Women’s body imagineis a major issue that dates back numerous of years in the United States. In theculture we live in beauty is highly valued by women of all ages especiallyteenagers. Many teenagers look up to celebrities and models therefore theydirectly relate their appearance to those due to the demonstration of successthat those women have earned. Media hasset a portrayal of how women should look in today’s society to avoid unflatteringlabels. According to Mirror Mirror, a eating disorder help website, “thin-idealmedia highlights the idea that thinness is a good and desirable thing to be,even if it is to a level that is potentially damaging to a persons health.” Anidealization of thinness is postiviely correlated with body imagedissatisications which lead to many downsides such as eating disorders andsubstance abuse (Yamamiya).
Self-esteem plays a major role in overallconfidence of women ultimately due to the fact that body imagine has becomesuch an emphatic precedence. A group of psychologistshave examined the females brain through series of tests and discovered thatafter viewing thin-and-beautiful media images versus average-sized, oversize,or non-body images women have become more body dissatisfied (Yamamiya). Mediaplays a huge role in the “Artificial Beauty” condition that lead tomisunderstandings of how women should be seen. Many sources of media target theideal women which is impacting women in a negative way.
A test that took placeat Old Dominion University, had white females from ages 18 to 29 look at aslide show of white models and an additional emphasis (Yamamiya). The additional informationincluded control-info and media info. The study’s results indicate that even a5 min exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images resulted in a more negativebody image state than does exposure to images of neutral objects, particularlyamong young women.
