Internalized Body Image

Marium Javaid and Iftikhar Ahmad authors of the study from the University of Management and Technology in Lahore, Pakistan had two phases for the study. In the first phase of the study, 97 undergraduate students were under administration of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Self-Esteem Scale, Body Image Satisfaction, and Figure Rating Scale. The second phase was, 47 women volunteered and were shown images of the ideal women as in intervention. They were asked after looking at the images to complete the Negative and Positive Affect Schedule and Body Image Scale, and it was performed a second time to look into the views of their recent feelings and views of themselves. The results of both of the phases showed that in the first phase of the study showed that self-esteem and body mass predicted body satisfaction, and in the second phase results it was shown that the females of the different body weight showed no change in their body satisfaction, except the overweight female

Nowadays, society is obsessed with the way our body looks because it is now used as a way to portray what is on the inside. The ideal body image is socially designed as the ultimate goal that one can attain in order to fit-in and be acknowledged in today’s society. The image that society has on the “perfect body” that has been gathered through media, ads and culture, is something that most people have started to “idolize” and are setting

Anorexia survivor Erin Treloar said “my eating disorder was perpetuated by retouched magazine photos”. Beauty standards has such a giant effect on women emotionally, psychologically and physically. The pressure on women to be thin leads to unhealthy weight loss practices (Battle & Brownell, 1996), eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1998) and low self-esteem (Tiggeman & Stevens,

The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend 'living ' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television. Signorelli points out that under this umbrella, perceptions of the world are heavily influenced by the images and ideological messages transmitted through popular television media (2003). Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to television, over time, subtly 'cultivates ' viewers ' perceptions of reality. Television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. Its function is in a word, enculturation.

According to a survey done by Jesse Fox, Ph.D., 80% of women feel bad about themselves just by looking in the mirror (Dreisbach). This has happened because of social media being changed to make girls feel like they need to have a certain body shape. Models and celebrities in magazines and media show unrealistic beauty and it contributes to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and much more (Seventeen magazine). Media has put lots of stress on women throughout history with changing body shapes. A survey done by Dove found results that 9 out of 10 women want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance.

Men and women nowadays are starting to lose self-confidence in themselves and their body shape, which is negatively impacting the definition of how beauty and body shape are portrayed. “...97% of all women who had participated in a recent poll by Glamour magazine were self-deprecating about their body image at least once during their lives”(Lin 102). Studies have shown that women who occupy most of their time worrying about body image tend to have an eating disorder and distress which impairs the quality of life. Body image issues have recently started to become a problem in today’s society because of social media, magazines, and television.

Models look really good on the cover of the magazines, but how are their bodies affecting young female adults throughout the world? In today’s day and age, media has a big impact on almost everyone - whether it’s social media, news broadcasts, advertisements or magazines. This exposure to media at a young age can affect self esteem. Due to Photoshop’s ability to create unrealistic photographs, it is negatively affecting the body image of teenage girls. Ever since 1839 when the first picture was taken, people have been trying to find ways to improve and alter the picture’s images.

Even the most attractive, I’m willing to bet, had suffered over her body’s failure to fit the impossible American ideal” (paragraph 6). Women for years have been portrayed negatively through media, either by having an unrealistic body figure or facial features. Many people do not realize the power of photo shop and how it can drastically change one’s appearance to look a certain way. Most girls do not see that the models don’t actually look the way they do in the pictures. Although an individual may be confident about who they are, there is a grantee that they still have insecurities about them selves and are truly frustrated with their

Cultivation theory is generally perceived to examine the long terms effects of television on the viewers perception of the reality in the society in which they live. The theory itself has evolved since Gerbner’s conception of cultivation analysis in 1960s. It has been critically assessed by theorists including Potter, Hersch and ZXXXXX, however many of their observations have enriched the approach in the application and evolution

Body image has become such a big issue among society especially females mostly. According to Mariana Gozalo, states “Using Will’s sociological imagination, I thought about how there are girls who wish to look skinny because it is what is being idolized on TV and magazines and online ads. “Social media make us believe that there is a “ideal body” shape. In my opinion, there is no such a thing as the ideal body shape, because everyone is beautiful in their own individual way.

“Body dissatisfaction, negative body image, concern with body size, and shape represent attitudes of body image. ”(Dixit 1), women are so obsessed with looking good that they are missing out on enjoying

For example, girls will style their hair to “become more attractive” (Berger 2014), or they will purchase ‘minimizer,’ ‘maximizer,’ ‘training,’ or ‘shaping’ bras, hoping that their breasts will conform to their idealized body image” (Berger 2014). This all appears to be harmless activities, yet when body image is only addressed outwardly and not psychologically, there can be an increase in poor and destructive behaviors. For instance, body image dissatisfaction can lead to poor self-esteem, which can create a cycle of increased body dissatisfaction, followed by decreasing self-esteem (Stapleton et al., 2017). Ultimately, a teenage girl can find herself in a cycle of “depression, eating disorders and obesity” (Stapleton et al., 2017). On study in 2012 revealed, “Two-thirds of U.S. high school girls are trying to lose weight, even though only one-fourth are actually overweight or obese” (Berger 2014).

Ge et al. (2001) mentions that the ideal body image varies across different ethnicities and Becker et al. (2004) discuss how thinness is the main goal across different cultures. However problems can occur if that ideal body type is not achieved by individuals therefore in this case, Shilling’s (2012) idea of body project becomes an important aspect. I will focus on body image within adolescents as this is a vital age for physical transformation (Ge et al. 2001) and how this can positively or negatively affect their sense of self.

Setting unrealistic expectations for our own bodies in order to match up to media ideals results in lowered body satisfaction and self-esteem. For women, the consequences of body dissatisfaction are often seen through the strong desire for cosmetic procedures, or through the increase in eating disorders and depression in women and female

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