Preview

Beauty And American Culture Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
275 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Beauty And American Culture Research Paper
Beauty and American Culture

We live in a society that is saturated with a concept of physical attractiveness that spills into our newspapers, magazines, TV, movies and into our minds. From childhood, we have seen images of idealized men and women. We may convince ourselves that they are more attractive, fit, and somehow better than we are. Body weight, in particular, is one of the most twisted issues of our day, with women striving to be as gaunt as the women seen on TV or in the movies. We are regularly bombarded with a belief that, in order to be happy, we must be attractive. In order to achieve an “attractive” figure many young women seek out plastic surgery or others, in their quest to become thin, end up suffering from eating disorders

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    beauty industry, even if it means a lifetime of devotion to beauty regimen. Beauty seems to…

    • 3971 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    If one glances at a magazine or turns on the TV, you got a good idea of what media’s definition of an attractive woman looks like: she’s tall, has long, flowing hair, is surgically and digitally enhanced, blemish-free, and very thin. In fact, academic research tells it like we see it: studies show the women we see in media these days are much thinner than the real world, and very often thin enough to be considered anorexic by world health standards. In a world where a constant flow of media images far exceeds the number of people we could ever see face to face, this abnormally thin and digitally enhanced ideal has become the norm. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld highlights the controversial topic of…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thompson addresses how “thin-ideal-internalization,” the internalization of society’s definition of attractiveness (not just thinness), gravely affects women in Western culture. Thompson explains how this glorification of an ideal body image is unhealthy and unachievable for most women. This definition of a desirable body, Thomas illustrates, is encouraged by social reinforcement or approval of this definition by family, peers, and media. Despite these body types serving as a distorted reality, Thompson elaborates on how women engage in extreme dieting in attempt to satisfy media’s perception of a desirable body. Thompson continues by showing how these attempts to attain the nearly unattainable result in eating disorders such as…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women today are constantly bombarded by media in one form or another. It could take the form of a fashion magazine, a favourite blog, a TV commercial, or a myriad of other sources. When in any public commercial setting such as a grocery store, a clothing store, or a hair salon, one is bound to see a plethora of magazines and various advertisements; most of them adorned by thin, happy models. Women see fashion models as the pinnacle of health and beauty, often feeling inadequate in comparison. They may strive to become like these women by radically changing their eating habits without fully understanding the potential risks and consequences. The inability to measure up to this idealistic body standard has also been linked to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The evolution, expansion, and ubiquity of technology has played a role in perpetuating an idealistic body image and bringing forth new methods to pursue it. An unrealistic body image has become an object of obsession for many women and this obsession is aiding in the development of physical and psychological disease among women.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to Prah, there is a complicated combination of biological, psychological and social factors that cause eating disorders, and our culture continues to endorse thinness (3). Over time there has been a shift in the way that society views being thin. Starting at the end of the Middle Ages, “women who fasted were thought to possess evil spirits and were accused of being witches bent upon destroying the Catholic Church” (12). Next, in the 17th and 18th centuries, when women were too thin, they were thought of as being “victims of poor health” (12). Then in the 1940s and the 1950s, the full figured woman became the ideal (13). When Twiggy, a famous model who stood 5’9” and weighed 90 pounds, was growing up in the 1950s, she hated her body. She wanted to “look like Brenda Lee, very curvy and round” (Abagond), because that was the optimal body. But today, our society not only approves of being thin, but idealizes it. Before Twiggy, “the average fashion model weighed just 8 percent less than the average American woman, but today fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women” (13). The exposure starts at an early age; children are being exposed to the “thin ideal” with dolls such as Barbie, who “would stand 5’9” and weigh a mere 110 pounds” if she were a real person (13). This early introduction makes a big impact because as girls’ bodies develop, they become worried about the places that they are gaining weight where they didn’t have fat before (14). A sickening figure depicts that more than 50 percent of 9 and 10-year-olds say that “they feel better about themselves when they’re dieting” (33), and research found that girls who were as young as 7 years old thought that the thinner women in drawings were more popular and happier (34). These…

    • 2426 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Self-acceptance and self-esteem is one of the biggest issues for young women who believe that they are not beautiful. A high percentage of girls who do not think they are thin enough go to the extreme of anorexia, bulimia or even diet pills at a young age. A mental condition that they will live with for the rest of their lives, the life expectancy for those with this mental illness is very short because of the lack of nutrients. Women that are models will even reluctantly eat, a model at size 4, is considered fat while the average of America is size 14, in the 50’s the average size was 11.…

    • 423 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beauty In The 1920 Essay

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Over the centuries the definition of beauty has changed, but what hasn’t changed is the pressure on women and men to conform to those standards. In the 1920s the era of the flapper a rail thin figure was coveted with an emphasis on long legs. In the 1940s and 50s curves were all the rage with an emphasis on a plumper figure. Then the 1960s rolled around and we returned to the rail thin figure with the popularization of fashion icons like twiggy and Audrey Hepburn. In the 1990s, if twiggy's rail thin figure wasn’t enough, women were asked to become skinnier and this figure is coveted even in today's day in age. There are two ends to what is considered beautiful today. Either you had that extreme thin body or you had a curvier body. Even with…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an article written by Colleen Thompson and Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, it is emphasized that more than just a few individuals in society struggle with the same issue of not being able to fit the ‘ideal figure’: “In North America, men and women are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin and fit... Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves trying to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the “ideal” figure.” An individual person with an eating disorder could be singled out and their specific case could be thought has a person problem but with applied sociological imagination, society would realize that it's the obsession for the fair skin and thin body, creating a widespread public issue, that has indirectly affected thousands of boys and girls in the United States alone. Cultural structures such as the media are not the only structures in society that have an influence on what constitutes the idea body size and figure. The sociological approach to what can be considered as the “ideal figure” is respected because it can explain how social and cultural values affect the individual's attitudes towards eating. Furthermore, a sociological approach is useful for understanding eating behavior because it can explain why eating disorders appear in…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to Berk, 2012, “Middle adulthood, which begins around the age 40 and ends at about 65, is marked by narrowing life options and a shrinking future as children leave home and career paths become more determined. In other ways, middle age is hard to define because wide variations in attitudes and behaviors exist.” American Beauty is a movie created by director Sam Mendes in the late 1990s. The movie focuses on the character Lester Burnham, a man in his mid-40’s going through an intense midlife crisis; he 's grown cynical and is convinced that he has no reason to go on. Lester’s relationship with his wife Carolyn is quite dysfunctional, while Carolyn works hard to make it seem as if she has full control of her life, she is going through her own crisis as well; feeling empty and desperate (MSN Entertainment, 2013). Although American Beauty focuses on other characters as well, including Lester and Carolyn’s teenage daughter Jane, Jane’s shallow friend Angela, the next door neighbor Colonel Fitts, and his son Ricky; this paper is mainly going to focus on Lester Burnham, his adulthood, and life transition. The purpose is to discuss how the main character can be viewed from a biological, cognitive, and psychosocial perspective. The paper will also discuss how the main character copes with biological changes as a result of aging, what changes occur in the family composition and lifestyle of the character, how the character copes with the idea of death, dying, and any theories on “the afterlife”.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Editing in the Media

    • 3411 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The edited images of ideal bodies perpetrated by the media are a contributing factor to poor body image, low self-esteem, and eating disorders among females. According to numerous doctors and therapists, self-worth is established in relation to what is portrayed in the media, and when magazines and advertisements are Photoshopped, the expectations for average women are altered. In an attempt to reach this new standard for females, some girls develop eating disorders and obsess about losing weight and become thinner and more beautiful.…

    • 3411 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been discussions by researchers regarding how the media portrays us to what is beauty and thereby causing a person to be dissatisfied with their appearance, their weight and eating habits. (Levine&Murnen, 2009). The researchers have revealed as to what is considered beauty for women and teenage girls, and what standard they are using that complements what the media has used to define the beauty. In turn, they will use those standards as a means for evaluating their own level and rating of beauty. These women and teenage girls will then seek to achieve those standards so that family, peers and even strangers will be pleased with their appearance. (O’Brien et al., 2009; Thompson, Heinberg, et al.,…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, no one knows the true definition of beauty, but from a young age children start worrying about their appearance. One girl feels “being pretty or beautiful is the highest accolade, one that usually makes her parents proud; to be pretty is to be approved of, liked and rewarded”. She also mentioned that in “infancy, females are judged by standards of cuteness and prettiness and shifts with age into standards of beauty and glamour.” The media negatively affects young women with unrealistic body images presented or reflected by the media. This image forces us to have self-esteem issues. These advertisements are damaging both our mental physical state of being of many young girls who take extreme measures to live up to the Medias perception of the perfect body type.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Dying To Be Thin

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Social media, magazines, television shows, and commercials on TV are just a few examples of ways society implements the expectations of an “ideal body” for a man or woman. Famous figures have used the “ideal body” to streamline their careers and bate individuals in believing they need to look a certain way in order to be beautiful. Today, individuals will of the extra mile to have the “ideal body” and certain people go to extremes to meet this body image. Men and women that do not feel they match the criteria for the perfect body can feel shameful and embarrassed of their appearance and develop eating habits, patterns, and disorders that are dangerous and not beneficial to any of these individuals. Unfortunately, these eating patterns, habits,…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    eating disorders

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What has the world come to when women are given the message at a very young age, that in order to be happy or successful they must be thin. Our society repeatedly sends the message that thin is beautiful. Today every time we walk into a store we are surrounded by images of skinny, beautiful models that appear on the front cover of all fashion magazines. In the media, we daily see weight-loss programs advertisements featuring young underweight women. Diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens telling us that once we lose weight will be happier. This shows that the American culture tends to value people on their physical appearance rather than other important qualities. As a result, eating disorders have been on the increase because of the value society places on being thin. Media is brainwashing society into believing that being thin is important and necessary. Eating disorders are a common problem in our society but have not been acknowledged as much as they should. There are three subtypes of eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa and Binge eating. However, society is not the only contributing factor to eating disorders. Women with eating disorders have a difficultly controlling their actions. They suffer from low self-esteem which drives them toward perfectionism. Women set themselves standards that are unhealthy, physically and emotionally. These eating disorders can be life threatening if not treated on time. An examination of our society reveals that they are one of the major contributing factors to the three eating disorders among women.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist Theory

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This article focuses on the Western idea of what a woman’s body should look like and the insecurities and struggles that it creates. The perfect body for a woman, in our society, is slim, tall, tan, and almost impossible to attain. The article speaks to the women who struggle with weight issues and how they have to deal with the pressures of the media and the expectations of society to have that perfectly slim and golden body. This reading shed light on how much society teaches women to develop self-hating relationships with their body and encourages women to deal with their “problem areas”. This article reminded me of how often I struggle with my body image and how often I feel guilty for eating the wrong foods and not working out enough. This article really made me realize that nobody judges you more harshly…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays