Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Eng. 102
Yazmin Alatorre
Abstract
This paper will be an explanatory paper on how body image has a been being shown to the
public. There will be 3 major topics that will be discussed in this paper, how body image is being
portrayed, body shame, self-esteem, and health issues. There will also be a mention on different
Keywords: Social media, body image, health issues, body shame, self-esteem.
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 3
What effects does social media and specific body image have towards the public? Social
media and body image have been both a controversial topic when in cooperation with each other.
Some images that companies use, people take a negative response regarding the ads that are
being displayed. Many companies use models with similar body structure, this can be identified
as being repetitive. By doing this, females come with a mentality of having to achieve the body
physique to fit in or attracted attention. While some campaigns are starting to display women
with different body structure, often time this works but most of the times it does not. This can
lead many people to think about how they look and feel with their body which can lead to people
In recent conversation about how body image is being showed to the public, one
important issue out of many is the effects it has on people. When it come to talking about body
image there are three major subtopics that also play a role in this situation, body image, self-
esteem, and body shamming. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question on
how this really effects people. While some are convinced that body shaming is bad and that
something should be done about it, yet others believe that there can be some good out of this
issue.
On the other hand, “Communication Monograph” has said that there can be some positive
in this situation. For example, Russell B. Clayton states that there have been many important
campaigns that have been spreading body positivity to show to the public that plus-size women
have made it to the modeling industry and that everyone is unique in their own way and that they
should embrace it. There has been the use of different hashtags to spread body positivity, to
encourage women to feel good with one’s body. Studies show that by utilizing plus-size models,
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 4
this can improve the way they see each other, “For instance, Halliwell and Dittmar found
advertisements depicting average size models resulted in participants reporting less body-focused
anxiety relative to depictions of thin size models” (Communication Monograph, 2017). On the
other hand, “Social media and body image concerns: further consideration and broader
perspective” has stated that there has been a lot of media exposer to many young girls through
the internet. “For example, via the internet young women may be exposed to a higher dose of
body images, which are available anytime and everywhere, and this may lead to more body
One expert that agrees with “Social media and body image concerns: further
consideration and broader perspective” is “Body image as an everyday problematic”. They have
also stated that by seeing these models that have similar physiques it can cause a mental change
in a person’s mind, “My primary aim in this introduction is to propose an initial approximation
to body image as a social problem” (Martinez, F. D.2017). Other experts that have agreed with
“Social media and body image concerns: further consideration and broader perspective” and
“Body image as an everyday problematic” are “Eating behavior: disorder eating, socio-cultural-
media influencers, body image, and psychological factors among a racially/ethnically diverse
population of college women.” They were focused more on how college students see themselves
when comparing to other students. How some see fit people and try to lose the “overweight” they
must fit in a specific group, how other racial/ethnic groups have a higher risk of developing an
eating disorder.
“Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical perspective
and an agenda for research” focus was how social media can affect the way young teens see
themselves and how this can lead to lower self-esteem, depression, perfectionism, internalization
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 5
of the thinness ideal, and centrality of appearance to self-worth. “Social comparison on social
media: the impact of Facebook on young women’s body image concerns and mood” ties up with
“Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical perspective and an
agenda for research” because not only does this article mention some of the same ideas as the
previous article but also how one social media platform that is used by millions can have an
effect on people. In this study they also agree how seeing a thin model can lead to people have
negative mood changes towards oneself, which can lead to depression and lower a person’s self-
esteem.
In “Influence of mass media on body image and eating disorders attitudes and behaviors
in female: a review of effects and processes” it mentions the relationship between media and
body image and how this can be associated to body dissatisfaction. It states how ads tend to have
a high rate in body dissatisfaction, how certain television shows can lead to an eating disorder.
“In brief, findings from experimental studies indicate that exposure to images of the thin beauty
ideal featured in the media—and particularly in magazines, television shows and commercials—
increases body dissatisfaction, internalization of thin ideal, and disordered eating behaviors and
Other articles that agree that media has an impact in body image are “The relationship
between body and self-esteem” and “Am I fat? Helping young children accept difference in body
size”. These two articles focus on figuring out the relationship between self-esteem and body
image and how to help people understand that it is ok do be a different size. They both agree that
“Can the media affect us? Social comparison, self-discrepancy, and the thin ideal”,
“Negotiating a media effects model: addendum and adjustment to Perloff’s framework for social
BODY IMAGE AND THE MEDIA 6
media’s impact on body image concerns”, “Act 2: Extending theory on social media and body
image concerns”, “The Effect of Thin Ideal Media Images on Women’s Self-Objectification,
Mood, and Body Image”, “Broadening the Scope of Social Media Effect Research on Body
Image Concerns”, and “Research Direction in social media and body image” all agree with how
the relationship between media and body image have a negative affect on society. How it can
cause eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, lower self-esteem, body dissatisfaction,
In conclusion these articles all have different things to say but in a similar way. This can
lead many people to think about how they look and feel with their body which can lead to people
doing some extreme dieting leading to eating disorders. Most stated the same facts and argued
the same topics, all agree on that same ideas except for one, “Communication monograph”. This
article states some positive outcome on the relationship on body image and the media, and how it
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