Preview

Society and Appearance

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1008 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Society and Appearance
Lord, if I can’t be skinny, please let my friends be fat! In today’s modern world, this society places too much emphasis on appearance. Many believe that they should be perceived as a toy doll, with no faults or flaws. The perception of appearance makes many feel insecure with their bodies, entices them to spend millions of dollars on products to enhance their image, and builds up prejudice in an individual. Barbie dolls are plastic, not real.

Many people have unfortunately become victims of the outstanding pressures to look gorgeous, thin, and fashionable. This statement has caught along with a vast majority of individuals, who become quite apprehensive with their bodies, because they sincerely believe it lacks the picture-perfect image. Quite a few people are increasingly influenced by images viewed in the media. From hit TV shows, to movie stars, to fashion models in magazines, to billboard ads, a lot of individuals wonder why they can't have the same hot body like their desired celebrity, especially pre-teen girls. As many as one-third of girls aged 10 to 14 are trying to lose weight, according to research at The Hospital for Sick Children. Another symptom of a lack of self-esteem is mild depression, which may eventually lead up to suicidal thoughts if not treated. The Self-Esteem Institute claims, " Low self-esteem is actually a thinking disorder in which an individual views himself as inadequate, unworthy, unlovable, and/or incompetent. Once formed, this negative view of self permeates every thought, producing faulty assumptions, and ongoing self-defeating behavior." At sometime, the individual may become anti-social, and will begin to withdraw from society. This is because they don’t have the social skills required, and simply can’t fit in with the public. It is mind boggling how our physical aspect plays a role on our emotions. Consequently, it can also puts a dent in our wallets.

To keep up with the persona of looking appealing,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • 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
  • Better Essays

    Negative Body Image

    • 1867 Words
    • 8 Pages

    A study showed that women experience an average of 13 negative thoughts about their body each day, while 97% of women admit to having at least one “I hate my body” moment each day (raderprograms). Teens today are faced with many pressures: how they dress, who their friends are, who they are going to date, and most importantly, what they look like. In today’s society, body image is more than just the mental picture a person has of what their body looks like. For many, body image is also a reflection of how they feel about themselves and their lives. People with a negative body image believe that if they do not look right, other things, such as their personality, intelligence, social skills, or capabilities, also are not right. They think that if they fix their bodies, all their other problems will disappear. This can result in unhealthy weight management practices and an unhealthy relationship with food. People excessively diet and exercise out of fear of gaining weight. The media today portrays stick thin women with beautiful faces and size 0 bodies, but the truth is, the majority of runway models meet the Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria to be considered anorexic (raderprograms). When influenced by role models like these, teenagers start to feel inferior if they do not look the same. In turn, when put under the pressure of women in the media, teenagers will most likely develop a negative body image, eating or mood disorder, or other unhealthy addictions if they feel their bodies do not “measure up” to those of women portrayed.…

    • 1867 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not only does poor body image contribute to eating disorders but also many psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, problems in relationships, and substance abuse, as well as various health issues. Poor self esteem contributes to issues in relationships, the workplace, or any place requiring any kind of confidence. Generally, an unhealthy body image can cause unhappiness and displeasure with one’s self causing depression. The worst part about all of this is the fact that industries are making profit off of people who are unhappy with themselves and buying a product that promises…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It has long been generally accepted that we as humans are influenced greatly by the things that surround our everyday lives. These things can include friends, family, co-workers, the media and even society as a whole. The society in which people live can play a huge role in how they view themselves and how they view others. Over the years researchers have come up with many theories as to how and why society has such a large influence on people. Now-a-days there are appearance prescriptions for everything in our society. It is not good to be too fat, but it is not good to be too skinny either. The way a person looks, dresses and acts is a large factor in how other people will think about, talk about and respond to them. These societal prescriptions also differentiate between other factors such as gender, race, level of education and more. Interestingly most of these prescriptions for appearance in society today are relatively unspoken until someone violates them. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the complex societal prescriptions regarding personal appearance and body imaging; more specifically it will delve into how those prescriptions are gendered within society and how people respond both positively and negatively to those prescriptions.…

    • 1730 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    American society has created the concept of obesity. They identified what the perfect human should look like, and has outcasted everyone who does no resemble that, most commonly obese people. The Barbie character that is a landmark fashion doll and cultural icon portrays this perfect human figure (Source E). This perception of the perfect human has a negative psychological effect on these obese people. People start to call themselves fat and put themselves down; this is known as “The Language of Fat”. Not only is this a female problem it also courses through the male thought process. When men are overweight they lack self confidence and the drive to go after the things they want such as a job promotion or a girl they want to ask out due to this “Language of Fat” that they tell themselves they aren’t good enough(Source D). Due to this the psychological effect causes people to become depressed, and due to this eat more.…

    • 635 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading "Barbie Doll," I cannot help but agree with the argument in which the author is trying to make. To be a woman in today's day and age means always being told how you should dress and act based on society's standards. There is so much controversy concerning how women should appear, and this is due in part to the media's depiction of how a woman should look. The ideal woman used to have curves, but now women are expected to have a super tiny waist but still have larger breast and a large but; these are standards with which woman have had a nearly impossible time to meet. Between new diet and workout plans, it is easy for a woman to get mixed up with an unhealthy lifestyle of starving herself and exercising too much which leads to…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The average American woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds, while the average American model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds. This can lead to the “average” woman feeling as though the way she looks isn’t good enough or that she isn’t pretty enough. Magazines spend millions and millions of dollars on diet and exercise advertisements seemingly portraying and comparing happiness with being thin. This leaves certain women feeling as though the way to happiness is by being thin. Pair the “new ideal” of body image with stereotypes about being overweight and there is a risk that individuals will try to achieve this ideal by any means necessary.…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    With eating disorders on the rise today, the media plays an important role in affecting self-esteem, leading a large amount of young adults to develop eating disorders. Many adolescents see the overbearing thin celebrities and try to reach media's level of thinness and ideal body weight. "Sixty-nine of the girls reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape" (Field). Not only is being thin associated with other positive characteristics such as, lovable, popular, beautiful, and sexy, but being overweight is connected with negative characteristics like fat, ugly, unpopular, and lazy. Therefore media is the distinct social pressure of operating to influence people to be thin and causing eating disorders.…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Body Image

    • 2066 Words
    • 9 Pages

    When you look in the mirror what do you see? In America, ones self-perception, but more of the perceptions of others establish body image. The media plays a huge role on how a teen feels about their outer appearance. For most girls, being healthy means having the perfect body and being accepted by their peers. The American Academy of Pediatrics showed that the majority of girls, 59 percent, reported resentment with their body shape, and 66 percent expressed the desire to lose weight (Image). Standards and examples of how we should look are being tremendously imposed on our generation. People are looked down upon on and teased ruthlessly simply because they do not look like the way the media perceives as beautiful, a stop needs to put to this because more and more teens are taking extreme measures to get their desired look. Eating disorders and plastic surgery are just a few ways teens are changing their changing their looks. Body image and the media is a topic that should be discussed, improved, and resolved for the better.…

    • 2066 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-year-old Girls." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 2006. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marilyn Monroe Stereotypes

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Which can bring down your self-esteem and you will keep comparing your body to everyone else’s. According to Dove`s Self-Esteem Campaign, globally 6 out of 10 girls are so concerned with the way they look, they avoid participating in a range of activities. Beauty related anxiety is a big problem, and is now being recognized as an important issue by young people all around the world. Australian girls say that body image is one of their top three worries in life. 1 in 3 six-year-olds in Japan experiences low body confidence. 81% of 10-year-old girls in the U.S. are afraid of being fat. In addition, more than 110,000 girls in Brazil underwent cosmetic surgery in 2009. They are unrealistic images of beauty, genetically impossible for many of us to emulate. Yet we are told that these unattainable bodies are normal, desirable, and achievable. When we don’t measure up we develop a strong sense of dissatisfaction and the way that manifests can be ugly. Intolerance of body diversity has a lot to do with prejudice of size and shape in our culture. Being thin toned and muscular has become associated with the hard working, successful, popular, beautiful, strong, and the disciplined. Being fat is associated with the lazy, ugly, weak, and lacking in will power. With this prejudice, fat isn’t a…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Theses problems are faced by teens due to the un-realistic body images presented by the media and for most, fashion models that are rail thin and shown to be the epitome of beauty (Zerbe KJ, 1996). The younger girls look at these almost anemic…

    • 2317 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to many doctors, eating disorders and negative body-image is increasingly common due to media and the expanding world of fashion. Eating disorders are not just physical but mental, as well (Bowen-Woodward). Each person struggling with this type of disease developed a negative body image from somewhere. Family , friends, and society contribute to creating a person’s body image, whether negative or positive. The effects of a negative body-image are harmful and sometimes even fatal.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Persuasive Health Campaign

    • 2807 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Negative self-image is a psychological health issue that has resounding consequences on the mental growth and stability of adolescents. Bad self-image generates a variety of risks ranging from minor to extreme, including: distorted body views/body dissatisfaction, depressed mood, anxiety, anger, eating disorders, identity confusion, physical appearance comparison tendency, and internalization of “thin ideal”. Ultimately, negative media portrayal becomes the source of many personal and psychological disorders that can tear apart people’s lives. These issues are symptoms of high-risk behavior…

    • 2807 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful 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