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Media Body Image Effects

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Effects of the Media on Body Image Grace Neutz 10/30/17 Today media and body image are closely related. Other things that also influence body image are: parenting, education, and relationships. People also see ads on t.v, movies, and in magazines, in some ways social media has become a toxic mirror. Advertizing amounts for 30% of television air time. Even though they are trying to get you to buy the articles of clothing, the models seldom look like us. Most models are size 2-4, but the average american women is size 12-14. Designers often say that they use the thin models because the clothes look better on them, but if you are going to buy those clothes, you want the clothes to look good on you too not just the model. Also most photographs …show more content…

Each form of medium has a different purpose and content. The media seek to inform us, persuade us, entertain us, and change us. “In a media saturated culture, the argument that long term exposure can help shape the worldviews of particular sections of the audience is one that merits consideration, however, the EXTENT to which the media contribute to the personal identity remains unclear and is subject to continuing academic debate….the media do not, by their very definition, provide pure experience of the world but channel our experience of it in particular …show more content…

But, research is increasingly clear that media does indeed contribute and that exposure to and pressure exerted by media increase body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. It is hard to evaluate the relationship between the media and eating disorder without considering the multi faceted impact of media messages on body size, on food consumption, on the desirability of certain foods and their consequent consumption, and other matters relating to personal identity and status. It confers hidden meanings on food – nostalgia, sexiness, being a good housewife and mother, rewarding oneself, having uninhibited fun etc, and creates unnatural drives for food. The media can persuade us that wrong eating habits are right and natural. I cite the case of a McDonald 's advertisement recently in which a young boy persuades both his parents to take him for a burger and chips rather than a healthy outing at the zoo. The media can create anxieties about being deprived if we don’t have what “everyone else” is

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