Media\'s Effect On Eating Disorders

5 Pages 1363 Words

An Ongoing Obsession:
The Media’s Effects on Eating Disorders

“Man I look fat! I will never have the perfect body.” This is what many young women say when they look at themselves in the mirror. There is no such thing as the perfect body, yet many people believe there is. The media is one factor that plays a role in society’s view of young women. Today, women with eating disorders are affected greatly by the media. Television, magazines, posters, and billboards all show how the media views what young women should look like. Tall, rail-thin, a flawless complexion, and great hair are a few of the things that women today should entail. This is impossible, but yet a great number of women believe they can achieve this perfect body which the media portrays.
There are many factors that play a role in the way women feel about their bodies, but the key factor is the media. Women feel the constant pressure to mirror the image of models and actresses in magazines and on television. This feeling may begin as early as childhood. A pre-adolescent becomes very aware of how society views the “perfect body.” A study done in 1996 showed that the amount of time an adolescent watches television and reads magazines is greatly associated with their degree of body displeasure and their need to be thin (National Institute). The average adolescent watches about three to four hours of television a day and therefore will greatly be affected by what the media portrays how young women are supposed to look (Yellon). Many young girls dislike their body, and this feeling is known to grow up until early adulthood, or maybe even last for the rest of one’s life. How can this start so young people may ask, studies have shown that cartoon characters can affect how children feel. Female children describe the roles of girl cartoon characters as “domestic, interested in boys, and concerned with appearances,” (National Institute). S...