Body image perception and psychological effects

¶ … person goes or whatever a person sees, reads or hears, whether from billboards on the streets or subways to advertisements on the Internet, television, radio, newspapers and magazines, the images that are always apparent are mostly scantily clad men and women with physiques and looks that are "to die for." The media seem to be projecting the message that people should and must have body images that are sculpted and resembling top athletes and international fashion models. This kind of advertising is so prominent even if the products or services being promoted have nothing to do with a person's looks or physical -- you want to buy a house, check out the real estate ad with a couple who are in the best of shape! Try test driving a new car and the models in the ad are sure to have bodies ordinary mortals could only dream of and aspire to have.

What happens then is that common people have this notion that in order to enjoy life or feel good about themselves, they have to have the "Coca-Cola" figure for women and the Charles Atlas body type for men. It has been clearly demonstrated that print media and television affect how individuals feel about their bodies. Exposure to magazines and television may lead to body image dissatisfaction and eating disordered symptomatology among girls and women. (Thompson, and Heinberg 1999, 344) Unfortunately, the reality is that different people have various body types and images and aiming for the body image portrayed by the media is often an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, the media continuous with this hype of how one should look not only because a "person will supposedly feel better" but also since this kind of marketing gimmick "sells products and services" especially to those gullible enough to believe.

The question therein now lies whether the media is at fault for this kind of body image advertising or is it the market -- the people being targeted by the ads, that is to be blamed. But before delving into this matter, it is critical to note that however the media do their advertisement, the main focus of this industry is to garner sales and increase revenue. Thus, the action thereto is exhaust all efforts to determine how the consumers will be influenced as to what types of advertisements will sell more. The media exist in order to draw business and ensure the continuity of their business operations at all means. There are media establishments though that draw the line in some aspects and shy away from questionable advertising practices and promotes the highest standards in corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. However, the general rule of thumb when one looks at most advertisements is that the media still mostly adhere to promoting the "perfect body image" to sell whatever their selling.

On the other side of the coin -- the consumers -- people are vested with the natural ability to choose freely and determine what is right or wrong for them. Thus, despite the media hype regarding advertising the perfect body images, it is cognizant on people to be conscious of this gimmickry or hard-selling style. Although the media is an influence not only on individuals but on society as well, there are choices that can still be made and the level of media influence can be curtailed with judicious thinking and analysis on people's part. People should be aware how the media exhaust all efforts to conduct studies, researches, surveys, and analysis to determine what influences people's buying behaviors and how to align these factors into the products or services being sold. What usually comes up is that most of us are "dreaming" of having the perfect body image that any reference thereto to advertisements will catch our attention. With "the average U.S. resident exposed to approximately 5,000 advertising messages a day (Alfreiter, Elzinga, and Gordon, 2003, qtd. In National Eating Disorders Association 2005)," the media culture indeed has taken control of our lives and providing us with a distorted outlook of our body image. With this kind of mindset, the consumers will begin feeling that if they do not resemble the "oozing with sex appeal" models in advertisements, then they are not attuned with what is "in" and vogue in society.

But everything is not lost though considering, we consumers should take a stand and engage the media in the wrongness of their projection of body image. The media may have a strong influence on society but by the same token, the media could not have had this influence without society kowtowing to their advertisements especially with regards to the perfect body image. Thus, it is high-time for the consumers themselves to take as stand and deliver to the media how they should conduct themselves and project a more realistic body image in their advertisements. If we accept that the media influence society (and are in turn influenced by it), then we can understand how significant changes in media structure and practices can alter not only media content but also the nature of the media's influence on society. In other words, if the media change, their impact is likely to change as well. (Croteau and Hoynes 2006, 191) By delivering a clear message to the media on how to better sell their products and services on a more realistic level, consumers will not be swayed the false projections of the perfect body image. This is especially critical to the female consumers because of the misrepresentation the media bring when it comes to how the female should look. Since there was no strong outcry yet regarding the matter, the trend continues and naive consumers continue to swallow the false perfect body image the media present "hook, line, and sinker."

The fortunate thing though that has been happening of late, especially during the last few years with the advent of the Internet and various social networking systems, consumers are taking a stand and voicing out their opinions and issues. This becomes especially relevant since the effects of the false body image advertisement of the media have brought about eating disorders, mental anguish and low self-esteem on the consumers as a result of not being able to abide by the body image presented in the media. Women have become victims with "the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that real women's bodies have become invisible in the mass media. The real tragedy is that many women internalize these stereotypes, and judge themselves by the beauty industry's standards. (Media Awareness Network 2010)" But as earlier mentioned, this is going by the wayside already because consumers are finally taking control and blasting back at the media on how they should conduct themselves in their portrayal of body images.