The Relationship between Media, Image, and Eating Disorders
The mass media provide a valuable and influential context from which people get to learn about various things. However, recent reports have shown that the media is negatively affecting the people’s perception of how they should look like (Gilbert 640). In fact, teenagers are the ones who have been adversely affected. One of the critical questions is whether the media is influencing the youth to adopt eating disorders.
It is a general knowledge that the invention of the mass media has brought both good and bad effects. Various studies have proved that the media have an important role to play in the effect of self-image and eating disorders especially among the teenagers. Self-image …show more content…
If the parent is supportive of the child and keeps encouraging him or her, the child will have a high sense of confidence. When the student gets good grades, it will increase their confidence that shall influence their self-image. How his friends view a person will also have an impact on his self-image. If these three groups take active roles, then the child will not turn to the mass media to build his self-image. Moreover, the media has a small role to play in inducing eating disorders. Imagine those people who have no access to television or newspapers, how will they get to be influenced by the media? One can quickly develop eating disorders through low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, stress, and even loneliness. Furthermore, it can also be caused by troubled personal relationships, genes, or the presence of protective parents. In this view, the media is not solely to blame for eating disorders. People engage in eating disorders to address a particular problem that they are passing …show more content…
All the individuals that surround the child as he grows up play an active role in shaping his image. Thus, the immediate families, peers, the extended family members, and the teachers, have an impact on the image of the child through their actions. Therefore, these people, who also represent the society, are a primary source of the child’s image. The negative words, mistreatment, abuses, and lack of maternal love contribute significantly to a child’s negative image. Therefore, if the child’s initial interaction with these people is the one that affects his image, it means that the media has a minimal role to play in the development of the negative self-image. Therefore, children whose images have been destroyed during childhood will easily fall prey to the mass media influence, in a bid to build their self-image. “The whole society has a role to play in influencing poor image,” (Sorensen 60)
Secondly, we should remember that the eating disorders are usually caused by a combination of behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal, and social factors (Rosen, Bruce, and Barbara 153-163). Hence, it means that the media, which is a social tool, is not entirely responsible for the
The mass media provide a valuable and influential context from which people get to learn about various things. However, recent reports have shown that the media is negatively affecting the people’s perception of how they should look like (Gilbert 640). In fact, teenagers are the ones who have been adversely affected. One of the critical questions is whether the media is influencing the youth to adopt eating disorders.
It is a general knowledge that the invention of the mass media has brought both good and bad effects. Various studies have proved that the media have an important role to play in the effect of self-image and eating disorders especially among the teenagers. Self-image …show more content…
If the parent is supportive of the child and keeps encouraging him or her, the child will have a high sense of confidence. When the student gets good grades, it will increase their confidence that shall influence their self-image. How his friends view a person will also have an impact on his self-image. If these three groups take active roles, then the child will not turn to the mass media to build his self-image. Moreover, the media has a small role to play in inducing eating disorders. Imagine those people who have no access to television or newspapers, how will they get to be influenced by the media? One can quickly develop eating disorders through low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, stress, and even loneliness. Furthermore, it can also be caused by troubled personal relationships, genes, or the presence of protective parents. In this view, the media is not solely to blame for eating disorders. People engage in eating disorders to address a particular problem that they are passing …show more content…
All the individuals that surround the child as he grows up play an active role in shaping his image. Thus, the immediate families, peers, the extended family members, and the teachers, have an impact on the image of the child through their actions. Therefore, these people, who also represent the society, are a primary source of the child’s image. The negative words, mistreatment, abuses, and lack of maternal love contribute significantly to a child’s negative image. Therefore, if the child’s initial interaction with these people is the one that affects his image, it means that the media has a minimal role to play in the development of the negative self-image. Therefore, children whose images have been destroyed during childhood will easily fall prey to the mass media influence, in a bid to build their self-image. “The whole society has a role to play in influencing poor image,” (Sorensen 60)
Secondly, we should remember that the eating disorders are usually caused by a combination of behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal, and social factors (Rosen, Bruce, and Barbara 153-163). Hence, it means that the media, which is a social tool, is not entirely responsible for the