An estimated 30 million people of varying ages and genders struggle with an eating disorder in the United States. (Textbook in Psychiatric Epidemiology, p.343) Why is it that eating disorders are so prevalent in western societies? An answer to that would be because of what the media portrays as normal. The media depicts unrealistic and harmful body standards for both men and women, but predominantly towards women. Slender body types are widespread in every type of media from magazines to movies. Not only are unrealistic depictions of body types harmful to a woman’s self esteem, so is diet culture. Diet culture is the popularly advertised pages and commercials with slogans encouraging losing an unhealthy amount of weight in a very short period
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These are only a few of the most popular names in our media but they serve as inspiration to any woman or young girl that is a part of society. These supermodels are a name-brand and as with any brand, they are selling something. It’s practically impossible to not see their lean figures and flat stomachs whenever you flip through a magazine or look up trends online. Many women, particularly teens, will see their bodies as “thinspiration”. Thinspiration is a term, most commonly used in pro-ana communities, to function as a goal for young women to achieve. Using thinspiration is a dangerous goal because these women idealize unhealthy body standards and take destructive means to lose weight. This is a direct gateway into anorexia nervosa/bulimia nervosa …show more content…
There have actually been a number of studies linking ads/magazines to low self esteem in young women. A number of studies have proved the media’s influence on poor self image and unhealthy eating habits. One study in particular, published in the 12th edition of “Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention” titled "The Impact of Exposure to the Thin-Ideal Media Image on Women", observed the moods of women who were shown pictures of slim models in fashion magazines. Exposure to the images caused the women to have a significant decrease in self esteem and body dissatisfaction, therefore, linking to the development of eating disorders. There was also another study published in “Pediatrics” titled “Exposure to the mass media and weight concerns among girls”. This study involved young girls, aged 10 to 18 years old and observed the influence of media’s body standards on them. This study showed that about 70% of them said that the magazine had an influence on their perception of the ideal body and around 50% said they wanted to lose weight. The results showed a majority dissatisfaction with their body type. There is a clear link between the media and bad self
These are only a few of the most popular names in our media but they serve as inspiration to any woman or young girl that is a part of society. These supermodels are a name-brand and as with any brand, they are selling something. It’s practically impossible to not see their lean figures and flat stomachs whenever you flip through a magazine or look up trends online. Many women, particularly teens, will see their bodies as “thinspiration”. Thinspiration is a term, most commonly used in pro-ana communities, to function as a goal for young women to achieve. Using thinspiration is a dangerous goal because these women idealize unhealthy body standards and take destructive means to lose weight. This is a direct gateway into anorexia nervosa/bulimia nervosa …show more content…
There have actually been a number of studies linking ads/magazines to low self esteem in young women. A number of studies have proved the media’s influence on poor self image and unhealthy eating habits. One study in particular, published in the 12th edition of “Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention” titled "The Impact of Exposure to the Thin-Ideal Media Image on Women", observed the moods of women who were shown pictures of slim models in fashion magazines. Exposure to the images caused the women to have a significant decrease in self esteem and body dissatisfaction, therefore, linking to the development of eating disorders. There was also another study published in “Pediatrics” titled “Exposure to the mass media and weight concerns among girls”. This study involved young girls, aged 10 to 18 years old and observed the influence of media’s body standards on them. This study showed that about 70% of them said that the magazine had an influence on their perception of the ideal body and around 50% said they wanted to lose weight. The results showed a majority dissatisfaction with their body type. There is a clear link between the media and bad self