Every morning I wake up I look in the mirror, I shake my head with dissatisfaction, and then go on an hour-long mission to get ready for the day and look good. I put my make up on, carefully choosing two shades that will accentuate my eyes. I pick clothes that will make me look slimmer, tighter at certain parts of the body and narrower at other ones. Finally, I put on my high heels that make me look taller and more elegant. After one hour of getting ready I look in the mirror again, turn around a few times and tell myself that I need to go to the gym that day, and then I smile and leave the room. Sometimes I don’t smile because I know that the day before I have eaten too much chocolate and I feel that my stomach is showing a little. And I go through this experience every single day. Secretly I do want to look like Beyonce, and I do follow fashion trends I see in magazines, on TV, commercials etc.
What I do every single day might seem to you as an attempt to achieve the perfect look. Indeed, when I go to the gym, I go to tone my muscles, to loose a little bit of extra belly, and to look perfect. The question is: What does it mean to look perfect? In my previous blog, I told you that media plays an important role in shaping our lifestyle choices, which, consequently, influence our health. As much as media tells us what to eat, it also sets the criteria for the ideal body image. Look at the cover page of any fashion, teenage, or health magazine and you will see the picture of an extremely good-looking young woman. However, the story doesn’t end there. Open any of those magazines, and you will find pictures of cultural icons such as actresses, singers, models, starlets etc. who are extremely skinny, and yet the young people today look up to them, and consider them ext
remely beautiful. Media promotes the image of an ideal woman of today. However, by doing so, media also enhances the occurrence of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, overeating, and other psychological reactions to personal dissatisfaction with own body.
How does media provoke such a negative consequence on the American youth? I like to call my ritual in the morning and going to the gym: “learned behavior”. However, the line between daily habits and obsession is thin when media bombards us with images of women in bodies of 15-year-old girls, with perfect faces, lips, and in skinny jeans. A teenage girl looks at the photographs of Kate Moss, Marie-Kate Olsen, Keira Nightly and sees nicely dressed, popular, rich young women and dreams to be like them. Unfortunately, “like them” also encompasses a look of a very skinny girl-the girl with “ideal body image”. Consequently, the dream to become famous turns into a mission to achieve that ideal body, and ultimately to an obsession that can end with an eating disorder.
Media is an agent that promotes the societal values, which, in this case, reflect the ideals of beauty. By putting forward the images of extremely slim models and stars, media ingrains these ideas into minds of teenage girls but also creates the expectations for being
successful in the entertainment and fashion business. A friend of mine was applying recently for a Dolce and Gabbana internship, in the department of management. However, besides her application, she needed to submit a full photograph of her, showing the entire body. So, my question is: what matters more, the skill and ability to do a job, or the way you look?
As an intermediary between businesses and people, media indirectly influences the decisions we all make. However, sometimes this indirect role becomes an essential element in shaping the way we perceive and define certain societal norms. Having the ideal body image, which media serves to public via magazine photographs, tabloids, or TV commercials, increases self-esteem and self-confidence in many, many girls and women. Unfortunately, the consequence lies in worrying statistics such as following: Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents; 40 – 60% of high school girls diet; 50% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they are overweight; 80% of 13 year old girls have dieted; 40% of 9 year old girls dieted.
Sometimes, just the images launched by media, their accessibility, and frequency c
an shape the choices of Americans on
their lifestyle, which, in turn, shape their health choices. Just imagine a 15 year old girl looking at the cover page of "Bazaar", where Mary-Kate Olsen's picture screams at her: "FABULOUS"! Who wouldn't want
to be?
Sources: Eating Disorders statistics: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/anorexia-statistics.htm
ever, media does not sell these false ideas only to children. Did you know that Paris Hilton absolutely loves Burger King hamburger? I had no clue, I thought she ate in very expensive restaurants or, rather, didn’t eat at all. What would a consumer think after watching a very sexual commercial of extremely good looking Paris Hilton taking a break to have a bite of Spicy Barbeque Burger? Again, one could think: If I eat BK hamburger I’ll be as good looking as her; or, my sex appeal will increase and my partner will be more satisfied with me. Maybe I am going to far, but the image of almost naked skinny girl in stilettos, crawling on top of a car and washing her body with a soapy sponge screams SEX(Y). I entered Burger King a few times in my life and every time I walked out without buying anything. Who knows, if I saw Paris Hilton on a poster holding the burger I would probably be tempted. The point is that the message is WRONG, but still very inviting. The commercial ends with “That’s Hot”, again equating the beauty/hotness of young celebrity with that of a BK hamburger.
sn’t matter; because I know I want exactly that happiness. Well, who doesn’t? Unfortunately, this very scenario is going through the heads of a lot of Americans while they are watching prescription drug commercials. As much as one can admire the brilliance of media, and pity the naivety of people, I would not be surprised to discover a harmful effect of prescription drug commercials on health of Americans. Well, when I said harmful I didn’t exactly mean that prescription drug commercials are creating nation of “self-medicated” people, while simultaneously influencing the decisions physicians make, as Нaturalnews.com suggests. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case.
