perfect body image. The media shows such unrealistic images to consumers such as these young girls to try to appear like these ideals that are set for them from society that potentially be harmful and unhealthy which could lead to death because of starvation leading to possible long-term health disorders such as anorexia, bulimia nervosa and nervosa. My opinion on this issue is those who are suffering with low-self esteem shouldn’t do such horrific acts like starvation or dieting just to be accepted in society because they feel too fat or they do not meet the societal standard of being perfect. Girls should relay on the “ideal

According to recent research, tremendous exposure to media has a negative impact on consumers and their health, as well as their body image. The ideal body image that is seen by today’s society is tall, thin, muscular, and fit. It is constantly advertised in various forms of media including, televisions, magazines, internet, and smartphone devices, which can make some people feel insecure about appearance and health. The constant reinforcement of the ideal body image throughout the media negatively impacts society through self-esteem, rise of self-enhancements, and health. There are many different factors that play a role in obtaining the ideal body image that meets the society’s norm.

Even though these issues are known, maintaining a good confidence level has become a difficult challenge in today’s society because everyday women face the challenge to keep their heads held high while being surrounded by images of “perfect” models and actresses. Research indicates a correlation between women’s exposure to media and self-esteem levels. Kevin Thompson and Leslie Heinberg’s research article “The Media’s Influence on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders: We’ve Reviled Then, Now can we Rehabilitate them?” plainly identifies media’s negative effects on women, “It has been clearly demonstrated that print media and television affect how individuals feel about their bodies. Exposure to magazines and television may lead to body image dissatisfaction and eating disordered symptomatology among girls and women” (344). This scientific study establishes that both magazines and the television cause low self-esteem and eating disorders for women and girls. Therefore the study supports the claim that the constant exposure of media in the world has negative effects on both women and girls. In the study “Searching Out the Ideal: Awareness of Ideal Body Standards Predicts Lower Global Self-esteem in Women” by Emily Balcetis and

“For in dreams [children] enter a world that is entirely [their] own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.”-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This source argues that we live in a culture of misperception because of how women are represented in the media. I chose this source because it pertains to women instead of girls. I want to tie into my research how the media affects young girls and how it also affects them going into adulthood, which can lead to serious issues such as an eating disorder or suffering from depression.

Television doesn’t just affect children, it also affects teenagers and young adults, but more so their self-identity and self-esteem than physical development. Television sends messages to these immature self-identities and shapes them according to popular cultures beliefs and values, modifying healthy and realistic self-identities to unrealistic standards of beauty and popularity. This effect is found more with females than with men; but men are more likely to have their standards modified through music videos than television (Ward 2002).

Mass media is the methods of communication, including television, radio, magazines, films, internet and newspapers, that have become some of society’s most important agents of socialization. In this paper I will talk about media and its effects on society today, things such as stereotypes the media portrays, the way media illustrates women and what that does to body images of women. I will also be talking about medias effects on teenagers, and sexualization in the media.

Women lurk on a man’s page seeking for their materialistic items such as cars, money, and the way a man dresses. Instances such as these causes low self-esteem of individuals who do not portray these specific items or lifestyles on social media. USA Today asked 23 Chicago college students about social media and 20 out of 23 students believed social media caused anxiety or added stress to an individual’s life. One female college student believed that social media adds a lot of pressure to be the perfect person, because that’s how individuals can make themselves look online. A lot of women on social media with low self-esteem issues show their skin and wear revealing outfits to feel “better” about their own body by taking into account how many likes on Instagram or Facebook they receive. The college students have realized it was easy to portray a different version of them on the internet. Individuals believe the number of likes on Facebook/Instagram or retweets on Twitter is used as a tool for verification for acceptance within their group of peers. This can cause a domino effect of problems on an individual’s self-esteem. An individual will post photos that are outside their character just to seek approval through the likes from their peers. This may boost an individual’s self-esteem temporarily, but once he or she logs off social media their self-esteem really hasn’t improved. Valkenbur, P. M., Peter, J., & Shouted, A. P. (2006). Friend