Eating Disorders: Mass Media and Its Influence on Body Image Essay

The influence and power of mass media in shaping wisdoms nigh issues is uncontested. In the recent years however, there argon questions being raised about the kind of information media, especi wholly(prenominal)y the commercial mass media, is feeding its viewers particularly those in their adolescence. More and much than cases of take affections restrain surfaced in the latter years. More a lot than non, the victims of such disorders report that it was exposure and desire to be like the skinny models and celebrities that influenced them to diet, binge, purge and apply drastic measures such as surgery and starvation diets in order to lose weight.Just recently, Jennifer Love Hewitt made headlines when she hit out at criticisms of her weight afterward a not-so-flattering photo of her in a bikini surfaced on magazines and the Internet. Her state workforcet Size 2 is not fat has been welcomed and praised by other celebrities who facial expression that the media has been exe rting undue pressure on women to be slim concord to what atomic number 18 oft unattainable standards (Slonim & Chiu, 2007). There are researchers who claim that the rising numbers of have disorders among pre-teens and adolescents are ca employ by the continued word-painting of looker as lightly in media.It is according to researchers, this very portrayal of thin that fosters a trend of organic structure dissatisfaction among women particularly those in their adolescence (Forbes, Doroszewicz, Card & Adams-Curtis, 2004). What is body image and wherefore does it seem so primary(prenominal) to large number? Body image is defined as how individuals view and decide their own personal appearance (Morrison, Kalin & Morrison, 2004). This includes personal thoughts, feelings and behaviors directed towards ones own body (Botta, 2003).This perception is further broken down into two types the body image evaluation or the way a person critically evaluates his or her own physical appea rance, and the body image investment, or the things that people do to manage or enhance the way they look(Morrison, Kalin & Morrison, 2004). Peoples body images today runnel alongside perceptions of self-worth. If one doesnt fit the stereotypical standard of beauty, it automatically launchs an individual feel outcast and ugly.There are two ways by which media whitethorn affect a persons perception of physical appearances in terms of weight the first is by featuring thin and lovely people/celebrities while the other is to feature conspicuously fat people who are often represented in comical situations (Harrison, 2000, p. 125). In the study conducted by Harrison in 2000, it was revealed that young adolescent girls who were exposed to media featuring stick thin celebrities experienced dissatisfaction with their own personal appearances.Those who were exposed to shows featuring conspicuously fat people showed an increased tendency toward eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia (pp137-138). What are eating disorders? Eating disorders refer to conditions describing a persons food consumption behaviors that are considered abnormal. It covers whether people eat too much, or not at all including whether they practice purging after meals. The two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa. The immemorial goal of people suffering from anorexia nervosa is to achieve maximum weight loss as possible (Palmer, 2003, p. ).It is important to take note that there is a difference between anorexia and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia pertains to a true reduction of ache due to other factors such as illness or depression that thereby makes loss of liking sensibly normal and expected. The nervosa in anorexia nervosa is an indicator of a more(prenominal) complex relationship between a persons eating behavior and the desire to lose weight (p. 6). People suffering from anorexia nervosa affright at any sign of weight gain and very often fail to realize just now how abnormally skinny they are getting.Weight loss becomes compulsive. Each pound loss and food denied is a victory for people with anorexia nervosa. They are often given to obsessive dieting and exercise convinced that what petty food they eat will turn them into obese slobs (Smith, 2004, p. 6) Bulimia Nervosa. Like Anorexia, the focus of Bulimia nervosa is as much weight loss as possiblethe difference is that sufferers of Bulimia nervosa have discovered that they understructure lose more weight quickly if they immediately expel what food they have eaten.Bulimics also go through and through a series of binge-and-purge wherein they undergo periods of eating large amounts of food, then getting rid of it through purging (Farley, 1992). Purging is done through self-induced vomiting or the use of enemas and laxatives for forced evacuation. Often, bulimia nervosa comes in brief after the onset of anorexia nervosa (p. 15). In contrast to the disorders as sociated with weight loss, there are also eating disorders where its sufferers do the opposite and eat compulsively. Binge Eating Disorder (BED). BED is demonstrated by a knock-down(prenominal) compulsion to eat without any restraint.Stress and strong emotions unremarkably bring on these periods. Binge eaters usually feel dissatisfaction until they have answered the urge to eat. However, once having eaten, binge eaters often feel self-hate, shame and personal fight off leading to more depression (Palmer, 2003, p. 7). The integration of commerce, advertising and marketing in media also has its share of the bear down in the way adolescents view their bodies. Famous actors and actresses have been employed in the promotion of various products from cigarettes to acne bar treatments.Such move appeals to most adolescents who seek to emulate the image their idols project. While not all adolescents are susceptible to celebrity and body images projected by the media, those suffering from social and physical anxieties in addendum to low self-esteem are often more vulnerable to being affected by body images present in the media. These people often end up having distorted views of their physical selves and are more prone to developing eating disorders (David & Johnson, 1998, p. 53).Emulation of a standard set by a beauty icon is not just limited to living and breathing celebrities. In fact one of the more famous icons that have been used to represent beauty and all the privileges that are perceived to come with it may be found in most young girls toy boxes. Barbie, the thin but curvaceous shuttle with the sparkling blue eyes, long blond pilus, gorgeous tan and long legs so admired and desired by their human counter parts has always remained a favorite toy among young girls who often project their ambitions and life wishes onto Barbie as they play pretend.Little girls would brush Barbies silky blond hair and dress her up for her dates with the very handsome and mus cular Ken. While pretend play is considered to be fairly normal and may even be considered wellnessy creativity-wise, there are times when the pretense is carried a bit far and extends beyond normal play to the point of crossing into real life. In celestial latitude 2006, an article appeared in English newspaper the Daily Mail telling of an interview with Human Barbie Sarah Burge (Im the Human Barbie, 2006, p. 22).In it, Sarah admitted to having had about 26 plastic surgery procedures within the twenty years costing approximately GBP 180,000, even squirtdidly stating that in her whole body, only her feet remained in their virgin state. When asked what she thinks of the pronounce human Barbie Sarah just beans with pride. I find it extremely flattering, she says. Barbie is very beautiful, glamorous and fun. What woman wouldnt hope to be all those things? (p. 22) Burge also goes to point out the additional participation of her being born in the same year the Mattel Company launc hed the Barbie doll.Tom Knott (1997,p. 2) of the Washington Times probably best sums up the puritanical but mostly unrealistic and unattainable qualities of Barbie that have been the envy and ambition of females young and old identical Barbie has had it all for 38 years the great looks and body, plus the devotion of the equally flawless Ken. It has been a zit-free run. nonentity bad ever happened to Barbie. She did not develop complexion problems. She did not gain weight. She did not start to sag. She did not wake up to find facial hair on her upper lip. She looked as good in the morning as she did at night. Knott, 1997, p. 2) Botta (2003) explains that the problem lies in the fact that women are judged for thinness while mens masculinity is measured against a rising cultural ideal stereotype of V-shaped muscularity.Botta further states that the connection between exposure to womens and mens health and fitness magazines to increasing body dissatisfaction and cases of eating disor ders among its readers have already been proven by several studies (Andersen & DiDomenico, 1992 Nemeroff, Stein, Diehl, & Smilack, 1994, Levine, Smolak & Hayden, 1994). Botta, 2003) In addition to these, Botta decries the irony in all these studies was that of all the types of magazines used in the studies, it was the health magazines that presented more stimulus and inducements for their readers to do more body harm. For boys, tuition was linked to increased muscularity, which means that the more time they spent reading health/fitness magazines, the more they intended to or took pills and supplements in order to gain muscle and the more committed they were to being muscular.For girls, health/fitness magazine reading was linked to a stronger drive to be thin and to increased anorectic and bulimic intentions and behaviors such as vomiting, abusing laxatives, and fasting. (Botta, 2003) Conclusion Adolescence is well known to be a fragile and enigmatical phase that everybody has to g o through. In seeking to fit in with their peers as well as have an image that is acceptable to all, it is not unusual for young people to try and attain qualities that will make them attractive personally and socially to other people. The idea of beauty with all its accompanying privileges is not a new one.Neither is the fact that people will try to copy or emulate others whom they feel are everything they would want to be. It is a fact that marketers and advertisers are paid to make their wares attractive in some(prenominal) way possible. It is also another fact that media survives and makes money through the patronization of advertisers. However, there must and should be a point where the responsibility towards the audience especially those who do not sufficiently possess proper opinion must be factored into the equation. In the recent years, reports of fashion models that have died due to some eating disorder abound.There have been steps to ban stick thin models from the runwa y, a ban that is yet to be implemented by all the major fashion houses. Young and highly impressionable children are often plopped in front of the television often without any supervision. If adolescents can be so easily swayed by exposure to media, what more of these young kids? Already, news reports of children as young as seven being inured for eating disorders have surfaced (Girl of Seven in Diet Danger, 2006) It is frightening the way 0 can actually be considered a dress size.Even more frightening when media portrays thin celebrities as beautiful and leading glamorous, exciting lives. What person, young or old, would not want that? Currently however, the way that even celebrities who used to be the standard by which beauty is judged are now facing harsh criticism from their multiplication is alarming in more ways than one. If celebrities who can afford high priced professional trainers, diets, gym memberships and plastic surgery can still be adjudged negatively, what more of those who do not have access or simply cannot afford all these beauty aids?