Ideal Body Image, Modeled by Mass Media - Research Paper Example

Nonverbal Communication Introduction Body image and its affect on consumer culture have an ongoing research and debate for a long time now. It is one of the examples of nonverbal communication which is so strong to an extent that consumers change their mind about the body image immediately they observe what is considered to be the ideal body image and size in either photographs or videos. Research by Featherstone (2010) and Bell, et al. (2007) are an indication of how the consumers and especially the younger generation aim to alter their body images simply from observing photographs or watching videos of others like them or even older with what they call “ideal” bodies. It is this nonverbal communication that leads to them attempting to transform their bodies to get the ideal body image. Summary of articles Featherstone describes body image as “a mental image of the body as it appears to others (Featherstone, 2010).” This definition is the epitome of nonverbal communication that is leading to consumers changing their bodies in a bid to appear like the others they watch in the media which is deemed acceptable by society. People are taking the image of the body as a form of social status and a way to be acceptable by the society. Social acceptability in this age and era is purely being based on the appearance of an individual from the face and how they generally look. The consumers do not need to be told about this in verbal form but simply have to watch the nonverbal communication cues that people with certain body types receive that are not given to others. Bell, et al. (2010) on the other hand has the same description of the consumer culture of especially the teenagers that is attained through watching of music videos. The article is based on a research carried out on young adolescent girls between the ages of 16 and 19 years and the level of dissatisfaction they get from their body images after watching music videos of scantily dressed girls with a certain body shape and type that seems to be acceptable by all and viewed as being perfect. The ones who do not observe the music videos do not have the body dissatisfaction and feelings of unacceptability leading to the conclusion that observation and exposure is what is causing the body images problems. Comparison The two articles by Featherstone (2010) and Bell, et al. (2007) are similar in their discussion and conclusion about the body images being affected much as a result of nonverbal communication especially from the videos and photos in the different media mediums. According to these nonverbal communication channels, the only socially acceptable body images is that of being thin and depict a model-like body as this brings out the perception of being sexy and beautiful. Anything other than this and the nonverbal communication cues indicating unacceptability will follow. The two indicate that people are aiming to transform their bodies in a bid to fit the socially accepted body image which is depicted by the media. New media technology such as the digital video art which many have embarked upon to change their appearance such as it appears on the social media and other media platforms is deceiving the rest of the consumers about the perfection of those they are viewing on videos and photographs. Young girls are starving themselves and undergoing surgeries to change their appearance to look like the people on the videos without realizing that in the process they are harming their own affect of themselves. Bell, et al. (2007) indicate that the continual discrepancies indicated in the media only leads to increasing the body image dissatisfaction of these consumers even more while the people leading that culture of body image perfection are making money in the process. This trend is bound to continue with the changes in digital video art. Contrast Featherstone in his article indicates that if a body is observed without the image attached to it, there is a different communication of affect attached to it which overrides the perceptions of people about transforming their appearance. This means that if people stop attaching the image on the body which means they will stop trying to have a mental image of how a person’s body should look like as has been influenced by the media, they will start looking beyond the body and towards other capabilities of a person. This leads to the conclusion that, people will no longer care about any transformations that need to be undertaken or have already been undertaken as their concern in a person will be way beyond what their appearance is like compared to the media images. This is however different from the conclusions made by Bell, et al. (2007) in their research. According to these authors, the issue of body image and the perceptions of others that affect the consumer culture in general cannot end simply because the media is transforming the social perceptions and acceptability on a regular basis to keep the consumers interested and make them keep on adopting their products. Therefore before the interest of the people decreases, a new and more appealing body image is released that people try to consume and the cycle continues. Transformations on the body image are not bound to end soon and the issue of body image cannot simply be tossed aside. Evaluation Nonverbal communication has been established to be a very strong factor in facilitation of transformations taking place as a result of body images. It is the nonverbal communication that is making people form particular social perceptions and acceptability of certain body images and deeming the others unacceptable which causes dissatisfaction among the consumers. The research conducted by Bell et all is an indication that this issue of body image is facilitated even more by watching of the videos shoeing girls with perfect bodies and eliciting a certain image that is appealing and acceptable by the rest of the people especially the male population. It is obvious from the articles that people are trying to transform their bodies in order to be accepted by the society as well as gain a feeling of belonging. What these people and especially the teenage girls seems to forget is that body image is simply a mental depiction that others form and all this can be changed if only people can stop focusing on the image alone but look at the larger picture that makes up an individual. This will mean not concentrating only on nonverbal communication cues but the verbal communication as well in a bid to gain the ultimate perfection. As explained by Featherstone (2010) in his article, people should look at the affective body more than the physical body and by so doing; they will stop paying so much attention to the transformations and changes necessary to have an ideal body image. Conclusion The evidence from the two articles is that consumer culture on body images and the affect is has on the society at large is majorly brought about by the nonverbal communication of observation and the gestures or facial expressions people elicit towards those not fitting into the ideal body image. It is also the cause of the high rate of transformations of the body images from the face that is being tried on by many people especially the teenagers. If the mass media especially the videos and photographs it posts do not provide the indication that only a particular body image is acceptable, the consumers would not have a problem with seeking social acceptance by transforming their bodies. References Bell, B., Lawton, R. & Dittmar, H. (2007). The impact of thin models in music videos on adolescent girls’ body dissatisfaction. Body Image 4: 137-145. Featherstone, M. (2010, March). Body, Image and Affect in Consumer Culture. Body Society, 16(1): 193-221. Read More