Influence of Fashion Magazines on People's Perception of Beauty - Term Paper Example

The media has become one of the most important aspects of the society of today. In our everyday today life, we often interact with one form of the media; especially beauty magazines and newspapers. As a consequence of this exposure, there are several images portrayed in these magazines the eventually corrupt our minds and thus change our own perception of beauty, lifestyles, and attractiveness. The images of celebrities are often regarded as supermodels and thus many people spend their time and money in an effort to become mirror images of their idols. As a matter of fact people should realize that celebrities and other idols are just nothing but mere human beings. Teenagers as well as adults risk their lives by changing their eating habits and even taking pills so as to achieve a desired ideal look (Mintz & Betz 153-195). Some individuals are even much willing to undergo plastic surgery so that they can achieve the desired images which they have observed from beauty magazines. Such lean looking models which are common in beauty magazines may have significant influence on the eating habits of many people and the most affected group is young women. The major force that pulls people to the idea of beauty and perfection of body image is most likely to be associated with exposure to mass media. Beauty magazines adore thinness and as a result this is causing an epidemic of eating distress; this is because most beauty magazines are promoting low-weight ideal images as the perfect beauty. Recent research has proven that there is an increase in two types of eating disorders; anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (Rucker & Cash 216-299). Anorexia nervosa is a psychological eating disorder characterized by irregular eating habits and persistent fear of gaining weight. This is achieved through self starvation and uncontrolled loss of weight. Many people fall prey to the idealized images on fashion magazines and in their pursuit of attaining these body images; they reduce their rate of food consumption by indulging in risky crash diets. Bulimia nervosa is condition is commonly referred to as Bulimia and it is also a psychological eating disorder, which results from binge eating. After over-eating the affected individual develops guilty consciousness and begins to purge so as to compensate for the over-eating. Purging may take the form of fasting, vomiting, use of laxatives or diuretics. This eating disorder mostly affects women who are aged between 16-40 years of age (Seid 119-142). In these magazines, actors and models are portrayed as the most happy and successful people in the world with their young, toned, and thin images and since celebrities are considered to be symbols of perfection and beauty their psychological influence on people ha been discovered to be great from the perspective of beauty. As a result they induce body dissatisfaction which eventually results to the desire to become thin and perfect. This form of media drives people who lack the idealized shape to believe that their life would be back to normal if they become thin and under this influence they result to almost starving themselves or engaging in dangerous practices to achieve this desired figure (Morris & Cooper 512-596). Several chemical beauty companies have realized this phenomenon and thus they have manufactured slimming products. Even though the companies don’t openly broadcast this impression in their advertisements, there exists a psychologically subtle message that creates a potent desire to achieve the perfection. Through the use of carefully manipulative strategies, there exist sufficient evidence that behind the posture of lean body lies nothing but the lust for huge profits. Thus, with more and more people willing to become lean and perfect, the advertisers have become opportunistic and misused this weakness of the society to achieve their personal interests. Of late, there is an increased habit of people becoming physically aware of their images so as to be physically attractive to the society in general (Irving 219-242). The advertisements in these magazines simply brainwashes the reader and the audience and eventually they begin believing on the ideology of beauty and perfection. Through beauty magazines the media has sparked off another ideology of achieving perfection and beauty through plastic surgery. Currently, we live in an age where plastic surgery is no longer discouraged but adored but promoted through the media. The urge of becoming beautiful has driven many innocent men and women to undergo the knife in an effort to attain their desired looks. Various magazines have been encouraging the youth to undergo plastic surgery by featuring talk shows hosted by the likes of Oprah wintry, Jerry Springer, and many others. This has led to an increase of the number of people looking forward to attain this beauty and perfection (Morris & Cooper 512-596). One feature about adolescents is the fact that their physique is an integral part of their development and thus the ideology of thinness developed by fashion magazines and other forms of media may inhibit this group young people from appreciating this basic stage of development and instead developing negative opinions on they look after viewing and reading these fashion magazines. Additional research is required to investigate the role of magazines on the social development of the youth since the mounting pressure of becoming thin as portrayed by fashion magazines may prevent young successful women from developing self-esteem and identity. There exists no problem of dressing like your role model but unfortunately this urge to perfectly look like your model is getting out hand (Ogletree 97). There are increasing numbers of the people who are promoting the advantages of having a healthy body and thus they are issuing warnings about the dangers associated with unhealthy body weights. Most of the fashion magazines cannot shift their focus on the development of thin bodies to healthy ones and it is almost impossible to observe voluptuous models walking on the aisle or when did we ever have a beauty pageant who is overweight?. The influence generated from fashion magazines has resulted to the creation of ideal images which are almost impossible for every to achieve. Unhealthy eating habits have been as a result of people’s failure to cut down their weight and become thinner and these habits result to severe harmful healthy conditions and the affected people undergo traumatic experiences (Irving 219). Large populations of people who are suffering from eating disorders are mostly women and young girls who care much about their appearances and are running after becoming petite and thinner at the expense of their health and fitness. Sometimes this group of people eats compulsively; an eating disorder where an individual is unable to control his/her food consumption schedule. This disorder is different from Bulimia from the fact that an individual does not purge food but instead continues to eat even though he is not feeling hungry. Eventually the person becomes obese because he/she consumes food for pleasure and comfort (Mintz & Betz 153-195). Another disorder which is different from eating is known as body dysmorphic disorder. This is whereby an individual develops a distorted perception about his appearance. Since the fashion magazines have created ideal images of how ‘real’ people should look like, and in the real sense they are the most adored body images. There arises a group of people who are ready to undergo any type of surgical operation or chemical treatment to ensure that their images conform to the in the images advertised in the fashion magazines. Their only wish is to have the looks of Jennifer Anniston or Angelina Jolie regardless of the pain and the cost they will have to undergo. So it seems that the magazines are sending the wrong information but however the fans and believers of this information can also be considered not to be wise (Koff et al 41-68). Schools of communication have identified this issue as a threat to body image perception and thus they have begun to study these habits keenly. Several research projects are focused on analyzing the consequences of media reports on body image perception and the findings are not welcoming since most of the studies have concluded that there is a significant relationship between eating habits and fashion magazine reading in addition to body dissatisfaction and this is a sufficient indicator that the media plays a major role and it is the cause of strange eating habits. The major drawback emanates from the fact that young people don’t admire to be just good-looking but they want to be a copyright of their idols (Mallick 157). Many individuals have undergone breast and facial implants, nose jobs, liposuction, and several other surgical procedures to completely change their images such that they can look like their models and this is a sufficient evidence of how people can go far beyond their means in an effort to look like celebrities. We cannot deny the fact that the media is having a big impact on our lifestyles and this can be observed from the changing habits of the society. Despite the fact that fashion magazines are considered to be informative, we eventually come to realize that they have turned to tyrannical objects which penetrate and brainwash our minds slowly without our consent. Even though the society is aware of the risky process of plastic surgery, the painful recovery process, and the ever-increasing reports of deaths from anorexia and other related eating habits conditions, the reaction from the public has been negative from such health risks (Koff et al 41-68). So long as these fashion magazines continue to support the ideologies of image perfection, many people continue to achieve that total ultimate perfection so that they can win the appraisal from their similar larger communities that they have achieved their main goal of being beautiful by attaining the image that they were after. However, with the evolution of the society today, it is hard to conform to the societal norms and it is almost impossible to change the perspective. So with the continued consistency by the media to support the implementation of the changing lifestyles and perceptions into the society which has turned up to be after money, fame, and beauty hence these magazines have eventually subtly turned up to alter our own confidence and self esteem where they are based on abilities and character at the expense of our physical abilities (Irving 219-242). These societal changes have been the cause to the ever-escalating increase to the cases of health disorders and the growing habits of plastic surgery. Thus, we can point an accusing finger to the media and fashion magazines to constantly urge people to emulate celebrities as role models, this problem can be solved through parental guidance and installation of some restrictions and moral ethics on the media as this seems to the only possible solution to this dilemma. As individuals, we certainly need to redefine our perception towards the ideal images and understanding on how to appreciate our well being and this will exactly lead us to where we fit in the society. The society is ready to absorb full-figured healthy models than those that are skinny and famished (Pierce 59-68). There exist a number of talented oversize models who are struggling to earn their points in the fashion industry but unfortunately their opportunities are limited to the set standards. Additionally, there also exist teenagers who are in the process of recuperating from their anorexic and bulimic conditions and are ready to be return back to their normal lifestyles. Majority of the audience is ready to gradually change their lifestyles but with the presence of a persistent stream of fashion magazines, the process is becoming more difficult (Mintz & Betz 153-195). Thus we can conclude that fashion journals have contributed a great deal on how people perceive their own image. Those that feel they posses obstructed personal images struggle through thick and thin to ensure that they get the image of their idol. Fashion magazines have supported images that are slim and this has resulted to funny eating disorders where in severe cases they lead to starvation and eventual death (Lamb & Jackson 321-358). Works Cited 1. Irving, L. “Mirror Images: Effects of the Standard of Beauty on the Self- And Body-Esteem of Women Exhibiting Varying Levels of Bulimic Symptoms.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 9 (1990): 219-242. 2. Koff, E., Rierdan, J. & Stubbs, M. “Gender, Body Image, and Self-Concept in Early Adolescence” Journal of Early Adolescence, 10(1990): 41-68. 3. Lamb, C. & Jackson, L. “Body Figure Preferences Of Men And Women: A Comparison of Two Generations” Sex Roles, 28(1993): 321-358. 4. Mallick, M. “Behavioral and Psychological Traits of Weight-Conscious Teenagers: A Comparison of Eating-Disordered Patients and High- And Low-Risk Groups” Adolescence 22(1987): 157-68. 5. Mintz, L. & Betz, N. “Sex Differences in the Nature, Realism, and Correlates of Body Image” Sex Roles 15(2002): 153-195. 6. Morris, A. & Cooper, P. “The Changing Shape of Fashion Models” International Journal of Eating Disorders 8(1997): 512-596. 7. Ogletree, S. “Female Attractiveness and Eating Disorders: Do Childrens Television Commercials Play a Role?” Sex Roles 22(1990): 738-797. 8. Pierce, K. “A Feminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization of Teenage Girls through Seventeen Magazine” Sex Roles 23 (2004): 442-500. 9. Pierce, K. “Socialization of Teenage Girls through Teen-Magazine Fiction: The Making of a New Woman or an Old Lady?” Sex Roles 29(2001): 59-68. 10. Rierdan, J. & Stubbs, M. “A Longitudinal Analysis of Body Image as a Predictor of the Onset and Persistence of Adolescent Girls Depression” Journal of Early Adolescence 9(1999): 428-466. 11. Rucker, C. & Cash, T. “Body Images, Body-Size Perceptions, And Eating Behaviors Among African-American and White College Women” International Journal of Eating Disorders12 (2000): 216-299. 12. Seid, R. Never Too Thin: Why Women are at War With Their Bodies. New York: Prentice-Hall, 2008 Read More