Ideal body image for Women - The power of the media
We live in a society that is constantly bombarded with endless images. We are surrounded by suggestions about what we should eat, how we should dress, where we should live. Of course, we are ‘free’ to choosebut we all know that these choices are anything but free.
The goal of advertising is to sell products, and this is what we have come to expect. However, sometimes we come upon advertisements that have no specific “product” to sell. In addition, instead of seeing beautifully dressed models, we see people who look just like us or our family members. These advertisements are subtle, but equally effective. We do not see a product, but we are given a message. The message is always one that will appeal to us. Even though the commercial itself lasts twenty seconds, the impression it leaves is supposed to last much longer.
As Susan Bordo has commented, ‘advertisers are aware, too, of more specific ways in which women’s lives are out of control, including our well-documented food disorders; they frequently incorporate the theme of food obsession into their pitch’ (1993: 105). Every decision we make comes with ramifications. The images we see are often distorted and unattainablethey are the inevitable consequences of a social system in which those who are thin and big-breasted benefit most. The message that comes through most clearly is that women should be as thin as possible, no matter what the cost. Young girls, teenagers, and grown women have this concept reinforced daily.
We as a society have created an environment that is so image-obsessed that the distinctions between how we look and who we are have been lost. Image and substance are irrevocably blurred, the results can have serious implications. What matters most to us is what matters most to those with power: the message we get today is that being thin is in. Thus, we all work to achieve the magical state of thinness. Being thin, we are told, will get us ‘in’. Approval for being thin is everywhere, along with disapproval for being fat. What these messages have done is created a generation of women so self-conscious about their bodies that they value little else. They will starve, sweat, purge, and punish themselves in any number of ways to meet an ideal that is unrealistic and unhealthy.
One purpose of this paper is to document the influence of various media representations of contemporary ideal beauty. However, there are additional purposes as well. One of the focuses of my research has been to examine the relationship of beauty with economic issues. Those findings will be discussed here as well.
It is apparent to all members of society that the diet industry is flourishing; huge profits are being made by companies that promise unattainable dreams of thinness to willing believers. Often these claims are medically unsubstantiated, perhaps even harmful. However, to the millions who are dying, literally, to attain an enviableor rather, rail-thinfigure, the consequences pale in importance. I will also discuss the underlying reason behind the formation of this new ideal body shape. I will examine how society and culture play a significant role in women’s lives. In addition, I will discuss the psychology of the ideal body and explore the ways in which this ideal has become an icon of oppression: in order to be thin, almost anything goes.
Body image, when held up as such an icon, may be seen as an oppressive force in the lives of women. This is clearly evidenced by the phenomena of eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Bulimia is a disorder in which women gorge on huge amounts of food, sometimes thousands of calories at a sitting. The food is then ‘purged’, often through vomiting and/or excess laxative use.
Equally pernicious is the disorder known as anorexia nervosa. In cases of anorexia, women essentially starve themselves, surviving on just the barest amounts of food. Sometimes they will adhere to liquid diets, or limit their intake to particular kinds or amounts of food, sometimes accompanied by bizarre rituals. The bottom line is that calories are severely restricted, often with harmfuleven life-threatening results. At the same time, it is interesting to note how many women will act as though they oppose the cultural ideals of thinness, while at the same time struggling to achieve themessentially, living a lie within a lie. ‘The feminist perspective on eating disorders, despite significant differences among individual writers, has in general been distinguished by a prima facie commitment both to taking the perceptions of women seriously and to the necessity of systemic social analysis’ (Bordo 1993: 54).
This paper is divided into three main sections, or chapters, for ease of organization and readability. I have outlined the major sections below, and included a brief description of what is covered in each one. Although the chapters are closely related, each has a specific emphasis, and each approaches the concept of the female body and women’s issues with image within a slightly different framework.
The Power of the Media
The role of the media is significant in influencing our perceptionssome would even say that the media are responsible for promoting them. One does not have to go very far to find out what the ideal body image is in contemporary society. Just open a magazine, turn on the TV, go to the cinema, wait for a bus or subway, or merely walk down the street: advertisements are everywhere. The ubiquitous message of thinness seems to stare back at us from the gaunt faces of models on every street corner. You will be instantly bombarded with advertisements that dictate how we should look: what we should wear, how much we should weigh. We have become so accustomed to this that we do not even realize it is going on. It is all around us, constant and pervasive, penetrating our psyches and imprinting on us the message that in order to be happy and successful we need to look a certain way. In Chapter One, the messages of the media will be explored and analyzed.
Tags: Anorexia, Bulimia, ideal body, images, media, representation, social system, women
