“Concern Over Strong Media Influence On Women’s Body Image”

"Concern Over Strong Media Influence On Women's Body Image"

In a 2008 article by Medical News Today, the negative impact media has on a woman’s view of her body was highly stressed as a problem. In the article, it stated that in previous studies, they found that exposure to media depicting ultra-thin models and actors increased women’s concerns about their own bodies. When they use the term ‘exposure to media’, it is somewhat vague. What you have to understand is that it can come from anywhere.  "…It doesn't matter what the exposure is, whether it's general TV watching in the evening, or magazines, or ads showing on a computer," says postdoctoral researcher Shelly Grabe. "If the image is appearance-focused and sends a clear message about a woman's body as an object, then it's going to affect women." So, you could happen to be watching your favorite TV show, when a commercial comes on depicting a young, beautiful, thin model urging you to buy company x’s new perfume. That’s not saying much, but just the flash of this thin woman creates a seed of worry in your mind that “wow, I need to lose weight.” And just like that, suddenly you’re not thin enough. All because of this woman trying to sell the general public a perfume. 

The effect also appears to be growing. On average, studies conducted in the 2000s show a larger influence of the media on women’s body image than do those from the 1990s. "This suggests that despite all our efforts to teach women and girls to be savvy about the media and have healthy body practices, the media's effect on how much they internalize the thin ideal is getting stronger," Grabe says. These results are worrisome, because the more influence media has on women, the higher her chances are on becoming depressed, establishing an eating disorder, and lowering her self esteem. What is even more worrisome is the fact that it is now considered normal for women to hate their bodies. I completely agree with Grabe when she says in the article: "I want to stress that it's totally normal for women to want to be attractive. But what's happening in our society is that many women are striving toward something that's not very realistic or obtainable, and that leads to a lot of health consequences." Researchers are trying their hardest to obtain a solution for the problem that is media. In France, the government is pushing towards gaining complete control over the media, and determining what can be advertised and shown on television and whatnot. I think that the French have the right idea with trying to eliminate this problem, but if women also learned to be a little less concerned with their looks, then this problem would be much easier solved.