Kullanıcı:Caglaeksioglu
MEDIA DEPICTIONS OF BODY SHAPE
Media depictions of body shape is one of the hot topics in media nowadays because of the consumers are demanding more reality from brands. The deception and the far from reality advertising campaign based on body shape was literally aired one after another. The deception was far from reality and used model look people muscled men or zero sized women were the choice of the brands in order to promote their product or brand. Feminine beauty is associated with thinness, particularly in the Western culture, whereas the masculine cultural ideal is tall, wide, and muscular. This essay will look at how the media molds our cultural standards and the detrimental impact this may have on female and male body image problems. The slender female ideal is most visible in popular culture. Characters' bodies on TV and in movies are not representative of the overall population since overweight ones are considerably underrepresented and underweight characters are overrepresented. This is especially true for female characters, who are more likely than male ones to be underweight. Researchers assessed the size of mannequins at a variety of high street apparel stores in a very intriguing and unusual study. They discovered that whereas male mannequins looked to be of a healthy size, female mannequins frequently appeared to be of an unhealthyly thin form. In other bad news, many models have a Body Mass Index that indicates they have an eating condition. These misleading depictions give a skewed and unrealistic perspective of women's bodies, which may promote weight prejudice and body image problems. Many studies have looked at how 'thin ideal' advertising affects women's body image problems, and they typically look at it in one of two ways. Some studies merely look at the association between the amount of time people spend exposed to various types of media (for example, time spent viewing music videos, reading magazines, or watching TV) and body image problems. Although these studies consistently suggest that women who spend more time viewing or reading popular media are more likely to have body image issues, this technique has flaws. Because media exposure and body issues are recorded concurrently, we cannot conclude that media exposure causes increased body worries. Rather, women who are self-conscious about their bodies may be lured to beauty magazines or music videos in quest of 'thinspiration.' Many of these cultural standards are formed via the media, as everyone who is familiar with American society is aware. "We are continuously surrounded by various forms of media, and we develop our identities in part through the pictures we encounter in the media," Cutler observed. And the more females are exposed to thin-ideal media, the more unhappy they are with their bodies and with themselves in general. Another study showed that among European American and African American girls ages 7 to 12, more total television exposure indicated both a slimmer ideal adult body shape and a higher level of disordered eating one year later. Adolescent females are the most vulnerable demographic. "An increasing number of 12-year-old girls are going on diets because they feel that what you weigh affects your worth," Cutler noticed. "When all you see is a physical type that only 2% of the population possesses, it's tough to recall what's genuine and what's realistic to demand of yourself and others. Women have established media literacy programs to make women and girls more conscious of the messages they are unknowingly ingesting as they have grown more cognizant of the influence of media on their body images. "Media literacy programs foster a knowledge of the impact media has on individuals and society as a whole." "These programs seek to expose the ideologies and messages contained in the media pictures we see on a daily basis," Cutler stated. The representation of female body image in the media has been a topic of controversy for some time, but research indicates that young men and boys are just as negatively influenced by media and commercial imagery. Media images present an unrealistic picture of body image with super-slim women and muscle-bound men gaining the most attention. Whilst most people understand that image manipulation is possible, the extent to which this is used by the media to lighten/darken skin tone and alter body shape is not always understood. Evidence of this pressure is clear when you look at how young men and women tend to portray themselves on social media, with young women opting for overtly sexual looks whilst young men focus on aggressive content or content of a sexual or “lad-culture” based nature. According to Credos' 2016 report, 'A Picture of Health,' forty one percent of boys believe that the representation of males in media pictures is unrealistic. This is not to say that young men and women are not subjected to media image stereotypes. In both genders, there is an increased propensity to be overly concerned about body form and weight, which can contribute to depression and high-risk behaviors such as drug use and binge drinking. Adults and adolescents alike are dealing with difficulties related to body image. The pressure is on to achieve the unachievable, namely, to conform to stereotyped pictures that are frequently false in the first place. Dysmorphia, or unhappiness with one's physical appearance, is on the rise among both adults and children. In the media, there is a strong focus on celebrity culture. Unfortunately, this frequently means that the individuals we are pushed to idolize and strive to be have unrealistically 'perfect' bodies. Celebrity culture is heavily reliant on body image. Newspapers are eager to publish when a celebrity gains or loses weight, and negative remarks far outnumber good signals. As we are bombarded with celebrity images in publications, films, music videos, and online, it is no surprise that we are spending an increasing amount of time pursuing self-validation via social media. The depictions of body shape is both affecting male and female as you can understand with the reports and studies but in the recent years the brands are familiar with this issue and they are taking some steps in order to fix it or like starting to follow the right path. Sports brand like Nike or lingerie brand like Victoria Secret started to use all different body shaped models to be ‘‘more real’’ so this topic is no longer ignored by big brands or any brand this means the negativity this topic brings started to cleared away day by day.
https://safeline.org.uk/how-body-image-is-portrayed-in-the-media/
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/the-medias-effect-on-womens-body-image
https://www.ywca.org.nz/our-stories/media-and-body-image/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201311/media-exposure-and-the-perfect-body