Minority Women: Body Image, Eating Disorders, and Media Influence - Research Paper Example

Minority Women: Body Image, Eating Disorders, and Media Influence Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction: 2 1.Aim of the Study: 4 1.2.Objectives of the Study: 4 2.Literature Review: 4 2.1.Influence of the Media: 5 2.2.Minority Women and Eating Disorders: 6 2.3.Minority Women and Their Body Images: 7 3.Research Methodology: 8 3.1.Research Philosophy: 8 3.2.Research Approach and Technique: 8 3.3.Collection of Data: 9 3.4.Ethical Considerations: 9 3.5.Credibility and Verification: 9 4.Findings and Analysis: 10 4.1.Body Image Issues in Minority Women: The Influence of the Media: 10 4.2.Eating Disorders in Minority Women: 13 5.Conclusion and Recommendations: 16 5.1.Recommendations for Solutions: 17 References 18 1. Introduction: Minority groups represent those sections of human beings who have very less or no power in the society. A majority of the society who hold significant power in the society are the ones who determine this particular section of minority. Such sections of minority are not always decided upon by their numbers. Women, although represent about half of the population across the globe, yet they are considered as a group of minority (Minority Groups, n.d.). Among the minority women groups present in the worlds, the African-African women, the black women, the Hispanic women are the most common groups that are considered as minors in the society and are treated similarly. Minority women across the globe are sufferers of several violence and torture and killings that are disproportionate as treatments reflected from the society as a whole. Countries including the United States, Sri Lanka, China, Kenya, Turkey, Israel, all present minority women in their societies who do not receive the respect of being humans (Minority and indigenous women deliberately targeted for sexual and other violence, says MRG on International Women’s Day, 2007). Influence of the media, and issues associated with body images and eating disorders are extremely common among minority women that are the main concern of understanding in this particular research. Considering the influence of the media, it is a matter of significant concern that the media portrays the minority section of women poorly in front of the world. Media sources are stereotypes in the way they present black women and minority groups. The influence of the media is such that these minority women become more unable to define themselves effectively in front of their society. On the other hand, their self esteem gets affected when they are compared with others in the society that causes them great harm instead of any good to the society as a whole (Thompson 2013). Black women are most commonly found to suffer from issues related to their body images and eating disorders as well. They undergo stages of anxieties in deciding upon their diets and eating habits, particular as they are compared against the white women in the society (Romney, n.d.). 1.1. Aim of the Study: The aim of the study is to have an understanding on the influence of the media, and the issues related to eating disorders and body images in minority women, and their impacts of them trying to determine potential measures of treatment to the issues. 1.2. Objectives of the Study: Considering the aim of the study, the following objectives have been set: To have a detailed understanding of the influence of the media on minority women To understand how eating disorders and body images impact the lives of the minority women To try to determine ways that can bring solutions to the impacts affected on minority women 2. Literature Review: The most important reason for conducting this research is that minority sections in different societies across the world are formed by the powerful individuals and groups existing in the society, meaning that these individuals are not born as minors. They are born as normal human beings but are treated as minorities by the other influential and powerful sections of the society. Thus it can be said that they have the complete rights to live their lives their ways instead of being dominated by some powerful sections existing in the societies. Hence it is essential to bring in front of the world the problems and difficulties both physically and psychologically that these women suffer owing to the treatment and behavior of the society and the media. Several researchers have considered effective studies on this particular topic that will be discussed in this section of the study. As Roy (2001, p.52) explained in his studies, the treatment of the society influencing the poor relationship of the white and black women affects the black women to deal with their responsibilities as women effectively and hence fail to live up to the mark of a woman in the society. Racial inequality is a significant issue that affects the normal healthy living of minority women. It is in most cases that the job of the servants and caregivers are performed by the minority women while the influential and powerful groups take up high official and well acclaimed jobs (Roy, 2001, p.152). 2.1. Influence of the Media: Croteau and Hoynes (2003, p.212) in the studies discussed that the media is known to influence the minority sections of women by always marginalizing them against the powerful sections of the people. Stereotypical images of women have always been presented by the media sources. While on one hand, the media has focuses and brought in front the need to struggle for the rights of women in the society; on the other hand, it is this media that presents inequality in the frequency of men and women being portrayed in front of the world. For example, if television is considered, which is one of the most effective and influential source of media, then it has been observed that television portrays more men than women in lead roles. Most of the control over the media and production of images is also in the hands of the men than women. Minority women are not even considered in this list. While women as a whole are less represented powerfully by the media, the minority sections are almost ignored (Croteau and Hoynes, 2003, p.212). Browne (2006, p.183) has significantly focused on the fact that the media sources are most effectively influenced and controlled by powerful groups in the society. Hence the contents that are presented by the media are mostly controlled and led by these powerful groups. Minority groups of women are hence in most cases presented in association with troubles and crimes or that they are only housewives, mothers, or objects of sex. Such presentations to the world, being repetitive in nature tends to create stereotype images of these women in the minds of the audiences, thereby making a lower position or rank of these groups in the society (Browne, 2006, p.183). 2.2. Minority Women and Eating Disorders: Eating disorders have been significantly observed in minority women. As Lind and Brzuzy (2008, p.131) in their studies discussed about the research conducted by Becky Thompson, it clearly reflected on the eating disorders in minority women. Minority women are “diet, binge, and purge by older relatives” (Lind and Brzuzy, 2008, p.131) as they themselves too had followed presenting eating disorders in minority women in American cultures. Considering the Hispanic and black women of the different societies, as they present themselves as obese or plump, in most cases their eating disorders are ignored. Thus signs of the disorders are not noted either by the society at large or by these sections of people themselves (Lind and Brzuzy, 2008, p.131). Cassell and Gleaves (2009, p.14) mentioned in their studies that researches on African-American women have obtained around 2 percent of these women suffering from eating disorders and 23 percent that present symptoms of eating disorders. Eating disorders have been found in high rates in these women causing high risks for the communities along with their dissatisfaction in relation to their bodies. Consideration the role of the society, very little has been done to reduce such discriminations of the women or to reduce the influence of the powerful media and sections of society on minor women. Early detection of eating disorders is highly essential to treat them at the earliest. With negligence of the society and the groups themselves, eating disorders and their symptoms are in most cases ignored and neglected increasing high risks of health issues in minority women, as the studies reflect (Cassell and Gleaves, 2009, p.14). 2.3. Minority Women and Their Body Images: Studies in relation to the body images of minority women had obtained that there are certain sections of these groups that are happy with their bodies, while there are other groups that are disappointed. For example, considering the case of Euro American women researches obtained that only 10 percent of these women were happy with their body images while others were not. In case of African American groups of women, it was found that around 70 percent of them were happy about their bodies, while rests were unhappy. The expectations of the formations of body images and beauty are different in different women in these sections. While some possess a highly positive attitude, others represent different views (Garcia, 2012, pp.121-122). However, the reality of such differences represent complex that involves development of self image and respect for the minority women in the society. Like all other women, these groups constantly face beauty related questions and competitions that lower their esteem considering the standards that the society expects women to deliver in terms of their body images and beauty (Garcia, 2012, pp.121-122). This is also indulged by the media that highlights women of the influential and powerful societies, women who are beautiful and white in color more and create the differences between them and the minority women. As a result, the self esteem of these groups of women lowers significantly causing disappointments with their body images. Thus from the literature review it could be obtained that minority women do not receive the treatment that they should receive as normal human beings. Instead they are completely distinguished from the powerful and influential society and from the women of the powerful societies in a way that the media presents them as a lower community, and they are sufferers of eating disorders, along with disappointments of their body images. 3. Research Methodology: 3.1. Research Philosophy: The philosophy that has been selected for this particular research involves a combination of positivism and interpretivism. According to positivism, evident facts in connection with a subject are obtained on the basis of scientific methods and hence the study and its results are unprejudiced in character. The interpretivism technique reflects upon the experiences of different individuals as can be obtained from their actions and opinions and consequently establishes an understanding on the concerned topic of research (Collins, 2010). 3.2. Research Approach and Technique: The research has been based on secondary research involving a qualitative research approach. Qualitative research engages a normal procedure of considering the concerned issue and makes use of obtainable information and records to conclude on result of the research. Accordingly individual experiences, earlier researches, and case studies are the sources based on which information is composed and examined for qualitative researches (Thomas, 2003). The present study has considered qualitative research method to determine an understanding on the minority women and the effects of media influence, eating disorders and body images. 3.3. Collection of Data: Collection of data for the research has been based on secondary sources that mostly include scholarly resources presenting researches conducted by previous researches on this particular topic. Secondary data are not new but can be used to come to a conclusion on the present research topic (Malhotra, 2008). Books, journals, and reports available on the internet have been mainly considered for this particular research. Primary data collection method has not been chosen for this study as it is more time consuming and more expensive that the secondary method. 3.4. Ethical Considerations: Ethical factors have been duly focused and taken care of and maintained while the research work was being conducted. Extreme care has been considered during the collection and analysis of information promising that professional ethics is not affected by any unauthorized actions. While dealing with the information related to minority women and impacts of the society and the media on them, concern has been taken on the subject of the boundaries of facts and their revelations. 3.5. Credibility and Verification: Books and journals have been mostly depended upon for the research as they are trustworthy in nature and provide with important information for the concerned topic of the study. Also, sufficient care has been taken to ensure that the internet websites used were not forged and that they did not have any comprised information that could be highly misleading for the result of the research. 4. Findings and Analysis: 4.1. Body Image Issues in Minority Women: The Influence of the Media: Body image represents the perception that one has about his/her own body. It can either be positive or negative. The society presents a view that thinness and beauty are more accepted and appreciated and hence body image does cause significant issues for the minority women in particular. In countries such as the United States, there are particular standards for beauty of women that several women cannot achieve for themselves. Minority women are subjected to same standards and their uniqueness of beauty is not accepted by the society. In such situations, the minority women tend to develop negative thinking about their body images. Impacts have been associated with the images and beauty of the body that media also highlights in front of the world that in turn distinguishes the minority women from the majority causing lowering of their self esteem and also de-motivating them towards caring of their health and body (Martin and Baugh, n.d., p.1). This can also be presented by the following data chart: Figure 1: Metabolic Syndrome in Minority Women (Jordan et al, 2004). This above figure presents the fact that minority women, in comparison to majority of women from the other groups in the society tend to suffer more from habits of smoking, obesity, and abnormality of their health (Jordan et al, 2004). It can be realized from this fact that with the media highlighting the standards of beauty as per the demands and decisions of the powerful and influential groups in the society, the minority groups of women are highly affected in terms of their self esteem and hence they tend to ignore their health conditions and choose to do things that in turn affect their health and body. While such influences and impacts are facts associated with the minority women, the present status of the society is such that focus is placed by the society and the media on those sections of the women who represent the world of beauty. Thus media highlights on the White women more than they consider the need to highlight the ways in which the minority women are being affected as a consequence of these standards of beauty. Over the recent years, researchers have taken the concern to study the increasing levels of dissatisfaction among the Black women and women belonging to groups such as the African-American, which is a cause of major concern for the world as a whole. In some cases the African-American women are positively motivated towards their body images resulting from their positive sense of racial identity (Hesse-Biber et al, 2004, pp.50-57). There are reports of the media being obsessed about unmarried black women targeting them and blaming them for not being able to choose the right black men for them. Such issues are more arisen by the media when black women, being considered as the minority women, succeed effectively in their education and career lives. The media sources that includes television, and the internet, are a major cause that increases the distinction between males and females, and between the minority women and women belonging to other high profile societies in the world (The Media v. Black Women: The Peculiar Case of the Media’s Obsession with Unmarried Black Women, 2010). It can be said in this case that the media is extensively involved in impacting upon the minority women in the world. Media is undoubtedly a very powerful and influential source of communication and media sources such as the television, the radio, or the internet have significant influence on their audiences, with such audiences being dependent on the media for information and knowledge on different issues. Most often they blindly follow what the media communicates without even realizing how such information and presentations might affect the normal loving of many people. For example, when minority women are presented as degraded objects in front of the world, the world rejects them without trying to understand how the society is itself responsible for such distinguished behavior. Thus while such minority women have wishes to live their lives normally, they tend to lose that confidence and self esteem to come in front of the world and hence impact their health, body and living drastically. The differences that the society and the media has influenced and impacted upon the minority women can be understood from the following chart: Figure 2: Racial Diversity in Fashion Show (Sauers, 2013). The above figure clearly reflects upon the influential differences that are brought in between the white and black women in a fashion week show in New York since the year 2008. Racial diversity is clearly presented by top brands of fashion in the show (Sauers, 2013). It can be realized from this that minority women are victims of severe discrimination thereby affecting their opportunities to grow and develop in the world of competition. Their careers, as well as their normal living are significantly affected by the society and the media and hence their disappointments with their body images are widespread. 4.2. Eating Disorders in Minority Women: Some researchers suggest that considering differences between white and black women, eating disorders have been more obtained in cases with white women than black women. This also reflects upon the fact that sufficient studies have not been made on the minority women to determine the eating habits and hence disorders in them. Rates of treatment are low in both cases of white and black women representing the fact that care is essential in this regard for both groups of women and hence the minority women are not the sole sufferers in this regard (Striegel-Moore et al, 2003, pp.1326-1331). The influence of the media, the disappointments of the minority women with their body images are in turn associated with their eating habits hence in most cases causing disorders in the women. As they are disappointed with their body images, they are in general tensed and in anxiety about what they should eat and what they should not. A thinner body is more demanded and targeted by the women of the higher class societies that include the white women, and hence they are more concerned with reducing their food intake causing disorders in them more than what occurs in the black women. Hence in terms of health, minority women tend to be more balanced and healthy than white women. However, eating disorders in minority women result from their eating of unhealthy foods, compulsive eating, and overeating. Owing to these reasons, majority of minority women tend to become obese and suffer from disorders owing to wrong and unhealthy food intake (Romney, n.d.). Figure 3: Folic Acid Supplement Use in Women (NCHS Data Brief, 2011). From the above figure it can be realized that women have the tendency to have supplements for their health and body instead of proper food and the results are such that non-Hispanic white women are the greater number of individuals who are taking these supplements. Thus it can be realized that considering eating disorders, the minority women are still in a better position than the high class society, however with concerns regarding the media influences, as well as the increasing rates of obesities in minority women. Coping with differences and discriminations have been found to affect the health and eating habits of minority women to a great extend. And, such a factor is greatly enhanced and spread by the media. Advertisers and media sources are greatly found responsible to present the effects of different food products and the need for dieting and reduced food intake for that purpose (Reed, n.d.). Although minority women have been found to be healthy and not indulge in dieting, it has been found that they are concerned with their body images that the society in general considers as degraded and hence it is their choice also to develop such eating habits that can influence their body and become beautiful to deal with the competition presented by the world. 5. Conclusion and Recommendations: The above study has been focused on having an understanding on the media influences, eating disorders, and body image issues related with minority women. It can be said that this is an essential topic of research as the impacts of the behavior and attitudes of the society, its policies, and the media on the minority women tend to affect their health, body, mind, and the normal living of the women in the society. As could be obtained from the study, it is the general policy of the society and the media to discriminate between the minority women and the other classes of women prevailing in the society. Such discriminations have caused minority women to be treated as degraded objects, and often as objects of sex, having no self value or esteem for themselves. They do not even get the correct opportunities to stand against the high class women in terms of their careers or fields of profession. Media having a strong influence on the general public, it is notable that when the media presents a view in regard to the minority women, people in general tend to belief in that and hence reject the minority women as normal human beings. In regard to the three factors focused in this research – media influence, eating disorders, and body image; it could be obtained that minority women are significantly impacted upon by these factors. Media influence comes from two sides. Firstly the media influences general masses in a way such that minority women are treated as degraded. Secondly, their presentations impact the lives of the minority negatively. This is associated with the body image of the minority women as they feel disappointed with their bodies when the media in particular present standards of beauty and differentiate between the minority women and other women of the high class powerful society. Although eating disorders have not been obtained to have any significant effects on the minority women, as they could be found to have healthy eating habits; however obesity is a major cause of concern among the minority women. Hence all these factors tend to have significant impacts on the lives of the minority women that require immediate action for solutions. 5.1. Recommendations for Solutions: The following recommendations could be suggested after conducting the above research: The society and the media need to behave more responsibly towards the minority women. The media needs to realize that minority women have been designated so by the society and hence they too deserve to have all the rights that others in the society are provided them. The media, instead of focusing on the facts of discrimination, needs to bring in front of the world the necessity to immediately attend to needs and demands of the minority women and help them to get encouraged towards a normal life, where they will not be treated as degraded. Also, it is essential for the society to discourage all forms of discrimination among women and the minority women, with all assistance, should be accepted in the society, and provided with sufficient opportunities to compete and stands against the other women in the society in any and every field of their lives. References Browne, K. 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