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- Title
Multiple Influences on Women's Body Image.
- Authors
Reese, Serena
- Abstract
There are many women considered to be normal weight, with no eating disorders who look in the mirror and see their bodies as fat and ugly. Many of these women's distorted beliefs about their bodies can be traced to the fashion industry's portrayal of the ideal woman as very thin. The fashion industry tends to use models who are not indicative of the average woman. As a matter of fact, the average model used in the fashion industry weighs 25 percent less than the average woman (Mahan, 2004). This distortion can lead to women seeing their imperfect bodies as indicators of an imperfect person (Brownell, 2005). Socially and culturally, many women are taught that their looks will determine their success. Some cultures state that a woman who is thin is the ideal woman accepted by society. This type of pressure for women to try to achieve the impossible may lead to depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. Throughout the years, in many cultures, women have been the focus of beauty. Women have had to read, listen and hear about what is considered to be beautiful. Unfortunately, for most women they do not fit into the prevalent category that is accepted as the norm for beautiful. This type of pressure can be overtly or inadvertently reinforced by their friends, family in the work environment and in the many magazines, books and television ads and shows that are shown daily. Before and after advertisements are shown to be biased. In other words, they send a message to women that if you look like the before picture your body type is not acceptable. These type of ads also tend to send an unrealistic message about how losing weight is a process, not an overnight cure. The ads do not focus on the many hours that the woman may have spent adjusting her diet and modifying her lifestyle through exercising. These ads send a message that losing weight is easy and that if you are similar to the before picture you are lazy and fat.
- Subjects
BODY image in women; FASHION; LEANNESS; IMPERFECTION; PSYCHOLOGY of women; WEIGHT loss
- Publication
Virginia Journal, 2008, Vol 29, Issue 3, p4
- ISSN
0739-4586
- Publication type
Article