The media can be considered as one of the most pervasive forces in the world. It is always seeking to inform us, persuade us, entertain us, and change us. Adolescents and young adults in particular, spend a weightily amount of their time viewing and interacting with the media in the form of television, music, magazines, social media, and the internet. Every day people are bombarded by pictures and messages telling them to strive to be like the people they see and read about. The sociocultural body ideal has changed over time and has been molded into an almost completely unattainable standard. That standard most often than not, is being thin and beautiful. Numerous empirical studies indicate that both print and television media exert a powerful
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The bulk of the models displayed on television and in advertisements are well below what is considered healthy body weight. 25 years ago, the average fashion model was 8% thinner than the average woman. Today, that number has risen to 23% (Derenne & Berensin, 2006). Because of this pressure from the media to look a certain way, research has shown that the prevalence of eating disorders and body image/dissatisfaction is steadily rising in todays modern world. There are two main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. All types of eating disorders occur primarily in females, with males comprising only 5-10% of patients (Latzer, Spivak-Lavi, & Katz, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is characterized by emaciation, a never ending pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight, a distortion of body image and intense fear of …show more content…
The content watched can vary from person to person, but everyone is exposed to the thin-ideals through movies, tv shows and commercials. The main issue that arises is that people compare themselves on many different dimensions with other individuals who are similar to them that they see on TV. Depending on the target of comparison, a person will usually judge themselves as being either or better or worse on some dimensions. There are many different sources to which individuals can look for social comparison, but mass media is seen to be one of the most commanding influences, especially for women. Images in the media generally project a standard to which women are expected to aspire, yet that standard is almost completely impossible for most women to achieve. Tiggemann and Mcgill (2004) found that women participants' brief exposure to media images of females (11 images) led to increased levels of body dissatisfaction and weight anxiety. This finding is disturbing because the number of images used in the study is far less than what is present in any women's magazine or shown in most television programming. The level at which a woman reports comparing herself to other females seems to be associated with the level at which she internalizes the thin ideal. Tiggemann and Mcgill (2004) found that women who displayed high levels of social comparison were more likely to be negatively affected by exposure to the
The bulk of the models displayed on television and in advertisements are well below what is considered healthy body weight. 25 years ago, the average fashion model was 8% thinner than the average woman. Today, that number has risen to 23% (Derenne & Berensin, 2006). Because of this pressure from the media to look a certain way, research has shown that the prevalence of eating disorders and body image/dissatisfaction is steadily rising in todays modern world. There are two main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. All types of eating disorders occur primarily in females, with males comprising only 5-10% of patients (Latzer, Spivak-Lavi, & Katz, 2015). Anorexia nervosa is characterized by emaciation, a never ending pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight, a distortion of body image and intense fear of …show more content…
The content watched can vary from person to person, but everyone is exposed to the thin-ideals through movies, tv shows and commercials. The main issue that arises is that people compare themselves on many different dimensions with other individuals who are similar to them that they see on TV. Depending on the target of comparison, a person will usually judge themselves as being either or better or worse on some dimensions. There are many different sources to which individuals can look for social comparison, but mass media is seen to be one of the most commanding influences, especially for women. Images in the media generally project a standard to which women are expected to aspire, yet that standard is almost completely impossible for most women to achieve. Tiggemann and Mcgill (2004) found that women participants' brief exposure to media images of females (11 images) led to increased levels of body dissatisfaction and weight anxiety. This finding is disturbing because the number of images used in the study is far less than what is present in any women's magazine or shown in most television programming. The level at which a woman reports comparing herself to other females seems to be associated with the level at which she internalizes the thin ideal. Tiggemann and Mcgill (2004) found that women who displayed high levels of social comparison were more likely to be negatively affected by exposure to the