The Not so Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Television Viewing
Much attention has focused on what television is doing to American audiences (Swason & Jones, 1951). Both academic and commercial research agencies have studied this medium (Swason & Jones, 1951). Television has the ability to reach a huge population of people 24 hours a day 365 days a year and has a huge impact on society and how others view the world. In today’s time Television is flooded with images of muscle bound men and thin women. These images affect the way men and women view themselves and in turn can affect their body image. Research on body image is vital because it can have an effect on a person’s quality of life (Cash & Fleming, 2002).
Television is constantly displaying an idealized image of the bodies of men and women (Dietz and Gortmaker, 1985). Idealized images can leave men and women to believe they are inadequate because they do not have the bodies of those whom appear on television. More often than not these idealized images are unattainable (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004) and this leaves the individual with feelings of decreased self-worth. …show more content…
If television has this effect on people more research needs to be done in efforts to create programs to help offset some of the effects of today’s television. A study by Feldman, W., Feldman, E and Goodman have, shown that children develop clear ideas of what constitutes idea bodies and attractiveness by the age of 7 (as cited in Van den Bulck, 2000). Interventions to prevent the population from disorders such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia due to these idealized images need to be implemented in early childhood if they are to be
Much attention has focused on what television is doing to American audiences (Swason & Jones, 1951). Both academic and commercial research agencies have studied this medium (Swason & Jones, 1951). Television has the ability to reach a huge population of people 24 hours a day 365 days a year and has a huge impact on society and how others view the world. In today’s time Television is flooded with images of muscle bound men and thin women. These images affect the way men and women view themselves and in turn can affect their body image. Research on body image is vital because it can have an effect on a person’s quality of life (Cash & Fleming, 2002).
Television is constantly displaying an idealized image of the bodies of men and women (Dietz and Gortmaker, 1985). Idealized images can leave men and women to believe they are inadequate because they do not have the bodies of those whom appear on television. More often than not these idealized images are unattainable (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004) and this leaves the individual with feelings of decreased self-worth. …show more content…
If television has this effect on people more research needs to be done in efforts to create programs to help offset some of the effects of today’s television. A study by Feldman, W., Feldman, E and Goodman have, shown that children develop clear ideas of what constitutes idea bodies and attractiveness by the age of 7 (as cited in Van den Bulck, 2000). Interventions to prevent the population from disorders such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia due to these idealized images need to be implemented in early childhood if they are to be