The Needle in The Media

Since the perfect body has been expected and promoted by the media. Than there is no surprise when the media promotes and demonstrates the means in order to receive this ideal body. Some of these means can be workout, healthy eating, dieting, and the most popular right now are cosmetic and plastic surgery shows. These shows not only target teenagers and young women but to all ages and female and male. Ranging from Fox to E! these shows have captivated the larger audience in converting ordinary women into goddesses or in making certain touches in order to become perfect. These shows include Dr. 90210, The Swan, Extreme Makeover, and Nip/Tuck. Reality shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency and many other shows allocate time for a cosmetic or plastic surgery clip or episode. In these shows cosmetic and plastic surgery is portrayed as an easy and fast way to achieve the beautiful look that society expects. The procedures are seen as an easy task to overcome and that there are no health implications. When the celebrities show the audience their own personal experience with cosmetic or plastic surgery the audience feels closer to the “celebrity look”. Even though this easy remedy to the ugly duckling is becoming more popular especially in the media there are shows that try to break this down. In the movie In a Cinderella Story the evil step-mother is portrayed as having cosmetic surgery in her face and throughout the movie her character demonstrates the implications of such procedures. However even though many poke fun at cosmetic or plastic surgery it is becoming more common in our society. According to The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 11.7 million cosmetic and nonsurgical procedures were performed in 2007 compared to only 2,099,173 in 1997. This trend continues to grow and the media’s input pushes this trend to a higher level without acknowledging its consequences.



"11.7 Cosmetic Procedures in 2007”. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. 25 Feb. 2008. 19 Oct. 2008 .

The Truth of Being Overweight

A recent national news related to the female body image in the media was titled “The overweight debate: Healthy and heavy?” on MSNBC. The news article discusses other potential hazardous factors that can affect ones health other than being overweight. These are your age, family history, waist measurement, your regular fitness, cholesterol and inflammation. "Being overweight may not be associated with any risk of heart disease," says Robert Eckel, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and past president of the American Heart Association. Even though some of these factors can correlate with being overweight they have an effect on anyone no matter their weight. Even if someone who is overweight lost a few pounds the other factors would continue to affect the individual and probably increase the potentials of contracting more diseases. This is another place were we begin to see the power of the media. If studies continue to come out with proof that being overweight due to their standards is healthy than why do many continue to strive for the “perfect” body? The media has been able to impose this “moral panic” towards society that being overweight is unhealthy because it is not beautiful and not the norm. In order to change this false perception the media has to popularize and impose that being heavy can also be healthy. Will that ever happen? It would take a lot of effort and time. The media is engraved with Hollywood and the music industry that have used body, sex, and beauty to make millions and nobody is bound to change something that is making money. Society must start educating and informing itself about health facts and issue than the media influences would not be so powerful. By taking the right measures and not those from the media one would become healthier and better fit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26957675/

The Image of Sexuality in Color

Minorities in this country have very little power and are very vulnerable to any social issue. When dealing with body image minorities are affected even more compared to whites in society. Women of color in the United States are pressured to fit their stereotypical roles. Many of their stereotypes have roots from their culture or country of origin. Other times these body image expectations are fabricated from people in power within society. This can be specifically applied to Latina and African American women, since their bodies represent more of the hourglass image. The hourglass figure is greatly desired, honored, and attractable to many. African American and Latina women are stereotyped as being seductive, very loud, and very sexual. They do this by wearing very little clothes, dancing seductive, giving attitude to anything, and using sex to their advantage. Their roles in movies, shows, and commercials are consistent which reaffirm this expectation to the viewers. For example in the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious, Eva Mendes uses her Latina flare and beauty to seduce the Cuban drug dealer into believing that she was not an undercover cop.



This is also an issue in music videos specifically from hip-hop and reggaeton artists. The women in their music videos dance very seductive, many times they are used as an object, they wear very little clothes, they are submissive, and follow and do whatever the artists pleases in the video. For example the music video “I’m Still in Love” from Sean Paul portrays the women as very seductive when they dance in their room, at the nightclub, and throughout the video.



All of these images send a very strong message to young girls in our society especially to women of color. Due to this women of color think that sex and their body will get them what they desire, which does not take into account their character and intelligence. Their style of dancing and fashion reflect the media’s influence. For example the fashion line from the rapper Nelly includes “apple bottom jeans” which emphasizes women’s butt. These jeans are seen everywhere especially on young African American women. These examples are just a few ways women of color are more pressured to look a certain way by society. Latina and African American women are not the only minorities that are affected however it is seen more often.

The Media Bug

One of the greatest components to the issue of body image in our society is the media. The media has become very popular in the United States. It has the power to change views, implement ideas, raise issues, and promote ideologies. The media comes in the form of television, magazines, internet, newspapers, books and films. Everyone in the United States encounters at least one of these mediums every day. The media surrounds us therefore there is no way to avoid it, especially if celebrities are in the media then it is harder to avoid due to their fame and popularity. Many young women look up at these celebrities as role models and follow their many examples. One of them is their physical attributes. In order to learn and discover every secret they have, young women turn to the media. Since the media is overly obsessed with celebrities, specifically the females, they want to cover everything about them. This includes their relationship status, their upcoming jobs, any awards received, gossip, and other useless information. Another aspect the media predominantly covers is the physical beauty of these celebrity women which includes their fashion, make-up, hair, and diet. “How Being Unpopular Helped Her get Famous” or “534 Ways to Look & Feel Fantastic For Fall” are ways to encourage women to feel like they can one day be beautiful and famous just like celebrities if they follow in their footsteps. The media brings these models and celebrities down to the “normal” women’s level and the majority do fall for the false advertisements due to the increase in sales. Even though these celebrities and models are real human beings, a good number of magazines and advertisements employ photo shopping tactics in order to make them the ultimate beauty. Other times the women on the advertisements are not who they seem to be, at some points as much as five different body parts are used to make one. For example as discussed in the video “Slim Hopes” featuring Jean Kilbourne, Julia Roberts body is not hers in the movie cover. The media has a great power in how females are shown to the public. It has the power to define what beautiful is and to correct flaws in the women portrayed. Therefore many times the beauty we see as a society is unreal. This can be devastating in many ways because the women who are caught by this media bug attempt to fit the media’s definition of beautiful when in reality it does not represent the entire population of women.

Introduction

Body image has been an issue throughout centuries many cultures have had their own way of perceiving what the perfect image is. For example the Chinese used foot-binding to have petite feet because they are preferred in their culture and in Victorian times they preferred bigger woman because they were better for child bearing. Women have had to strive for the perfect body for centuries in order to attract males and to fit their society’s expectations. The ideal perfect body has changed throughout history and throughout cultures. Even though the perfect body in every culture has been enforced and promoted the health effects were never considered or talked about. The issue of body image is significant because it has affected many women and girls both physically and mentally. Depression, anorexia, bulimia, self- esteem and other issues surround the problem of body image in our culture. These issues are never considered especially when the perfect body is promoted in the media and society. For example in modeling the women are expected to fit a certain size and if they do not than they do not receive the modeling job. The modeling agencies expect them to fit their criteria but they do not realize the effects on the models. I decided to examine this issue because it surrounds us and affects us everywhere. As a girl in society we are expected to meet a certain physical look to be beautiful. This pressure can come from family, friends, men, fashion, our culture, and most importantly the media. This issue effects me even more because I am a Latina society stereotypes us as being curvy, sexual, and seductive. By examining this issue we can be more informed about the implications and effects the “perfect body” has on women and culture and do something about it.

First Post

Created For Final Project.
CES/WST/SOC 300
Brenda Meza