Women's Body Image In The Media example essay topic

When a person looks into a mirror, what do they see? Do they see themselves as they really are, or do they see themselves in ways, which are distorted through their eyes, whether good or bad? When you look at yourself, in a mirror, in a photo, or maybe even video footage, you will not see yourself the way that the next person does, but it is a sad fact that a majority of people, see themselves in a negative light. Scrutinizing every curve, every freckle, every small bump of cellulite upon their bodies.

The way that people view themselves can depend on many factors. Their everyday environment, their current attitude, the people they associate with, the beliefs they have grown up with, and also the media. This report aims to look at the different types of media that effect women's body image, the effects that these types of media have and also what is being done about the situation. In today's society, we are surrounded by the media. From the suggestive slogans on our soft drink labels in our refrigerators, to the billboards situated on our main roadways, the media is everywhere. Television, movies, magazines, fashion, music, they are all a part of the media force, which drives our world today.

It's no wonder that the media is so influential to the people who live in this world. One figure which is constant in every form of media, is the woman. Not just any woman, but a woman who possesses a "perfect" body. She has a tiny waist, slender legs, flawless skin, perfectly sized and placed eyes, lips and nose, and dressed in the latest fashion, or next to nothing at all. Her hair is soft, shiny, and she smells like roses. She eats McDonalds, KFC, Hungry Jacks, whole tubs of ice cream, and does not gain a kilo.

Does anybody really know this woman? The level of perfection, which the media portrays "normal" women to possess, is not humanly possible. At least not without 5 make up artists on side, a computer expert to touch up the "bad bits", and a metabolism that works overtime. Yet, this is how the media portrays real women to be.

One product, which is very hypocritical about women's body image, is magazines. Magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Cleo, even Girlfriend and Dolly, claim to be aimed at real women, but how can this be true when size 4 to 6 models are parading through their fashion spreads? When in actual fact, the average Australian woman is a size 12. A fact that a recent national survey discovered. The percentage of Australian women a Size 12 and over is 75%, whereas women Size 10 and under were only 21%. This statistic shows that 75% of Australia's women are not properly represented in the media.

It does not help the female reader's mind, when the magazine scrutinised Christina Aguilera's recent weight gain, and how she has "packed on the pounds". One magazine, which has begun to tackle this issue in the last few years, is Cosmopolitan. With women's body image in the media having had the spotlight on it recently, Cosmopolitan has addressed this issue, both in it's own magazine and also on the Channel Nine program, Today. In both the magazine and television program, Cosmo's editor Mia Freedman, explained that Cosmopolitan does it's best to include women of all shapes and sizes, but that it's impossible to include every body shape in every issue of the magazine. She also makes a point that Cosmopolitan's philosophy is "Sexy comes in all shapes and sizes", [Cosmopolitan, April Issue, 2003], but points out that Cosmopolitan promotes healthy bodies and healthy relationships with our bodies. Indeed, Cosmopolitan is doing a great job in the eyes of Australian women, with Cosmo being one of the highest selling women's magazines in Australia.

One of their most featured models, who also happens to be a "plus-size" model is Natalie Wakening, who has graced the pages of Cosmopolitan a numerous amount of times with her beauty and her normal body. She too also struggled with her own body image in her teenage years, retelling that "It was killing me to maintain even a size 10 weight", but it seems she has dealt with her body image in a positive. Cosmo also includes a lot of articles to do with loving your body for what it is, not what it could, should or would be, it has also featured role models such as Kelly Osbourne and Sara-Marie [from Big Brother] on the front cover of it's magazine, which is a huge step from the Sarah Michelle Gellar types, who usually grace the covers at the magazine stands. Not only are women scrutinised for being overweight, but underweight also. Some women are just not born to carry much weight on their bodies. Being any body shape can contribute to a whole range of factors, such a genes, metabolism, lifestyle, etc.

For a woman to have to explain herself when someone calls her "anorexic" should not be tolerated. This is what model Jodie Kidd experienced in her teenage years. By her mid teens, she was gracing the runways in Italy, and though she had the model body, which was expected of her, the media called her "An anorexic giraffe". The media, who normally embrace models, turned on one of their own products, and criticised her for being "too skinny". The pressure became so intense and so horrible for Jodie that she quit modelling. The type of women usually associated with having bodies so small, are celebrities and models, and everybody has heard the horror stories of anorexia and bulimia associated with both.

The media does have a negative effect on women's body image. If the very force which created this problem [the media] is turning on itself, that shows how bad the issue has become, and now the media themselves are beginning to open their eyes. Today's generation, as the most media driven of all generations so far, are pumped with media left, right and centre. It is our world.

In national surveys and general public opinion, many women agree that the media contributes greatly to women of all sizes harming their bodies. Unlike the trends and celebrities, which come and go, the media and the way that it works will not be so easy to change in the future. They will continue to try and sell everything to the best of their ability, whether the ways are appropriate or not. However, Cosmopolitan has really started the ball rolling, as I included in my research, by including models who represent real women in their magazines, excluding diets from their magazines, and publishing articles to encourage women to love their bodies for what they are. If more magazines start to follow this trend, in future, media may be more representative of real women and their bodies..