Abstract
This paper posits that the has been a correlation between mass media’ establishment of standards of beauty and body image and unhealthy effects on young women, such as eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification. With the increase in media exposure over the last several decades, this has become an issue that deserves further study. This paper uses research from such scholars as Vonderen & Kinnally (2012) and Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) to show that the effects of the beauty standard set by the media on young women have been widespread and pervasive.
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"Media’s Effect on Beauty Standards".
Beauty has always been a subjective concept, based on variables such as individual preference, cultural norms, time period, etc. The clich? ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ is a concept that is nonetheless relevant to how different people perceive beauty in different and unique ways. However, with the increase of media exposure since the latter half of the 20th century, there has been a shift toward a more universal concept of beauty, one that oftentimes creates an unfair standard to which young women, in particular, feel they have to conform. The pursuit of conformity established by the media can be difficult to manage for many women (and men, to a lesser extent), as it can set unrealistic expectations for body image and for beauty standards in general, ones that can create harmful consequences for women’s self-identity, body-image, and self-esteem. These expectations typically concern the need to achieve the ‘perfect,’ typically-thin, body shape as role-modelled by actresses on television and film, media advertisements, magazine exposure, etc. Furthermore, this paradigm often leads to a type of self-policing for women in social spheres and on social media, whereby those who do not conform to the standards set by the media can be outcast and stigmatized, creating a sense of social displacement for women whose body types do not fit into the perceived norm. Ultimately, the media’s role in establishing unfair beauty and body standards for women cannot be understated, and its effects are widespread and can include eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification.
In a study of advertisements and female cultural icons in the mass media, Park (2005) noted that those women depicted have been progressively getting thinner over the past several decades (cited in Vonderen & Kinnally, 2012, p. 41). Even more distressing, a longitudinal study on ‘female beauty icons from 1959-1978 ‘ observed that over half of them met the medical criteria for the eating disorder anorexia nervosa’ (p. 41). With these study results, it is not difficult to imagine why so many young women experience symptoms of ‘body dissatisfaction’ (p. 42), a buzzword in contemporary society that points to women’s discontent over their body image as compared to those women role models portrayed on television, films, magazines, and in social media. As Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) noted, ‘approximately 50% of girls and
undergraduate women report being dissatisfied with their bodies’ (p. 460). This is clearly a disturbing trend that can have a multitude of effects on women’s health. Specifically, it can lead to eating disorders and conditions such as those cited by Park (2005).
Regarding eating disorders, Hyde, Grabe, & Ward (2008) cited that ‘research from prospective and longitudinal designs has identified body dissatisfaction as one of the most consistent and robust risk factors for eating disorders such as bulimia’ (460). When the mass media sets unrealistic standards for beauty and body image, women are encouraged to emulate this standard; the implication is that this standard correlates with financial success, attraction, fame, and quality of life. For many women who do not fit this model, dieting and diet pills become a go-to option. Furthermore, when harsh diets do not achieve the desired effects, young women can turn to even more severe starvation diets and fads that encourage the strict restriction of caloric intake. This asceticism can lead to binge-and-purge practices, which, if continued over a moderate period of time can develop into clinical bulimia, and anorexia’a condition of near starvation and obsessive desire to avoid food altogether for fear of weight gain. Women who suffer from these conditions often remain at the extreme end of body dissatisfaction and near-hysteria, where the image they see in the mirror does not at all conform to reality.
In addition to eating disorders, mass media’s beauty standard can also lead to a loss in self-esteem. Russello (2009) noted that ‘Research indicates that being exposed to thin ideal images lowers self-esteem and increases the drive for thinness in women and the drive for muscularity in men’ (p. 4). When the media reinforces an unrealistic body image and beauty standard, the failure to live up to that ideal often correlates with a decrease in self-esteem. Young women who feel they do not live up to thin ideal norms established by the media’whether in advertisements, films, television, magazines, news outlets, social media, etc.’can feel a debilitating sense of decreased self-worth, which, in turn, can exacerbate the situation. Instead of trending toward diet fads and eating disorders, these individuals may experience depression and a demoralizing sense of failure that can make them conversely eat unhealthily, even if they were not doing so prior to experiencing this loss of self-esteem. Self-worth is one of the most important factors in continued success and quality of life, and mass media’s effect on esteem can have serious consequences for millions of women who seek, and fail to find, the perfect body ideal norm.
Finally, mass media’s beauty standard can also create an unhealthy norm of sexual objectification, which can be defined as the treating of others, or even oneself, as an object without personal concerns or considerations of personal dignity. Vandenbosch & Eggermont (2012) observed that women and girls are expected to learn what the prevailing beauty ideals are from the media, and to internalize these standards. Subsequently, these beauty standards guide the formation of an objectified view of one’s own body, resulting in an increased monitoring of one’s appearance. (p. 869-70)
In their essay, Vandenbosch & Eggermont (2012) also used the buzzword ‘body surveillance’ as an indicator of possible sexual objectification, where the term is used to describe the obsessive concern over physical appearance and the near-constant monitoring of the physical traits of one’s body. According to Grabe and Hyde (2009), a study on female adolescents ‘reported that watching music television significantly predicted body surveillance (qtd. in Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012, p. 870). Clearly, there is an existing correlation between the images women see in the media and predictors of surveillance and objectification. Many young women who see body ideals portrayed in the mass media end up feeling a disconnection between themselves and their own bodies, leading to sexual objectification between themselves, their partners, and those in their social and online spheres of life. Vanderbosch & Eggermont (2012) noted how social cognitive theorists ‘imply that the rewarding of sexual objectification in media content teaches girls about how they may benefit from applying a sexually objectifying perspective toward their own body’ (p. 873). The implications and evidence here are clear. Mass media certainly plays a large role in encouraging unhealthy self-concepts, including those involving the objectification of women’s bodies.
With the influence of our digital culture on the rise, it is important to understand the increasing role of media on our lives, particularly in the lives of young women who may be targets of media influence and open to suggestibility. Certainly, the mass media over the past several decades has been aiding in the establishment of unrealistic beauty and body standards for women. The effects of the mass media and its establishing and enabling of beauty standard can have widespread effects, such as eating disorders, loss of self-esteem, and sexual objectification.
- Grabe, S., Ward, L.M., & Hyde, J.S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns
among women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3): 460-76. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460. - Oranges, C. M., Schaefer, K. M., Gohritz, A., Haug, M., & Schaefer, D. J. (2016). The mirror
effect on social media self-perceived beauty and its implications for cosmetic surgery. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 4(11), 1-2. http://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000001088. - Russello, S. (2009). The impact of media exposure on self-esteem and body satisfaction in men
And women. Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research, 1(4), 1-13. Retrieved from http://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=jiur. - Vandenbosch, L. and Eggermont, S. (2012), Understanding sexual objectification: a
comprehensive approach toward media exposure and girls’ internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. J Commun, 62: 869’887. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.x. - Van Vonderen, K.E. & Kinnally, W. (2012). Media effects on body image: examining media
exposure in the broader context of internal and other social factors. American Communication Journal, 14(2), 41-57. Retrieved from http://ac-journal.org
