CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Body dissatisfaction is the discrepancy between the perceived shape and ideal shape. Body dissatisfaction has become a serious public mental problem whereby the prevalence of the body dissatisfaction ranger from 57% to 84% among adolescent girls and 49% to 82% among adolescent boys (Dion et al, 2015)
Body shape dissatisfaction (difference between current and desired body shape) is used to assess discrepancy between current and idealized physical attributes (Thompson et al., 1999). Body weight for height, as measured by body mass index (BMI), is a correlate of body fatness (World Health Organization, 1998), morbidity (Bray, 2004), and mortality risk (Calle, Thun, Petrelli, Rodriguez, & Heath, 1999). BMI is one of the strongest predictors of body dissatisfaction (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002). Therefore people with higher BMI tend to have a negative body image compared with the lower BMI ones. The higher BMI individuals have greater body dissatisfaction and they idealized a thinner body image.
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(Ogden et al, 2006). Traditionally larger body size were considered to be the ideal body image representing wealth, prosperity and health however factors such as urbanization, economic growth, technological and cultural changes has change the perception of the traditional body size. Media and advertising influence the body image of an individual by promoting thinner and fit body shape for females and leaner and muscular body shape for
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
Dissatisfaction amongst today’s youth regarding their personal body image is increasingly common, warranting a necessary change in the norms and behaviours that are portrayed to Canadian youth. The necessary change that must be implemented moving forward is the portrayal of healthy and attainable body images through media. A 2012 ABC News article stated the average model weighs 23% less than the average woman (Lovett, 2012). Such an appalling statistic is something that must be tackled as we progress toward the future seeing as it showcases to the youth of today that anorexia and unhealthy body weight is seen as desirable or attractive. The relation between such a statistic and anorexia is clear.
These expectations can cause insecurities in adults, teens, and even children who normally have little to no insecurities. Young children should not have to worry about the way they look or what they are wearing. Therefore, society needs to address the problem of creating negative body images. It can start by recognizing that unreal and unnatural body image can cause eating disorders and mental disorders. “50% of teenage girls and 30% of
Body image is defined as perceptions, feelings, and behavior toward one’s body (Common Sense Media P13).There is an unrealistic body misconception of being “flawless” like celebrities that make teens want to modify their bodies. This refers to the exposure to increased media through the years; Media is contributing to dangerous behaviors that include but are not limited to: cyber bullying, unhealthy eating habits and self-harming. Communication is critical to humans. The most common communication tool now is the Internet.
Introduction 1.1 Background. Body image is an intellectual or idealized image of what one's body is or what one’s body should be like. A lot of women suffer from body image difficulties that are related to their self-image and self-esteem because of the pressures they are subjected to by the society, by their peers, by the media, by how they engage with each other in the community, and by the expectations of what a perfect body is and what it means to be beautiful. This essay is aimed at elaborating the initial origins behind the body image issue which many women may be subject to or might have, the effects that body image issues have on women and the extreme lengths to which women would venture out to in order to obtain the socially accepted
Body image is defined as how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind. It encompasses what you believe about your own appearance, how you feel about your body, including height, shape, and weight (What is Body Image). Our bodies are what make us who we are. Every person on this earth has different unique physical traits that make them different from the next person. At the same time, everyone also has an opinion about what “the perfect body” is.
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.
In the article Body Image & the Media: An Overview, the author describes the ways in which people’s opinion of themselves are being altered due to the unrealistic standards being viewed in the media. Since the growth of media and internet, people have been greatly exposed to what a “perfect” body should look like. These unrealistic standards have taken a toll on people’s physical and mental health. One envisions a perfect body image and is concerned about how others will perceive them and how they perceive themselves.
Credibility Statement: I use to tell myself this when I was in high school, after looking at a music video or reading a magazine. Seeing women who were 100 pounds with zero body fat made me look at myself differently. Reveal Topic/Thesis: In today's society, the media plays a part in how we perceive our body. The way the media's advertisements portray body images rarely resemble our own, but what they consider beauty.
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.
Seeing someone who has an unhealthy weight and making them a goal can lead to an even worse body image. Despite this evidence, the argument that girls do have pressure to have the ‘perfect body, is still true because of family members commenting on their weight or looks, the need to have what is considered the ‘ideal body’, and developing social avoidance from anxiety, depression, and self
“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).
Body shaming is one of the biggest problems in today’s generation. It is the practice of making critical, potentially humiliating comments about a person’s body, size or weight. It is obvious that all of us come in different shapes and sizes but society and the media puts a lot of pressure on us with beauty stereotypes and standards to deem some as healthy and some not. Recently, there has been a lot of controversy recently about body image and body shaming, especially among teenagers. Body shaming is an extremely personal concept and can take a negative toll on a person.