Running head: BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 1

Body image and the media

Arizona State University

Yazmin Alatorre

ENG 102
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 2

Abstract

This paper will be talking about how body image affects people in a negative way. Using

experts’ studies and using it to argue what affects it has towards the public. How the amount of

time that is being used towards a certain social media application can have a negative mood

change to certain people that are using the app. The major argument in this paper will be how

negative body image affects people’s mental health, depression, self-esteem, and anxiety.

Keywords: Body image, self-esteem, health issues.

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Body Image and The Media

For a long time, mass media companies have been using models that show bodies looking

unreal and all having a similar body structure, giving people the mentality of there can only one

“perfect” body that people look at. A lot of people may not know but some photos are not

showing the true bodies of models, some photos are doctored to make the models look that they

have a tight and slim body. Many people think that the pictures that are being shown all over are

real figures and dream of obtaining the body being shown, but later realize it is impossible. By

realizing that people cannot achieve the desired body depression can occur during this change.

This can lead to the development of other mental health issues and eating disorders such as

bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Mass media uses models that have a similar physique that can lead

to people having a lower self-esteem and then later depression.

What role does social media and mass media play on body image? Robert and

Ricciardelli found that body image concerns tend to follow around tv and magazines exposure.

This causes exposure to unrealistic bodies; many people start to compare themselves to those

bodies and get this feeling like they must change to a certain lifestyle in order to have the body

that is being desired in order to be happy. This can lead people to feel unsatisfied with their

bodies and coming to the conclusion that by dieting they can achieve their dream body. Many

don’t realize that dieting can later cause an eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia and

mental health such as depression if people don’t see changes in their body immediately (Roberts

and Ricciardelli, 2014). Others argue that mass media does not lead to depression and eating

disorders and that there is already being a change in the modeling industry.

According to Clayton, having thin models can be a good thing, this can lead to an

opening of adding more plus size models in the runway. Leading to positive views on how
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people see themselves by seeing their shape of the body on magazines, billboards, commercials

and many other forms of media. This can boost their self-esteem and have a less negative impact

on mental and physical health (communication monograph, 2017). But Martinez has stated that

by adding a plus-size model on the runway still does not make a huge impact on how women

would see themselves. There will still be a sufficient number of thin models that will appear in

ads, magazines, and many other social media platforms. This can still lead people, mostly

women, mental health problems and still lead to low self-esteem issues and depression.

(Martinez, 2017)

A researcher that thinks mass media has an influence on how women proceed to view

themselves is Andsager. Andsager believes that there is some sort of linkage between social

media and body dissatisfaction. Andsager found a connection between social media and body

dissatisfaction, 73% of US people tend to visit a mass media platform that has models with

similar slimness and attractive features. They encounter many imageries and doctored photos of

women and young girls, this causes the influence on feeling uncomfortable with one’s body.

Women encounter with a wide spread of body images that are viewed traditionally in the US

culture (Andsager, 2014). This can cause people to have some confidence issues with how they

view themselves to the world and later in life fall into depression and other health issues. Many

people view these model’s physique as a form of some type of desire, they want to have the body

the models acquire but have no idea that it is just an illusion that industries create in order to

continue to sell the consumer their products. Women seek weekly information from social

platforms to lose weight in a way to get the body that models have and feel confident with that

body.
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Other argue, such as Bessenoff, that not only does body image concerns bring out

dissatisfaction but also the disappointment to oneself. People feel like they are not fitting into the

community and try something new to get the result they want so that they feel accepted in the

community and comfortable with their body once again (Bessenoff, 2006). Other argue in the

opposite direction, some say that the way mass media companies are portraying models can be a

good thing. Russell argues that there has been an uprising on plus-size models that have been

pushing mass media companies to realize that they need to put more models that are plus-size to

present themselves to society and put a “face” on the different body types that there are across

the country. Since seeing models that represent their body type this helps females with certain

self-esteem issues levels rise and help women stop comparing themselves to other models and

accept who they are. There might be an addition to plus-size models but there is still

far more thinner model’s that have the same similar features and physique and make women

dissatisfied with their body that causes them to take drastic measure to achieve the body they

desire.

There might be companies that have been starting to add more and more models that can

represent an average women spectrum, but still, the majority of the ads are thin models with

unrealistic body standards. Quick has stated that some radical measure that people do to obtain

the “perfect” body is to do some sort of outrages diets. A study was conducted with peers that

attended a college or university and the results were interesting. Some of the college students

compare themselves to other students that have the body figure that they desire. This makes them

feel uncomfortable with their body and lower their self-esteem, student see themselves as

overweight because of what they see on social media and on their everyday interaction with

other people. Some try to lose weight in order to fit in with a specific group of students or a
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group of their racial/ethnic groups, this enhances the risk of developing an eating disorder and

suffer from depression (Quick, 2014). Another researcher that feels the same way towards how

body image can lead to an eating disorder and mood changes in a person is Brit Harper.

Harper conducted a study that measured the mood change of people that were shown

pictures of models that had similar feature and thinness. Harper found that when specific images

of models were used, women mood change drastically in a negative way, they became more

anxious with their bodies weight and becoming showing more negative moods and dissatisfied

with their body when seeing those images (Harper, 2008). Lopez-Guimera has made it clear that

ads tend to have the highest rate in body dissatisfaction towards people and make people desire a

thinner body. Television also brings a part of this issues, as it tends to have most of the

advertisements be thin people, again with similar bodies and attractive features. Also, Tv tends to

have actors and actresses that too have slim and similar features. In this study, a brief exposer to

these images of thin models, tend to increase dissatisfaction toward oneself causing people to

want to make a change, leading to depression and disordered eating behaviors.

This has been a big problem, but many people have not actually taken the time to think

about how this issue is affecting the people in the community, worse themselves. Some people

might be affected by the outcomes on how body image has changed the mentality of people but

has not realized it yet. Not only does this affect adults, but this also has an effect on teenagers’ as

well. Within Nierengarten article one of Nierengarten sources has found that between the ages of

six and twelve, 40% to 60% have concerns on gaining weight (Nierengarten, 2017 (Cash T,

Smokak L, 2011)). With nearly more than two hundred fifty billion pictures being uploaded and

three hundred fifty million of new photos being posted every day, this enhances the risk of teens

and adults to compare themselves even more than the average person.
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Within the article, another source of Nierengarten, Moreno, has rebutted that social media

can have some positive outcomes within the body image spectrum. Moreno has mentioned that

mass media can be beneficial in both new challenges and a new way to promote healthy body

images and that many teens use social media to educate and reinforce the message that most

photo-generated bodies are not always the way to look and go for. That many and different

shapes and sizes of a body can also be viewed as beauty and one of a kind (Nierengarten, 2017

(Moreno, 2017)). That there can be two types of beauty, not just one, many people use social

media to spread positivity and help others surpass what they are going through by sharing, liking,

retweeting, and so much more. But there can be a downfall ion this as well. Just because social

media might be changing, it does not take away its traditional use. Different body images and

messages that might be traveling through the internet might not be so positive, but negative and

have a huge impact on some people. Many teens tend to compare themselves to other peers that

tend to look a little more attractive or have something that a teen might want. This leads to teen

feeling dissatisfied with life, appearance, or the way their body is shaped (Nierengarten, 2017

(Hogan, 2017)). This can lead to many problems towards teens that might not cross their minds,

such as body image concerns and eating disorders.

Many might think that it will never happen to them or think that they won’t let that

happen to them, but this can come out if the blues. Many people don’t realize it but everything

that is encounter through the public can have an effect on many people that can drive certain

feeling of dissatisfaction, the risk of losing self-esteem, and leading to a mental illness, such as

depression. In this era, there has been a lot of exposure to mass media, such as Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms. Every picture that is being uploaded every few seconds

is risking the chance of people comparing themselves to the images that they are seeing that is
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being posted. The more exposure people have of these images the greater the chance of

correlating this with more body image concerns and unhappiness with the body people have.

Fardouly has found that many people that are in use of Facebook have a mood change

when seeing a body image that is not their representation figure. This results in a negative mood

change and people tend to compare themselves, even more, this can lead to the development of

an eating disorder, body dissatisfaction, and depression (Fardouly, 2015). Another researcher

that feels the same way as Fardouly is Perloff. Perloff stated that the amount of time that is being

applied into social media, could affect our thoughts towards our body image. How social media

could have a strong correlation with making certain people feel a specific way when seeing a

certain body image is still a mystery. Perloff holds the same argument that social media has an

influence on people that makes them think of having an ideal body, which later can cause people

to feel displeased on how the way they look causing them to fall into depression and trying to

change the way they look (Perloff, 2014).

There are many studies that show how mass media and social media affect the way

people see themselves. Many people think that it is not a big issue, but the way body image is

portrayed all over the country make a huge impact in most people’s life. Most people compare

themselves to the images they see in their day to day life and this causes a change in how they

view themselves and causes a change in their mental state. Some people take their issues

different than others do, some might not let the images get to their head and compare their body

as much, but others might have more of a struggle to ignore the image. This can make people

desire the body that is on an advertisement and take drastic measures to achieve the body they

want. If they are not able to achieve the body that they see on an ad, then this can lead to other

issues. For instants, it can lead to people feeling dissatisfied with what their body looks like and
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 9

fall into depression. Other might not fall into depression but might later develop an eating

disorder like bulimia and anorexia, because some are trying to get the body physique they see

plastered all over mass media platforms.

Another researcher that finds social media and self-esteem being correlated is Kekes.

Kekes states that self-esteem can me influence in certain people by how they take into

interpretation a body image that they might see on social media. Throughout the study that was

being conducted in this researcher was that Kekes found that viewing an image of the “ideal

body” levels of self-esteem tends to lower because people tend to compare every little aspect of

the image to themselves (Kekes, 2015). Perloff has made it clear that that media plays a big role

in the communication of stereotypes about body image. How can people label what the perfect

body is or what it should be? Most people might say that having a slim figure and having

attractive features are to be the “perfect” body. This can lead to people thinking that if these do

not feature that a person has then there should be a change to make this happen and be part of the

spectrum. Some models that are being shown to the public are skinny and having attractive

features that influence other that this is the body that everyone should have. A handful of studies

have found a relationship between social media and body dissatisfaction.

Also, models play a big role as influencers to young people and many more. Models are

this perfect person and are viewed all over the world, based on some theories that Perloff saw

while conducting this research was there are a lot of different variables that play in this issue of

how body image affects people. Some variables that fall into this issue are depression,

perfectionism, low self-esteem, only thinking of ways to get the body a person wants, focusing

on looking in a certain way to get the results a person wants. These variables can all affect

people physically and mentally if taken to far. Prieler has frowned upon how culture can also
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play a role such as media towards body image. Many don’t realize that culture could also have an

impact on how people view one another. In the culture aspect, there can also be a social

comparison with each other, people might look towards other people that have a slim figure and

associate with want to look like that person (Prieler, 2014).

On the other hand, Turner has stated that mass media is just trying to get a point across

by using specific body images. Mass media is just trying to get people’s attention to purchase an

item that they want to sell (Turner, 2014). When companies try to sell things, most of the time

things that are being used to grabs an individual’s attention is models, people that are attractive

to the naked eye. This gravitates to certain people and makes them what to buy whatever the

media is trying to sell. Companies are just trying to influence customers on what items to buy

and if people see an attractive model wearing the product then, why not buy it. people will see

this as a way to gain more of a status in the community and believe that people will find them

more accepting to the social norm. Believing that the item that companies are trying to sell them

is a way of getting people’s attention and filling the void on how the way they look.

Naworski has been looking into how to help people overcome this issue, by helping

people understand that it is ok to be different and start accepting their bodies for what they look

like and how they are shaped. Giving people tips on how to improve their self-esteem and how to

start adding healthier habit in a day to day routines to help people view themselves differently.

How to handle difficult situations when they come rushing to a person’s mind and how to make

sure the problems that were faced in the past don’t resurface again and try to take away their

happiness. That not everyone could have the “perfect” body but the view on what makes a

person special for how confident they seem towards themselves and how that can be presented to
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the world. To find happiness with how they look and to not let influencer say otherwise and try

to take that away just because of how a person might look.

To come to an end, the relation between body image and mass media is a big issue and

people should start to notice it quickly. By noticing the problem faster, there can be a start to a

new way on how people see themselves and possibly make a small change in the modeling

industries to start allowing more plus-size models on the run way. For a long time, mass media

companies have been using models that show bodies looking unreal and all having a similar

physique, giving people the mentality of there is a “perfect” body. This causes people to fall into

depression and face other physical and mental problems because of not being able to achieve the

look they have in mind. Mass media uses models that have a similar physique that can lead to

people having a lower self-esteem and then later depression.

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