Body Images in the Media

"Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest one of all?" Societies standards for body shape and the importance of beauty is promoted by various media. The media links beauty to symbols of happiness, love and success for women. Media portrays these images as achievable and real. Until women accept their body image, they will continue to measure themselves against societies "perfect image." Media representations of body image contribute to social trends of unhealthy lifestyles.

Female children learn to worry about their appearance from an early age. Huge quantities of girls between the ages of three and ten have one or more Barbie dolls. On television children are bombarded with commercials showing tall and thin women promoting dieting products and leading a "dream" life. Being exposed to numerous

"perfect" female images leads girls trying to defeat their imperfections into their adult life. Parental messages about appearance also have large impacts on y

as well as intense fear of fat and weight gain. Anorexia is characterised by starvation dieting, excessive exercising, unhealthy weight and also an intense fear of fat. Both bulimia and Anorexia can make you very ill and can also be fatal. Currently these self-destructive methods are widely supported for the transition towards a "perfect" image.

Body image isn't just about appearance. What girls feel about their bodies is directly linked to their self-esteem and confidence. Many magazines which appeal to teenage girls such as Sassy, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan advertise using many underweight models and promote products such as diet pills and Slim Fast. As children reach adolescence they see that nearly all of the famous actresses and models have the "perfect image". Some girls will do anything to try and be like their "roll model" on T.V. Many girls in their adolescence years will acquire eating disorders such anorexia and bulimia to be "beautiful". Because of social influence, what many females fail to

oung girls. In the Second Edition of Feminist I

Some common words found in the essay are:
Deborah Grey, Media Mirror, Susan McDaniel, Slim Fast, Seventeen Cosmopolitan, body image, perfect image, Snow White, intense fear fat, perfect image media, slab bacon, appearance girls, intense fear, fear fat, anorexia bulimia, image media, social influence, bulimia anorexia,
Approximate Word count = 720
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)