We’ve all seen the commercials, movies, and tv shows depicting the societal definition of beauty and masculinity. Usually most models and actresses are thin, young, and very attractive. Is this just a coincidence, or is the media trying to pressure society into looking a certain way?
In an analytic study conducted by members of the Department of Psychology at Kenyon College in Ohio, it was found that the typical girls’ view of beauty was a woman who is 5’7’’, 100 lbs, size 5, and has long blonde hair with blue eyes. Media often reinforces this ideal with its use of beautiful, thin, and usually blonde, models within its advertisements on tv and in magazines, something most girls are surrounded by daily.
In some cases, girls believe that this vision of “perfection” is something they should become. This can cause serious consequences in some, and many often go too far in their efforts to be beautiful. Trying to mold their bodies into society’s view of perfection, some girls turn to extreme dieting, or even not eating at all. Negative choices like these can many times lead to actual disorders including anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
Even girls who are dangerously thin can struggle with this problem. Some struggle with the mental aspect of their self-image, in some cases leading to dysmorphia, a disorder in which someone believes that they always have some kind of flaw, or many flaws, with their body.
Though girls are typically the ones many think to be the targets of the media and society’s view of perfection, teenaged boys are also greatly affected by this problem. While many don’t even think about males being affected by the media, they are, and it is often an untouched issue, especially considering their gender.
Males are most easily targeted through the advertisement of exercise equipment and marketers promising to give them the perfect body that all women will love. Movies and television shows also make some women believe that a man with a perfect body really is what they want. This can lead teenaged boys to believing they need to work out, sometimes excessively, to gain that look.
Though it surrounds us every day of our lives, many of us simply ignore the ways the media tries to manipulate our minds into wanting the perfection we can never even possibly reach. However, there will always be many others who are always striving for that piece of perfection, no matter the price or consequence. When it comes down to it the ultimate question is, does the media affect your self-image?
