- Traits of the Media
- As was mentioned, there is not only negative attributes that the media presents onto women, but also positive ones as well. Women who are overweight, or are simply slightly overweight have been found to feel better about themselves when the media presents them with advertisements of larger women (Fisher 2004). It helps them to realize that they are not alone when dealing with their personal body image and that there are ways to where they can feel better about themselves. This would undoubtedly be considered a plus that the media relates to the generalized public, consisting of mainly women. It is odd though, how images of thin beautiful women create such an adverse concept for women, when it is far more healthier to be thin than to be overweight. Supposedly, the problem lies in the fact that the media promotes this idea to much, and to little of how women really are in the world. This was also mentioned earlier, yet it is one of the most steadfast points in what has the strongest affect on women, due to the media. The question must be asked again, “Is this what society really wants?“ No it isn’t, but what a society wants and what they are impaled with visually and mentally are two totally different concepts.
All evidence that has been being gathered over the years, by a number of reputable researchers, points to the fact that media consumption is the main culprit in disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa, affecting young girls in particular (Holmstrom 2004). To further emphasize on the image that the media habitually presents, the statistical evidence shows that they exemplify on images that show women to be on average a height of 5”11 and 120 pounds. This is totally opposite what exists in the real-time world. An average female is around 5”4 and 140 pounds.
- False Images
- Though this is a normalcy, the media contradicts it by pushing the idea that women in this range are not tall enough nor thin enough either. Really it is simply ludicrous to strive to be what the media is projecting (Holmstrom 2004). It is unhealthy and impossible for a good portion of women to even reach these types of goals, yet they keep being bombarded with them. Furthermore, these falsities are causing extreme negative emotions to develop such as, sadness, depression, anxiety, and discouragement about ones own self image (Holmstrom 2004). On the other hand, even though the ideals might not be acceptable to some, they do give a number of women the encouragement and personal initiative to try and better themselves and build a better and healthier body that they can feel satisfied with. Even though this is a minute few, it still has some small amount of positivism associated with it, because it can lead to a healthier lifestyle for some women.
- The Facts
- Another factual based point is the way in which women are viewed constantly in society. They are far more closely scrutinized than their male counterparts are. Because of this, there is more of an emphasis on how they are generally evaluated and sexualized (Weiderman 2000). The media has a role to fill in this area as well. Nine times out of ten, it is believed that women have problems sexually due to how they have begun to feel about their bodies because of the media’s projection of images into their minds and lives. Women have a great fear that if their bodies aren’t up to par to the media’s projections of how they should be, then their partners are not going to be sexually attracted to them. Of course, this is not necessarily true as the idea of love is more powerful than an image on the TV screen or in a magazine. Nevertheless, it is hard for many women to move past this philosophy of how they should look and it severely impacts how they carry out an intimate relationship in their personal life.
What takes place is women become so self-conscious about their body image that they fail to reach a point of comfort ability in their own skin, preventing them from having the ability to be able to relax in order to enjoy a complete intimate partnership with their mate (Weiderman 2000). Because of the body dissatisfaction that women gain, (often due to the media), they form a strong disapproval of themselves, and form a social avoidance among the opposite sex so they will not have to deal with any form of negativity or disappointments in themselves or their possible relationships. It is really disappointing to know this as a variety of body shapes is one of the things that makes women unique. Not all men prefer one body size or facial characteristic. In fact, they more than likely fall for the person rather than the outer shell being presented.
However, for a multitude of women, they don’t find comfort in this thought concept and continue to beat themselves up for not having the perfect bodies of media celebrities, models, and other women the media presents (Weiderman 2000). Some women are never able to have a fulfilling sexual relationship due to all of the adversity surrounding their personal perception about their body. Now, on the other side of this point it is found that some women become more self assured about themselves and work harder to fine tune their body. They don’t go so far as to try and become too thin or too hard-bodied, but they simply want to feel comfortable with themselves. They look past what the media portrays and find their own niche to fill. If an individual can do this then the media does help in self-esteem and body image, but for those that can’t then it leads to more negativity. There are gains and negatives everywhere in this philosophical concept. Basically it all boils down to how well a person feels about themselves individually before the media ever plays a part. If a person is already feeling bad about themselves then of course pictures of perfect women are going to make them feel much worse. However, if your taking good care of yourself and in decent shape, then these images will spur you on to do more for yourself and strive to be better. It’s actually a two sided coin. Again, it is basically all about personal perception and individuality.
