Culture Influence On Body Image

A body image is a unique, subjective combination of all the thoughts, emotions, and judgments that an individual may perceive about his or her own body. This image is strongly influenced and often times skewed due to the increasing pressure created from outside, societal factors such as family, society, mass media, and advertising. Even cultural aspects affect individuals. Often times, certain cultures idealize the idea of being thin, creating social pressure for individuals to maintain a stereotypical body image. However, no matter what the outside influence happens to be, individuals are constantly exposed to images that supposedly define bodily perfection. Individuals then feel the need to resemble these images in order to fit in with and/or …show more content…
According to David Newman, author of Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, a family consists of “two or more persons, including the householder, who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption, and who live together as one household” (Newman, 2010, 195). Studies have shown that the home and family environment has the most influential impact on body image. Growing up, an individual is enculturated and molded into a particular lifestyle based on the influence of family. Even though family members provide social support, they also raise body image concerns. A particular study showed that “a family who has a general tendency towards focusing on appearance and attractiveness can, in turn, cause their daughters to become focused on and concerned about their weight” (Curtis, 2014). A family member’s dissatisfaction with his or her own body image creates a focus on appearance that sends hidden messages to younger individuals that body appearance and thinness should be valued. Once exposed to these hidden messages, individuals begin to compare themselves to other societal figures such as peers and even worse, the media. Consequently, younger individuals start to engage in coping mechanisms such as dieting and/or eating disorders in order to maintain a specific, unrealistic, portrayed body …show more content…
With the convenience of a smartphone, social media is now accessible with the touch of a button. Mass media plays a large role in negatively affecting the self-esteem of many individuals. Mass media transmits various forms of hidden messages to individuals regarding perceptions of ideal body images. While there are innumerable factors that influence an individual’s perception of his or her own appearance, mass media is increasingly becoming a powerful role in forming idealized images of beauty and bodily perfection (Wagner, 2015). Mass media is a dominant factor that consumes today’s society only because people rely on media and let it control their lives. In Newman’s words, mass media “tell us the type of person we ‘should’ be” (Newman, 2010, 154). The media broadcasts ideal images of bodily perfection and physical beauty that appeal to the human eye. Photo shopped images are promoted and glorified through social media which can correlate negative thoughts and feelings about body images for many individuals. In fact, “time spent on social media can exacerbate poor body image and/or disordered eating” (Vogel, 2015). Media allows stereotypes, or overgeneralized images or ideas of a particular trait, behavior, or characteristic that reflect on some identifiable group, to formulate (Newman, 2010, 353). The stereotypes that depict what an ideal body should resemble create an