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Caroline Brandt
Malcom Campbell
UWRT 1103
March 29th, 2015

Mass Media: Giving Power or Poisoning Self Image?

When I was a small and very impressionable little girl, I was constantly
playing with my Barbie dolls and thinking, I cant wait to grow up and look
like this! l simply assumed that women were supposed to be born with
extremely small waists, large breasts, thighs that didn't touch, and flat
stomachs that didnt jiggle when you move. No one ever told me that this
ideal female body I was being exposed to several times a day was a
ridiculously unrealistic and unhealthy standard I could never truly emulate. I
remember being seven or eight years old and watching a television show
about supermodels. They were talking to each other about how little they ate
on a regular basis to be skinny enough for their job. This gave me inspiration
to starve myself for the following three days because I wanted to look like
them. They were the successful, very thin, women I saw everyday and I
thought if I didnt look like them I wouldnt be successful.

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The average body type of a woman living in America is 54 and 140
pounds, while the average body type of a female model portrayed in the
media is 511 and 120 pounds (Sheldon). A shocking only 5 percent of
women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the
media (Berninger). The extreme difference in body types is a very big reason
why this generation has such serious body image issues. For the past 30
years, both women and men (mostly women) have become increasingly
more obsessive with their physical appearances. Research has found that
88% of females wish they weighed less than they do currently, while only
37% of males are reportedly unsatisfied with their bodies. Its not only adults
that are feeling pressure to drop a few pounds; adolescents are highest at
risk for having self-image issues (Sheldon).
According to science, these perceptions have been developing as early
as 7 years old, and only get more serious as you grow older (Grabe, Ward,
Hyde). These impressionable perceptions are most likely based on the
communications theory that repeated exposure to media content leads
viewers to begin to accept media portrayals as representations of reality. 1
out of every 100 young people in America are starving themselves, and 4 out
of 100 are throwing up their meals after ingesting to keep their healthy
weight. Because the majority of women the media is showcasing are so
distortedly thin, it is not only promoting a standard that is realistically

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impossible, but also making it unlikely for anyone to be comfortable with
their own body.
Author of The Body Project, Joan Brumberg states that the female
ideal, and the pressure to achieve it, has become unrelenting. Not only are
women encouraged to be thin, they are presented with a physical ideal that
is diametrically opposed to the softness and curves more natural to the
female body. This is demonstrated through the findings of a study conducted
by Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts on females
attending college. 70% of these girls said that they felt worse about their
physical appearance after flipping through a womens magazine. One of the
researchers, Deborah Schooler, backed up this evidence by stating, people
see the same images over and over and start to believe its a version of
reality. If those bodies are real and thats possible, but you cant attain it, how
can you not feel bad about your own body (Body Image)?
Not only is the standard the media is upholding unrealistic, but its
totally stereotyping different body types. It has become a natural association
when someone is thin that they are automatically assumed to be successful,
hardworking, beautiful, popular, self-disciplined, and strong. While being
overweight is linked to being lazy, ugly, ignorant, hated, lacking in willpower, and weak. In consequence, being overweight is no longer a physical

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characteristic- its a sign of your moral character (Body Image). Being fat or
skinny shouldn't dictate if you are a successful or good human being. You
cant just look at someone and observe whether their in shape or not and
know whether or not theyre a decent person. We have to stop relying what
someone looks like to judge their character.
What is currently desirable is shown in several different ways through
the media- and media is literally everywhere. Now a days I cant even look on
Facebook or Twitter without seeing at least three professionally
photoshopped photos of Victorias Secret models looking stick thin, naturally
sexy, and content. The media advertising is giving the idea that because
these women are thinner than average and using these particular beauty
enhancers, they are happy and successful in life. It is a very well known ideal
in both the entertainment and advertising industry that being thin is often
associated with wealth, success, and status ("Body Image: What Role Does
the Media Play?). I often see reports of celebrities at the beach, with
exposed cellulite, looking like an average person, and headlines stating how
theyve fallen off the wagon! or their gaining so much weight! when really
it is a raw, unphotoshopped image of that persons body. The media even
criticizes the people they make us yearn to be. For example, Khole
Kardashian was publicly critized for years about her naturally thick build, to
the point where she literally started going to the gym for hours, participating

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in detox cleanses, and wearing a waist shaper (if you werent aware, this is
basically a new corset that shrinks your waist).
It is, however, true that there is a another side to the story. The side
that states that it is unfair to exclusively blame the media for womens body
image ills. Those involved in the decision making processes for the
entertainment and advertisement industries build their empires on
prevailing tastes and historical/cultural norms ("Body Image: What Role Does
the Media Play?).
A recent poll given from the app called Meetville reports that 59% of
respondents believed that the influence on anorexia is largely exaggerated.
These people saying this also said they think that the medias role in
anorexia and eating problems is overrated. Doctor Kevin Fleming, who
works with patients who have eating disorders, agrees to an extent. I think
media is hugely related to a lot of this, but if your brain is balanced you
stand a better chance to cope with triggers. There are dynamics that have
nothing to do with the media. The problem, in many of the cases at least,
has to do with emotional dysregulation set points, and/or the family
namely, schizophrenogenic families. A psychological dysfunction can lead to
a dissociative state, which can be exacerbated by media type influences
(Dovey).

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Reporter for the Huffington Post, Lauren Berninger makes a good
argument about this issue stating that even though it is true that the media
plays a powerful influence on shaping our perceptions, we cannot just
continue to blame them for every negative thought that pops into a girls
head. She states that instead of crying about how we dont all look like
supermodels, we should be actively be seeking the support and guidance of
encouraging teachers, parents, or trusted leaders to help us feel better about
ourselves and stand in as the positive role models that the mass media has
failed to produce. Now is the time to get fed up with waiting for change to
magically happen and start being the change you want to see (Berninger).
She says young girls shouldnt be looking to celebrities as their role models,
and we should rather be looking at the wonderful ladies in our countrys
history that were trailblazers to inspire us.
While I can say that I can see where this side has its point, I still
believe that the media plays a large role in the issue. In some aspects, I
couldnt agree with Lauren Berninger any less! She is right, we shouldnt be
idolizing these celebrities. We should be looking up to better role models that
have made greater marks on our history than just posing on a cover of a
magazine in a bikini or walking down a runway in uncomfortably tall high
heels. This is however, not likely to happen unless our generation is exposed
to these prolific women in settings other then an boring high school history

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class. We have to face the facts that young girls are only inspired by women
that are powerful, but that are also confident. These women that are
normally portrayed this way, are thin. While I understand that these ladies
have the time and money to go train in the gym for hours with a professional
trainer, this is in no way realistic to the thousands of college girls that are
sitting in their dorm rooms studying, writing papers, and whom only have a
selected number of on-campus fast-food restaurants to eat at and barely any
time to spend working out for hours, nonetheless, have the money to pay for
an expensive trainer to get them in shape.
In a world where we rely on the media to let us know whats going on,
they need to be using that power to spread good messages about everyones
body- no matter their shape or size. They should not only limit powerful
models at being six foot tall and a size double zero instead of more
curvaceous women who have something important to say or have
accomplished something outstanding. It is their job to expose us to things
that are possible, not unrealistic stick-thin women who havent eaten in a few
days. Dont give me Kate Moss, let me see Mindy Kaling! Its important for
young girls to be influenced by strong, confident, and successful women. If
they have cured cancer, they should be exposed for how great they are no
matter if they are a little overweight or not.
While our country is not on this page quite yet, other countries, such as
France are making huge strides towards improving their nations girls body

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image. Early this April, Frances proposed Health Bill which includes a law
that bans the use of excessively thin fashion models got the majority vote
in their National Assembly lower house of Parliament. This is absolutely
amazing news! France wasnt the first country to establish this legislation, it
followed behind Spain, Italy, and Israel. This is the first law of its kind to so
explicitly address body image in the fashion industry, as well as its effects on
society as a whole. This law is supposed to fight off negative body image and
the increase of eating disorders both on and off the runway. This law
would outlaw any model walking the catwalk with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of
less than 18. They even made it so that advertisements that have been
photoshopped their models to look thinner are required by law to be labeled
saying so. Even taking it a step further, any modeling agents that are caught
condoning anorexia in their clients will face very expensive fines and even up
to six months in jail (Mei). While this is a huge step in the right direction, that
I can only hope the United follows soon, it doesnt come without its
loopholes. A BMI isnt exactly a dependable measurement of a persons
health. Its purely based upon a ratio of height to weight, and doesnt
consider other factors into view. This could possibly affect the women who
truly are naturally thin, to be unfairly skinny shamed which is just as uncool
as fat shaming.

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I have experienced both of these perspectives. When I was in middle
school, I was an early bloomer, unlike any of my tiny pre-puberty friends. I
was told multiple times in middle school that I was fat and needed to lose
weight. Several of my close friends even made fun of me for my more
curvaceous body type which was even more painful to deal with. For the
remainder of my years, from middle school up until high school, I skipped
both breakfast and lunch every single day. Even when I lost a ton of weight in
high school, people made fun of me. People starting saying I looked anorexic,
which based upon my current habits, wasnt totally untrue. Nonetheless, it
was very upsetting for me. It wasnt until I was a senior in high school that I
actually began to lose weight in a healthy way. I started realizing that the
women I wanted to emulate were not at all Victorias Secret models. I wanted
to feel beautiful and curvy like a realistic, and confident woman. I started
realizing little by little that I wanted to be recognized for what I have
accomplished and not by what I look like on the outside. Its no longer about
what the number on the scale is, but how I feel about my lifestyle in general.
My self worth is valued way more than my physical appearance, its by who I
am; my talents, passions, morals, and personality. Living a healthy lifestyle
isnt just about going to the gym a thousand hours a week and being 90
pounds: its about self-love and self-acceptance.

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While some believe that the topic of medias impact on body image is
overrated and overdone, I am very confident that this battle is far from over.
This issue is even bigger then ever in a world that is so revolved around
media-based social networks. We are so constantly being shown these
photoshopped images of skinnier than normal women that it has become our
ideal body type to emulate. This is wrong. We should be exposing women of
every body type and celebrating the beauty in every unique body shape. We
should be emulating a healthy body, and be advertising how to live healthy
and active lifestyles, in affordable, realistic, and healthy ways.
This issue matters to every girl I know. I dont know one girl that I am
friends with that hasnt gone on some extreme diet or cleanse in order to say
that she is a size smaller than she was before. Its not about being healthy
for ourselves; its about being skinny enough for the world. That cannot go
on for much longer. It needs to be about loving and accepting our unique
bodies for what they are, and then striving to lead a healthy lifestyle in order
to keep our beautiful selves in good health. We have to stop comparing
ourselves to these unrealistic images in order to accept who we are. We cant
start doing this until the media starts exposing us to a more attainable
standard of the ideal body for women everywhere.

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Works Cited
Berninger, Lauren. Stop Blaming the Media for Our Body Image Issues.
Huffington Post.

Huffington Post. 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 April 2015.

"Body Image." Health Promotion. Brown University. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.

"Body Image: What Role Does the Media Play?" National Centre for Eating
Disorders. The

British Medical Association. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.

Dovey, Dana. "Anorexia Not Entirely The Media's Fault, Says 59% Of Meetville
Poll

Respondents." <i>Medical Daily</i>. IBT Media, 25 Sept.

2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.

Grabe, Shelly, Janet Shibley Hyde, and L. Monique Ward. "The Role of the Media in Body
Image Concerns Among Women: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental and
Correlational

Studies." <i>Psychological Bulletin</i> 134.3 (2008): 460-76. American

Psychological

Association. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.

Mei, Gina. Lets talk about Frances proposed ban on excessively thin models. Hello
Giggles. 7 April 2015. Web. 12 April 2015.

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Sheldon, Pavica. "Pressure To Be Perfect: Influenceson College Students Body Esteem."
<i>Southern Communication Journal</i> 75.3 (2012): 277-98. Routledge. Web.
28 Mar.

2015.

Van Vonderen, Kristen E., and William Kinnally. "Media Effects on Body Image:
Examining

Media Exposure in the Broader Context of Internal and

Other Social Factors." American

Communication Journal 14.2

(2012): 41-57. University of Central Florida. Web. 28 Mar.

2015.