Is The Media and Air Brushing the Cause for Eating Disorders among Women?

By: Kadie Morgan

The Medias Definition of Beauty

Every single one of these photos were photo shopped.

What is the Main Idea?

The main point that is being argued is that the media is one of the main causes of eating disorders. Todays society has its own definition of beauty and the media uses its talents and strategies to make sure that this size two beauty is shown all over the world. Yet, how is something beautiful if it isnt real? The media today takes beautiful women and uses what we know as Photoshop to make these women skinny and perfect and by perfect we mean perfect as in no one in real life could ever look like the women in these photos do. Honestly the women in the photos do not even look like that. The media is taking these women and altering their body images to be perfect and unreal. Then young women and girls as young as 5 or 6 are looking up to these models and wanting to look like them. This new definition of beauty is causing women to be unhappy, unsatisfied, and it is leaving them yearning to be perfected. So whose to blame????

Key Facts
Airbrushing in advertisements is the process of using photo manipulation techniques to alter the appearance of individuals appearing in advertisements (Issitt 1-4). Air brushing is used to make models and celebrities look thinner, prettier, and flawless for advertising or commercial use (Issitt 1-4).

Two main types of eating disorders related to this topic is:

-Anorexia Nervosa- Anorexia nervosa is a dangerous condition in which people can literally starve themselves to death. People with this disorder eat very little even though they are already thin. They have an intense and overpowering fear of body fat and weight gain, repeated dieting attempts, and excessive weight loss. -Bulimia Nervosa Individuals suffering from Bulimia Nervosa follow a routine of secretive, uncontrolled or binge eating (ingesting an abnormally large amount of food within a set period of time) followed by behaviors to rid the body of food consumed (Eating Disorders).

The Point is
The main issue being discussed in this presentation is that Photo shopping and airbrushing is a major cause of eating disorders within young girls today. Air brushing is one of the number one causes of eating disorders within girls today (Issitt 1-4). Girls as young as five years old are starting to watch their figure.

News Bank

Was written by Rod Harmon, Herald Features Writer

News Bank was one of my main sources for my presentation.

News Bank not only gave me valuable information but it was a very good example of a young lady battling a eating disorder. In fact it was all I really needed to show the effect that medias definition of beauty has on young ladies.

News Banks: Main Points

Throughout this article Sara Hornbacher talks about her experience in fighting a eating disorder. She talks about the struggle fighting a eating disorder and also talks about ways to get help. She stated that, The commercial media is a big influence on people with eating disorders because it presents 5-feet-11-inch models who weigh 110 pounds as the norm, Ferguson said. By trying to live up to that false norm, girls are constantly disappointed and suffer from low self-esteem, which just adds fuel to the fire (Harmon). She also talks about Familial influence and the way people in today times define beauty.

NEDA

This source was a non-profitable online website that plays a help line for those battling eating disorders.
Their statement is Feeding the Hope Their reliable fully informed website gives hope and answers to those with eating disorders. They show their reliability by backing up their statements and by giving contact information for those with further questions. They also have a contact and privacy page that tells you who they are and exactly what they do and exactly where they get their information from.

NEDA: Main Points

This Website talks about how eating disorders are a illness, not a choice.

It stated the main causes of eating disorders and one of them was the media and the social interpretation of thinness.
The top causes that was listed was: Psychological Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders, Interpersonal Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders, Social Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders, Biological Factors that Can Contribute to Eating Disorders. I like the way this source mentioned the main causes of eating disorders, because it proves that the media does play a big role within eating disorders, however it throws a curve ball in there to show the reader that media is not the only one to blame. This source shows all the causes and effects a eating disorder can have and why it is so important to get help.

Media Influence Eating Disorders

This article was written by Bernie DeGroat.

It is a .edu website therefore this is a very reliable source.

This is a very old article that was written in 1997 about the effect that the media plays within eating disorders. However this article does a very good job at backing up the fact that the media has always been a main cause of eating disorders. This article backs up their information by giving its sources.
This article agrees with the other two articles that the media and the social status of beauty is a cause of eating disorders.

Media Influence Eating Disorders: Main Points

This article talked about the how the skinny girls on TV and in magazine make ordinary girls feel unsatisfied or not pretty. This article also talked about the different feelings that a girl can obtain from reading a magazine than from watching a show on TV. When women watch TV they obtain a feeling of body dissatisfaction and when they read a magazine they obtain a feeling of a drive for thinness (DeGroat).

"Nonetheless, it bears restating for the benefit of any members of the research community and the general public who still believe media messages to be largely ineffectual in the lives of young people (DeGroat).

All in All
All in all, these sources all agreed on one thing, that media is too blame. They all three state that the media is one of the main causes of eating disorders in young women, in fact women of all ages. They state that the media is full of perfect women who give false hope to the women in the real world who yearns to be beautiful. All three of these sources all agree that the media gives women dissatisfactory with their bodies. All of these sources also targeted young ladies and in fact anyone. They were all articles well writen to argue that the media and society plays a big role in eating disorders within women.

More Questions

Who else is to blame?

All three topics proved that media played a big role in eating disorders, but is that it?
Is there more things out there that is the cause?

One of the sources stated that the Media was one of the top causes but they also mentioned other things family, friends, and even emotions.

Citations
Brittney Retouched. 2013. Photograph. IdealBite.com, n.p. Daley, Ryan. How to Quickly Thin Up For Summer. N.d. Photograph. The Daley Life, n.p. DeGroat, Bernie. "Media Influence Eating Disorders." Media Influence Eating Disorders. News and Information Services, 22 Oct. 1997. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Eating Disorders. Washington, DC: Office on Women's Health, 2000. Internet resource.
"Factors That May Contribute to Eating Disorders | National Eating Disorders Association." NEDA: Feeding Hope. NEDA, 08 Aug. 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2014. Issitt, Micah. "Points of View: Airbrushing in Advertising." (2013): 1-4. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 10 Feb 2014. <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/pov/detail?vid=3&sid=66358c30-e00a-46ca-876924f8fb5a0926@sessionmgr4003&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU=Ballaro, Thistlethwaite, Felicity. Jennifer Lawrence Flare Magazine Shoot. 2013. Photograph. Flare Magazine, n.p.