As mass media continues to gain strength over the varying populations of the world, it is the body image of girls that seems to be influenced the most by the media’s effects. According to the survey, 68% of all respondents believe body image is important. This paper will analyze how the media effects the body image of girls, and will compare this information with the results received from the survey created and distributed.
There is a common central theme related to feminist research, which focuses on the homogenization of western cultural images of the ideal female body, which include young, thin, healthy, and white (Coleman, 2008). According to the survey, only 57% of the respondents believed media has the largest influence of the body images of girls. It has been reported young girls between the ages of three and six are not concerned with comparing their body images with their favorite characters, but take on the persona of these characters (Hayes & Tantleff-Dunn, 2010).
According to our survey 89% of participants believed that there is a relationship between media and girls who suffer from anorexia. This is important, because additionally 57% of the respondents admitted to starving themselves in order to lose weight. In the modern world, losing weight does not always rely on the individual changing their diet or exercising, which usually involves a pharmaceutical remedy, which makes the individual shed unwanted weight, but also physical surgeries to make the changes permanent.
The popularity of these alternatives to traditional weight loss or maintenance of body images for girls was measured based on the responses of girls related to cosmetic surgery. These girls watched different plastic surgery shows, and their response to these programs varied depending of the materialistic values of the individual and the extent they derived their self-worth from their appearance (Ashikali, Dittmar, & Ayers, 2014). The more girls are unsatisfied with their appearance, the more likely they are to want to change those aspects of their appearance.
In conclusion, 73% of girls think about reducing their weight on a daily basis, while the other 27% are not concerned about their weight enough to even think about it. The media has always maintained the value on Caucasian physical traits, but since the explosion of social media, girls are constantly reminded about beauty, which can have negative effects of their body image and destroy their self-esteem. The value on these traits are fine in nations with limited amounts of diversity, but in a diverse society like the United States it is time to consider the values of other physical traits related to culture, race, or religion.
References
Ashikali, E.-M., Dittmar, H., & Ayers, S. (2014, July). The effect of cosmetic surgery reality tv shows on adolescent girls’ body image. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(3), 141-153. doi:10.1037/ppm0000022
Coleman, R. (2008). The Becoming of Bodies. Feminist Media Studies, 8(2), 163-179. doi:10.1080/14680770801980547
Hayes, S., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (2010, June). Am I too fat to be a princess? Examining the effects of popular children's media on young girls' body image. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(2), 413-426. doi:10.1348/026151009X424240
