This week I will be focusing on the media and the influence it has on a female’s body image. In North America it has become a recurring problem how thin and frail the models and celebrities are. Not only are they pin thin, but the message that the media is projecting to its target audience of receptive women is that to appear attractive they must resemble an unnatural, in need of a forever perfecting body. Not only are they exposed to stars that are extremely thin, often due to extreme dieting or exercising, we see images of stars that have been computer airbrushed making their appearance next to impossible.
Above is a web site that considers the media and how it influences women in Canada.
Women are continuously bombarded with advertisements promising ways to drop those last few pounds, and luckily for the advertisers they find success. Unfortunately for women however; the media are often the only ones finding long term results. One may wonder why they find continuous success when sites like these are posted promoting awareness on the game they are playing. Unfortunately, the advertisements and lifestyle promoted are brought to the female eye at a young age and can be very convincing. Young girls are usually first introduced to Barbie and friends (Beauty and body image in the media, 2010). All of which when portioned to human size would not survive due to the unrealistic body structure that would not support their organs causing chronic diarrhea and death from malnutrition. According to the International Journal of Eating Disorders, upon conducting research with 75 boys and 107 girls ages 8-11, the MMIS (Multidimensional Media Influence Scale) showed a direct correlation between MMIS and Eating Disorder Inventory Body Dissatisfaction with both males and females. Girls however; showed a 30% influence of body dissatisfaction originating from MMIS at only the youthful ages of 8-11 (Cusumano and Thompson, 2001). So, luckily for the weight loss industry, the more they promote an unattainable goal, insecure girls and women continue to purchase the products that endlessly make promises that cannot be met in hopes of one day resembling that of a computer airbrushed model. On North American television shows ¾ actresses are found to be under weight, and the ones that are over average weight are often the punch line of a joke. According to The Canadian Women’s Health Network, 50-70% of normal weight girls feel they are overweight and 90% are displeased with their body in some way. As long as media continues to tell the everyday woman that her body needs adjusting in reference to thinness, dieting, and beauty to be finally happy and have the life of the movie stars, this will continue (Beauty and body image in the media, 2010).
I feel like an informative site like this is exactly what women need. It is right to provide awareness on topics that affect the Canadian society. This concept relates to the idea of Capitalism where a small number of people in comparison to the female population, are able to determine what those below them will have to succumb to. A site like this demonstrates that the public is not passive and are willing to stand up for what is right to cause change.
A theory to be considered is that of Habermas. Habermas says that no single life can be conducted without work, interaction, and power. To relate Habermas theory I will compare and contrast the media and the influence it has on women. For work, we see that the media continuously bombards women with online advertisements, TV infomercials promoting diet pills to knock off those last 10 pounds, and magazine cover pages giving the juicy details to ‘how they do it!’, referring to celebrities and models. Those in the media know how to work. They have the experience and expertise to know how to catch the eye of an influential reader and skilfully persuade them to buy the product to reach a goal they will neither be able to reach nor maintain. They have the means of the camera crew, makeup artists, produces, directors, computer whizzes, and much more to put their campaign in place; that being to continue perfecting the female body. Media is then able to interact with the reader once they have engaged them enough to buy in to what they are selling, in turn making beauty and diet practices a multibillion dollar industry. The media industry continues to be upbeat and make women feel as though, this time if not any other, they will in fact reach that weight they haven’t been since high school. Habermas finally looks at who has the power. This final point and the one I find the most important to this topic. The media in this instance holds the majority of the power. They not only are able to manipulate minds to set their vulnerable audience up for continuous failure, they not only create eating disorder after eating disorder, and they take the money and crush dreams. Dreams in which, that are not even necessary. Dreams they have created to make money. They definitely have put much thought into the industry and the unattainability of their pitch keeps purchasers continue. However; they do hold this power so long as females do continue to feed into their tactics and purchase the products. If women turn their heads to the negative media they are exposed to and no longer will feed into their sale tactics, there will be a power shift.
Below is a link to star Jamie Lee Curtis speaking out about posing free of airbrushing and editing to support real beauty and defining what glam is to her.
Works Cited
Beauty and body image in the media. (2010). In Media Awareness Network. Retrieved from: http://www.media- awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm
Cusumano, D. L. and Thompson, J. K. (2001). Media influence and body image in 8–11-year-old boys and girls: A preliminary report on the multidimensional media influence scale. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29, 37–44. doi: 10.1002/1098-108X(200101)29:1<37::AID-EAT6>3.0.CO;2-G
