The Perception of the Adolescents Body Image - Research Paper Example

Teenagers Brain: Effects of the Media on Adolescents Body Image Table Content Chapter INTRODUCTION 1 background 1.2 Research Questions Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Relationship between idealized beauty and success 2.2 Shaping self-identities 2.2.1 Icons 2.2.2 Feminist’s Perspective 2.3 Influence of Advertisements 2.3.1 Magazines 2.3.2 Television 2.3.3 Power of Comparison Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Methods 3.2 Data analysis 3.3 Inherent limitations of methodology and evidence Chapter 4: CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 4.1 Conclusions 4.2 Indications or directions for further study Chapter 5: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 background Media is a major persuasive force in teenagers. Teenagers are exposed to different channels of media from when they are at home, in the malls, on the road, and even in schools. They spend a significant amount of time interacting with different forms of media such as TV, internet, music and video games. The media creates, produces and promotes the consumption of a multitude of theories, information and ideas that influence the way teenagers perceive themselves. From a tender age, the media paints to the female adolescents that being thin is ideal, which is significantly less than the average woman. With continued exposure to this kind of media, the female adolescents begin to perceive thinness as the ideal norm and that they need to make more sacrifices and effort to attain it. Extended exposure to this type of media and body image makes adolescent girls to view their bodies as objects which have real value to the world only in the ideal form. Values and the ability of girls to control and improve their lives in general is based on the physical beauty and the success to control weight. The media shows that thinness is measure of how a woman is able to control their body and therefore has power over their social world (Goodman, 2002). The normalized ideal body image affects the adolescents more since the pressure to become thin comes at the time when adolescents are going through major changes in their bodies. As they mature, more weight is gained and deposited around the thighs, hips and the lower torso thereby leading to a deviation from the standard body. This makes them very dissatisfied with their body image. The perception of the adolescent’s body image is therefore far from being an objective evaluation, but rather it is a mental construct that affects how they feel and think about themselves and their appearance. 1.2 Research Questions The research in this study will be aimed at providing more insights into this topic by answering this research question. How does the media, both in print and poplar magazines influence the perception of adolescents’ self-images and body images? To answer this question, a survey was conducted and the survey questions were divided into two parts. In the first part, the following question were used: 1. Between the media, friends, parents and teachers, who do you think influences your body image? 2. How would you describe the male body image portrayed by the media? 3. To what extent do you think the male body mages portrayed by the media influence how men think and feel about themselves? 4. How would you describe the female body image portrayed by the media? 5. To what extent do you think the female body mages portrayed by the media influence how men think and feel about themselves? 6. Do you think that the normalized body images by the media are ideal? 7. Are the normalized body images realistic? 8. How many people do you know that have the portrayed ideal body images? 9. Do you think that there are misconceptions with the ideal body images portrayed by the media? 10. In what type of media do you see the idealized body image between the TV shows, movies and magazines? The second part of the survey was intended to collect data on student’s perception of their own body image. The information from this survey was collected from the teachers. The following questions were asked: 1. Does the students pay more attention to their body image? If so, how do they show it? 2. Do you think the students are under pressure to conform to specific body images? 3. Where do you think most of the pressure comes from? 4. Do you think that teachers have a role to play in shaping the perception of students on their body image? If so, how can teachers be supportive to help students suffering from negative body image and low self-esteem as a result of deviant body images? Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Relationship between idealized beauty and success This study, alongside other studies have examined this phenomenon by targeting popular beauty and fashion magazines and the influence they have on adolescents’ body images as well as their role in supporting the idea that success and happiness are derived from body image. Specifically, the female adolescents are more affected since their happiness and success are linked to normative mental constructions that are meant to enhance the promotion of thinness as the epitome of beauty and good state of health. Such ideals are, however, very unhealthy and unrealistic due to the inherent choices that the adolescents make in a bit to look as healthy and beautiful such as making poor and unhealthy choices in order to prevent excessive gain of weight. The problem is not with the female adolescents only as the male too are also very much prone to the media construction of their ideal body image and appearance. In modern times, there is an increasing focus on men to conform to the masculine shape and body image such as by desiring to increase their weight and body mass along the shoulders. In a study, Body Image and the Appearance Culture among Adolescent Girls and Boys, it was reported that there are major issues with body images in men and adolescent boys to develop masculinity. The study provides more insights into the notion that the media has great negative influence on the way both girls and boys think and feel about their body images. 2.2 Shaping self-identities There were multiple studies conducted in the last decade to explore the effects of media on the perception of the body image of teenagers. Research indicates that the media has immense direct influence on the development of either negative or positive perception of their own self-image or body image especially through the screen and print media in form of advertisement. The use of icons in media as well as the examination of the feminist’s point of view provides the role of the media in shaping self-identities 2.2.1 Icons Through the media, adolescents view the image of their icons, people they admire such as actresses, actors and models, most of who are mostly in the 5%category of people who have achieved the ideal image portrayed by the media. The icons have great impact in shaping the identities and self-concept of the adolescents. The adolescence period as viewed by many theories as a very dangerous period since it I the time teenagers are forming their self-identity based on the role models and icons in their lives. Due to the prevalence of the use of media by the adolescents, major icons to be followed influence their body images. 2.2.2 Feminist’s Perspective A large volume of information on the realm of self-identities and concepts is based on the feminist perspective. The empirical evidence focus mainly on media’s structural influence and female audiences with a view of demystifying the normalized image portrayed as the standard one. This research concurs with the fact that the media has led to adoption of a very unrealistic body image, especially in females, thereby leading to enhancement of body dissatisfaction. When young girls are dissatisfied with their look or body type, they may face danger in their future lives such as lack of self-confidence, low self-self-esteem and eating disorders. The empirical evidence on this realm is based on the observation that overweight and obese people are less likely to be presented in the Television or beauty and fashion magazines compared to their real representation in the mainstream population. Both overweight and obese men and women are portrayed in the media as having some flaws of negative characteristics such as health or social issues compared to those who are underweight or average (Greenberg et al 2003). In this case, feminists feel that adolescent females have increased tendencies to develop a negative attitude towards big body images due to their heavy exposure to the overrepresentation of the body types that are underweight since that it taken to mean that such body types are the standard ones. 2.3 Influence of Advertisements The use of models or celebrities in advertisements has been noted to have a great influence in shaping the body image of adolescents. 2.3.1 Magazines In popular fashion magazines, advertisements feature very thin male and female models and celebrities. Research shows that adolescents exposed to this types of body types are influenced into pressure to conform to such body images and therefore have negative moods and great body dissatisfaction compared those who are exposed to magazines with neutral body images. Adolescents exposed to thin models have also been reported to have low self-confidence and self-esteem compared to those exposed to models with neutral images. 2.3.2 Television Television, just like beauty a fashion magazines have a major influence on the way adolescents perceive their body images. Research indicate that watching television for about 30 minutes has the power to change the mentality of a teenager with regards to their body image. When neutral-image and body-image commercials are aired for long hours repeatedly, there is a great fluctuation in the way adolescents thinks and feel about themselves. For instance, airing of commercials with neural-image has the tendency to restore the body image the adolescents already have. However, the exposure to commercials with the underweight models then fluctuates the feeling to appearance anxiety and body image dissatisfaction. The fluctuations of the perception of their body images depending on the type of body portrayed by the media asserts that the media has great influence of shaping the perception of the body images of teenagers exemplified by the fostered new desire of worries, needs and desires after watching the commercials. 2.3.3 Power of Comparison Research conducted on the effects of using thin models for advertisement reveals that adolescents male and female compare themselves with the images they see on Television and in the popular fashion magazines since they are at the time when their bodies are maturing and changing, and therefore, they want their bodies to conform into the normalized body images. Comparison of real body images with that of the ad has the implication of leaving the adolescents with a feelings of negative body image. In order for them to reassure themselves that their body images are ‘not that bad’, they focus more on comparing themselves. This becomes problematic when there is a great deviation between the ideal body and the real bodies because in such a case, they feel that they do not fit in the categories of beautiful body images thereby leading to withdrawal symptoms, negative body image, low self-confidence and low self-esteem because of body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, increased exposure to products with advisements featuring thin body types develop high levels of appearance anxiety and body shame. Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Methods Following the examination of the previous research and analysis of the available literate on this topic, this investigation was conducted in order to get a glimpse of the media presentation of the ultimate beauty and its influence in adolescent boys and girls. The eventual goal of this study is to provide more information based on critical and comprehensive education in media knowledge for adolescents, especially those joining high schools since they are the time when their bodies are rapidly changing and maturing, thereby making them very vulnerable to peer pressure. This study utilized a sample population of 25 students from the 8th grade. The class used in this study was mixed in order to get the perception of both girls and boys. The participants recruited for this study were predominately white as there were 88% white, 3% Latinos and 9% African American. This research was a fundamental part of developing insights into the concept of self-image and body-image as influenced by the media. Since this study was incorporated into the daily classroom situation, all the students in this class were required to participate in this study. However, the students had the freedom to choose the types of questions to respond to and are under no obligation to respond t all the questions rather than the ones desired. While the questionnaire survey had a close-ended structure, the students were provided with a space to write whatever they thought they should add in case they feel that there is a question that was not provided for in this investigation. There are two main primary methods that were utilized for gathering data; the first method involved collecting data from students and the next one was used to collect data from the teachers in order to determine the extent to which teachers perceive that the adolescents have been influenced by the media. The first part of the survey involving the questions to the students centered on questions related to aspects such as media, gender and body image while the second survey was related to personal questions such as body size and shape as well as weight. The completion of the surveys was anonymous in order to ensure that students gave honest answers, for those who would fear to give the right perception given that they were dissatisfied with their bodies for fear of discrimination. 3.2 Data analysis After the collection of data, it was analyzed in order to provide for interpretation of data so that it can make sense in the field of mass media. This research revealed that media plays a major role in shaping the perception of self-image ad body image in adolescents. while some of the previous studies indicated that media was among other factors that influence the perception of body image and self-image, this study noted that media was the most influential factor as it shaped the lives of the students in the class involved in this study with regards to how they perceived their own images. Some boys were more interested in developing more muscles in order to be attractive to girls. Girls were also reported to skip meals and starve in order to prevent them from gaining excessive weight. By comparing themselves to famous media personifies, actresses and models, they want to look as thin as thin as they are portrayed in popular health and fashion magazines and also in the commercials. Both boys and girls reported that although the media affected how they perceived their body image, such perceptions were not inherent in the general population as such stereotypical body images were not given much importance by the general population. Furthermore, this findings is consistent with previous research which indicates that the population of individuals with that type of body image portrayed by the media as perfect is only 5%. The participants also acknowledged that the magazines were the single most influential type of media that influenced their self-image. The second part of the survey was very insightful as it greatly contributed to the conclusions of this study. The data from this survey was not surprising since it is highly consistent with the previous findings. The figure below represents the body images which the students were required to select. When the females were asked what type image better described their body types, 80% of students choose the body types 3 and 4. However, when asked which body types they would love to be, 75% of the girls indicated that they would have wanted to be body types 2 and 3. This indicates that the media has great influence on how the female adolescents perceive themselves and the concept of beauty in their own body images. By observing the female students in the class, none of them looked obese or overweight. Furthermore, almost of the girls were on the same weight range. As such, it was a very disturbing to realize that 75% of the girls, who looked healthy and beautiful were dissatisfied by their body images and would rather be some inches slimmer. As in the featured body images, one can see that the preferred body images in number 1, 2, and 3 are very skinny. Following the analysis of this data, a correlation can be made between the responses of the students and the influence of the media in generating the desire to be more skinner. 3.3 Inherent limitations of methodology and evidence This study relied exclusively on primary data from students and teachers through self-report. The perception of body image, media and gender based on self-reported data presented some limitations for this study. This is because the information generated from self-report can have inaccurate data which is very difficult to standardize. Some 8th graders may have had difficulties interpreting information about themselves. Furthermore, they could have faces difficulties in understanding the questions as a result of rushed reading. Carelessness in reading, understanding and completing the forms can also lead to unreliable and inaccurate data. Moreover, the perception of different participants has no way of getting standardized, and therefore, there is a great gap and differences in perceptions that cannot be accounted for. The study tried to minimize this limitation by having some investigators aid the participants in the process of filling in the questionnaire by ensuring that they carefully read and comprehended the questions before filling in questionnaire. The sample for their study was also biased since it only involved students from the same class and were predominantly from the white community. It is therefore not correct to say that this sample is a clear and precise representation of the general adolescents since it does not capture well the perception of an equal number of other communities. Chapter 4: CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 4.1 Conclusions The information gathered in this study was clearly reinforcing what is already known and understood about the stereotypes about the ideal body image. Both girl and boys had different perceptions of what they viewed to be the ideal beauty. While boys selected images with added weight and muscles such as bulging shoulders and wide chests and the images of the beautiful women as those who are curvy and are costly dressed, girls preferred body images with less details on areas such as in their lower torso and the hips in order to make the look slimmer. Other indicators of ultimate beauty according to girls involved details such as style, hair color, facial complexion as well as their perception towards weight loss programs and dieting tips. This study revealed that the most popular magazines according to the students are those that illustrated the most exaggerated and pervasive messages about body images. The conclusion drawn from this research indicates that most of the empirical research that have held that the media has great influence in the mental constructions of the body images of teenagers was a true and fair representation the state of affairs. The study shows that the student’s view is in alignment with the constant barrage of the media that advocates for the scantily dressed and skinny females while men’s image in reinforced to be the half-naked, tan, muscular and buff. The adolescents in schools today have great exposure to different types of media especially from the television and the magazines. Adolescents read such magazines every day and that is how they get the perception of what is considered ‘cool’ in terms of clothing, fashion and healthy issues. The magazines influence them into thinking that being slim and scantily dressed in ‘cool’ and that it adds to their power, influence and control in different life spheres since it signifies that one is able to take control of their lives. The print media and, specifically the magazines are very strong in their influence power. 4.2 Indications or directions for further study Future research will be required in order to provide an explanation of the ultimate beauty based on that fact that there is a difference between the beauty portrayed in the media and the real images of the icons, celebrities and the models are totally different. While commercials use celebrities and models that have flawless bodies to market their products, some of the celebrities used are popular but not flawless. In this digital era, technology is applied to manipulate the images used in the magazines in order to reflect the ultimate beauty. The doctored images are then portrayed as the perfect bodies that are highly acceptable and normal. However, the digital alteration and air brushing leads to fake and distorted and, therefore, cannot be used as a reflection of the ultimate beauty. Furthermore, future research should be considered with providing insights into ways in which adolescents can determine natural beauty from that which is manipulated surgically. The concept of self-identities, self-image and ultimate beauty has forced many celebrities to undergo cosmetic surgery since the beauty portrayed by the media is not sufficiently achieved my many people. it is therefore very sad to see that adolescents boys and girls are struggling to copy surgically induce body images, since it only means that they have to go through a long process before they realize that the results cannot be achieved manually. Chapter 5: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY There were three major references were used for this study. “Body Image and the Appearance Culture among Adolescents Girls and Boys” by Diane Calson Jones. University of Washington. This article was utilized in this study to provide information on the effects of peer influence that is inherent in magazines and how they present the ideals that shape the perception of adolescent boys and girls regarding their body images. this article concludes that there are more girls that boys who are affected by the media as they are increasingly getting affected by negative self-images and dissatisfaction with their body images, thereby leading to dangerous practice such as dieting and unhealthy practices such as diet pills. “Television Images and Adolescence Girls’ Body Image Disturbance” by Renne Botta. This article was used to provide information about the role of television and aired commercials in the changing perception of the body images of the adolescents. “The Relationships between Reading Beauty and Fashion Magazines and the Use of Pathogenic Dieting Methods among Adolescent Females” by Thomsen Steven, Weber Michelle and Brown Beth Lora- Adolescence. This article was also utilized in this study to provide information about the specific relationship between the reading appearances that are portrayed in the magazines and the reflection of the body image of girls. The article reveals that girls are becoming fonder of reading magazines which ends up defining them with regards to their body shape and size. Read More