Media Helps Teen to Have a Negative Body Image - Essay Example

Thesis False and distorted body images popularized by media has a negative impact on self-identity, psychical and psychological development of teens. Outline Introduction 1. Body Images of Girls a. Eating disorders b. Adulthood and independence c. Approximation to ideal 2. Body Images of Boys a. Violence and aggression as factors of manhood b. Body decoration as an index of social and moral qualities, 3. Sexual Images a. Impact of sexual images b. Body and a tool of marketing 4. Impact of False Media Images on Gender Relations 5. Conclusion 6. Works Cited Media Helps Teen to Have a Negative Body Image Media is one of the most powerful sources of social identity and personal images followed by teens. This medium has enormous impact on this age group influencing their taste and style. The idea that clothes constitute a language and means of communication has been central to the proliferation of the fashion industry and its promotion through teens' magazines and TV shows and by sanctioned role models. The identity and social position that are established through dress codes include the attribution of teen's culture. Thesis False and distorted body images popularized by media has a negative impact on self-identity, psychical and psychological development of teens. Media creates a negative body image of young girls portraying and popularizing 'very thin" models and distorted bodies. Such displays undo associations of femininity with excess, over-indulgence and lack of control. Women with eating disorders are merely the extreme version of the widespread desire for 'a slender body' prompted by the opposition in consumer culture between discipline and excess. Bordo (1989), one of the most popular feminist writers and critics, suggests that eating disorders characterize the modern western 'self'. In this case, media becomes the most influential source of information which forms tastes and preferences of young girls. Following Holmstrom (2004): Research has shown that a discrepancy between the "actual" self (attributes you and others believe you possess) and the "ideal" self (attributes you or others believe you should possess) can produce negative emotional states such as sadness, discouragement, and depression. An average [girl] may be discouraged by the discrepancy between her body and that of the media ideal" (196). Statistical results vividly portrays that the incidence of bulimia nervosa (one to two per 100 women) and anorexia nervosa (one per 1,000 women) of western women suggests a social pathology (Gauntlett 78). Also, a survey of readers of the popular magazine, Vogue, suggested that almost 15 % of 25- to 24-year-old respondents were anorexic or bulimic. These results correlated with respondents' extreme concern about their body images, self esteem and ability to cope with stress (Gauntlett 80). Young girls over-estimated their own body size and identified over-thin models as their ideal body shape. Increasingly, analysis of anorexia has been linked to feelings of powerlessness. Critics (Snow 187) underline that what begins as a refusal to be part of the power structure becomes a form of power and control in the behavior itself. For many girls, 'ideal' body images represent adulthood and independence. Bordo (1989) argues that media practices produce self-regulating 'female subjects' through the demonstration of control over the physical body (29). Through processes of self-monitoring and self-regulation of the body, multiple demands and conflicts placed upon it could be accommodated. Bordo states that the 'preoccupation with the "internal" management of the body is produced by instabilities in the "macroregulation" of desire within the system of the social body (Bordo 1989, 96). Media depicts and popularizes an ideal body image which becomes standards for many girls. Femininity is constructed as a process of selecting an ideal image and adapting available clothing and cosmetics to realize an approximation to that ideal (Gauntlett 28). Attributes of femininity are also shaped by the practicalities of everyday life, particularly that of striking a balance between work and leisure. Following Forssmann-Falck et al (1998): Body image was a mediator, or "filter," for certain predictors of girls' self-esteem. For early adolescent girls, media influence and peer relationships were related to body image, which in turn related to self-esteem. Girls' comments in early adolescence often focused on body parts and the relationship between appearance and mood" (1025) Anorexia functions as a moral, ascetic defiance of contemporary culture (Bordo 92). Another problem faced by modern society is false images of male bodies and identity. Gauntlett (2002) admits that "distorted body image has widely been known to affect men and boys. Teens 'form their bodies' to confirm their involvement in the social order. Many males are becoming insecure about their physical appearance as advertising and other media images raise the standard and idealize well-built men" (47). Firm bodies, muscles and 'working out' have been redefined as 'a symbol of correct attitude; it means that one "cares" about oneself and how one appears to others, suggesting willpower, energy, control over infantile impulses, the ability to "make something" of oneself (Bordo 1990, 94-5). The myth of the 'undecorated' male effectively suppresses ambivalence about this process of forming the male social body (Wienke 256). Men disassociate themselves with the idleness and extravagance of aristocratic codes of dress and behavior. Masculinity is identifies with violence and aggression as the main factors of manhood. Media does not portray realistic images of males and forces many teens to accept false images as role models. Researchers explain that "Some teens struggle with their self-esteem when they begin puberty because the body goes through many changes. These changes mean it can be tempting for people to compare themselves to others)" (Body Image and Self-Esteem 2006). Gauntlett (2002) argues that the more frivolous, casual look of teens' models, and their overt concern with their bodies and their look, may reflect the changing status of men. No longer are they the sole representative of social power, or the primary worker dressed in 'business-like' clothes, but many teens now share jobs or home duties, are students or, increasingly, are unemployed. Rules maintaining status and gender distinctions persist. A significant proportion of teens accept overt decoration as a sign of adulthood. Wienke (1999) explains that: "Exposure to bodily imagery in advertising, film, and other visual media not only makes individuals more conscious and aware of their own bodily state, inducing them to seek out models of physical beauty, but also more vulnerable to the allure of the consumer market" (255). By treating body images as a factor of social and moral qualities, recent male fashions have celebrated the body itself and played down the decorative attributes of clothing and body decoration. The emphasis on the display of masculine attributes constitutes a profound challenge to western morality (Gauntlett 85). One outcome of feminism has been the characterization of men in negative ways and attacks on masculinity (Wienke 256). Only a minority of boys will develop excellence in athletics or other physical endeavors while they are at school, and far fewer will engage in these activities once their school days are over. While men compete in the tough world of politics and economics, women are allocated the role of decorating and complementing the public status of men through their clothes and demeanor. Media has a negative impact on gender relations through extremely sexualized body images of girls and boys. Marketing managers of companies seem to compete with one another who can find a sexier model to advertise their home appliances or cars. They do not think that an average looking model can attract customers. They are willing to sell the body of the model at any time of the day in order to bring profits to their company. Teenagers will most likely be the first ones to get interested in half naked men or women in advertisements because they do not have anybody like that in their lives. They are dreaming of their future girlfriends or boyfriends, and they certainly get attracted to models advertising various products. It is true that some people are not willing to see sex in advertisements. However, it is only a part of the companies' advertising strategy. "[Boys] rely on the muscular body image as a standard for how a man's body should look" (Wienke 256). They are allowed to use any tools they need to promote their products because the market is very competitive and they might not be able to promote their products without using sex in advertising. Using sex in advertising as an incentive for consumers is very efficient for companies, and no limits should be placed on it. Teens try to follow sexy images and models applying theses norms to everyday life. Taking into account statistical results, Wienke (1998) explains that: "Several surveys back this claim, showing that respondents overwhelmingly identify the muscular body as the most masculine of any male body type, associating it with such stereotypical masculine attributes as strength, tenacity, competence, sexual potency, independence, dominance, self-confidence, and aggressiveness" (256). Media had a negative impact on gender socialization encouraging boys and girls to think about their bodies in different ways from a very early age. Girls are expected to care for their bodies. Anticipation of the rewards associated with feminine grace, beauty, fine movements and gentle demeanor in later life justifies the early and insidious instruction of girls in these attributes. Ballet classes, gymnastics, painting or elocution classes, music lessons or singing are persuasive agents of feminine socialization. More importantly, through false media images boys learn to use their bodies in a way different from that learned by girls; these ideas become embodied. Ideas are translated into the body, both into its substance and into its movements. The relationship between boys' bodies and physical activity established at this early age will influence boys' confidence in their physical capacities as well as other people's expectations of them throughout their lives. Even men who eschew all associations with sport and exercise in later life cannot escape its early influence on their ideas about themselves and their bodies. Boys, by the same means, are encouraged in quite different behaviors. While girls learn to take care of their bodies, boys are encouraged to be careless with theirs (Holmstrom 197). Although the differentiation between boys and girls in the physical education curriculum of schools has been somewhat reduced, the social effect of the alleged biological differences will take much longer to eradicate. It is not surprising that most women lack confidence in these skills and that an increasing proportion of women seek to be trained in self-defense in later life, an activity that men take for granted. Contemporary men struggle to articulate the image of male sexuality appropriate to their circumstances (Holmstrom 198). The body is produced according to criteria of beauty, gender, fashion and movements. These change as codes of prestigious imitation alter. The emphasis in modeling is on self-formation through the body to the exclusion of other attributes. Many teens watch television for hours and they also spend hours reading magazines. They do not react to an ordinary advertisement after spending so much time doing routine work. In many cases, media portrays distorted body and sexualized images of teens. While 'looking good' (attractive to the opposite sex and able to compete with peers) may be one of the factors leading to anorexic behavior among girls and body building among boys. If teens do not follow body images popularized by media, it leads to sexual and social unavailability, and ultimately to exclusion from peer groups. Works Cited 1. Body Image and Self-Esteem. 2006. 22 April 2007 2. Bordo, S. "The body and the reproduction of femininity: a feminist appropriation of Foucault", in A. Jaggar and S. Bordo (eds), Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowin , New Brunswick and London: Rutger University Press, pp. 23-105 3. Forssmann-Falck, R., Kilmartin, Ch. T., Kliewer, W., Myers, B.J., Polce-Lynch, M. "Gender and Age Patterns in Emotional Expression, Body Image, and Self-Esteem: A Qualitative Analysis". Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 38 (1998): 1025-1030 4. Holmstrom, A.J. "The Effects of the Media on Body Image: A Meta-Analysis". Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 48 (2004): 196-199. 5. Snow, S.T. "Fostering Positive Body Image in Children and Youth". Reclaiming Children and Youth 9 (2000): 187. 6. Wienke, Ch. "Negotiating the Male Body: Men, Masculinity, and Cultural Ideals". The Journal of Men's Studies 6 (1998): 255-257. 7. Gauntlett, David. Media, gender and identity: an Introduction. London and New York: Routledge. 2002. Read More