“The culture we have does not make people feel good about

themselves” – Albom, pg. 42

Unit 3

Body Image & Personality

The Media and Our Bodies

Body Image is Shaped by Many Factors

• Judgments or comments from others• Sexual and racial harassment• Stigmatization• Prevailing social values• Physical changes in the body during puberty, menopause &

pregnancy• Socialization• How the individual feels about him/herself• Violence – verbal, physical or sexual abuse• Actual conditions of the body – illness or disabilities

• Eating Disorders are used to overcome traumas such as sexual abuse, bullying, poverty, racism and class injuries.

Social Influences/Causes

1. Females are valued for their attractiveness• Whatever their race, class or ethnicity, most women

growing up in North America learn to dislike their appearance and place a high premium on the cultural ideals of beauty.

2. Parental influences produce gender stereotypes• Parents describe infant daughters as beautiful, soft, and

cute and rate their sons as stronger and hardier.• Research shows strong correlation between parental

dieting efforts and encouraging a child to diet.

Social Influences/Causes

3. Fat is stigmatized• Western society promotes widespread hatred and fear of fat. • Studies show that children as young as 4 - 5 yrs. Old have

developed extremely negative stereotypes about fat.• Fat people have lower rates of acceptance to college, reduced

likelihood of being hired for jobs and lower rates of pay

4. ***Media Image***• By high school, children have watched 15,000 hours of TV &

spent 11,000 hours in school. • They have seen 350,000 advertisements, half of which are selling

food. Over half of these commercials stress the importance of being thin and beautiful.

• A study of three women's magazines reported that the percentage of thin female models rose from 3% in the 1950's to 46% in the 1980's.

Social Influences/Causes

5. Medical Profession• In spite of the evidence to the contrary, many health professionals

and most people believe that body fat causes medical problems, and interpret "overweight" as a physical and psychological disease. In reality, many large women, pregnant or not, are quite healthy.

6. Negative Self-Image and Low Self-Esteem• The wide gap between the ideal of beauty for women and the

reality that each woman must contend with leads many to think they have failed.

• Feelings of failure lead to body image problems and periodic dieting and weight preoccupation that, in turn, lead to greater feelings of failure.

• Twice as many young women as men do not feel good about themselves and young women's sense of self-esteem and self-confidence diminish as they grow older.

The Power of Ads

• The average North American girl will watch 5,000 hours of television, including 80,000 ads, before she starts kindergarten.

Women and the MediaUnattainable Beauty

• Media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very small number of women.

• Someone with Barbie-doll proportions, for example, would not be able to support the weight of her upper body. Her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. In real life Barbie would not survive.

Barbie

• In fact, if Barbie was a real woman, she would have to walk on all 4’s and would suffer from chronic diarrhea and die of malnutrition

Media Messages

• Messages about thinness, dieting and beauty tells "ordinary" women that they are always in need of adjustment—and that the female body is an object to be perfected.

• Many women internalize these stereotypes, and judge themselves by the beauty industry's standards.

Women in Advertising

• Media portrays women in debilitating, demeaning and inaccurate ways

• It presents women as flawless, decorative objects, dependent on men and it ignores the complexity of women’s lives.

In the 1950’s and 1960’sWomen Dependent on MenWomen’s Place is at Home

Stereotypes

• Women’s place is at home

• Women need to depend upon men

• Women do not make independent decision

• Women view themselves and are viewed as

sex objects.

Women are Objectified

Thin is BeautifulBeing Thin is Associated with Health

Magazine Models

Magazine Images of “Perfection”

Dove Campaign

• Campaign for Real Beauty videos

Before and After

Real Not

Commercials The stereotypes of women

• Women objectified as objects

• Women in the home (cooking & cleaning)

Men and the Media

• Mainstream media representations also play a role in reinforcing ideas about what it means to be a "real" man in our society.

• In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence, and physical desirability.

Popular Portrayals of Men in Media• The Joker is a very popular character with boys. Laughter is part of

their "mask of masculinity." Carries the assumption that boys and men should not be serious or emotional.

• The Jock is always willing to "compromise his own long-term health; he must fight other men when necessary; he must avoid being soft; and he must be aggressive.“

• The Strong Silent Type focuses on "being in charge, acting decisively, containing emotion, and succeeding with women." Boys should always be in control, and talking about one’s feelings is a sign of weakness.

• The Big Shot is defined by his professional status. Suggests that a real man must be economically powerful and socially successful.

• The Action Hero is "strong, but not necessarily silent. He is often angry. Engages in violent behavior.“

• The Buffoon commonly appears as a bumbling father figure in TV ads and sitcoms.

Men must be:

• lean

• muscular

• broad shouldered

• narrow through waist

and hips

Men are under growing pressure to conform to impossible body standards. The body proportions set out by the artificial ideal are as impossible to meet as the “Barbie standards” set for women. Because of this societal pressure, we are seeing a growing number of men who are unhappy with their bodies.

•41% of all males in the US report being dissatisfied with their weight.

•Many of these men would like to lose weight but a significant portion of them would like to gain muscle.

Video & Commercials

• Men and body image

• Boys and the “Perfect Body”

• Old Spice

• Axe

An important part of an individual’s self-concept is “body image”

• Visual Component: How you “see” yourself when you look in the mirror– With poor body image, you might have a distorted,

unrealistic perception of your shape. You might perceive parts of your body as larger or smaller than they actually are

• Mental Component: What you believe and think about your appearance.– With poor body image, you might believe yourself to

be ugly or unattractive because you are convinced that only certain types of features are attractive. Or you believe that what you like is irrelevant, and all that matters are the characteristics of which others approve.

An important part of an individual’s self-concept is “body image”

• Emotional Component: How you feel about your body, including your height, weight, and shape.– With poor body image, the combination of your

distorted perceptions and your self-rejecting ideals leads you to feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body.

• Kinesthetic Component: How you feel in your body, not just about your body.– With poor body image, you might not feel

comfortable in your body. You do not express yourself with and through your body, for example in sports or dance.

ROLE OF THE MEDIAOne thing we can learn to do is fight the messages sent to us by the media industry…

…Media messages like advertising and celebrity spotlights more and more are defining what is beautiful and what is “good.” If we buy into their unrealistic ideals, we give the media great power over our self-esteem and body image.

A study of 4,294 network television commercials revealed that 1 out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of “attractiveness” message, telling viewers what is or is not attractive. These researchers estimate that the average adolescent sees over 5,260 “attractiveness” messages per year. Often the goal of these messages is to make you viewers feel inadequate so that they will buy products to “fix” their “problems.”

TIPS FOR BECOMING CRITICAL VIEWERS OF THE MEDIA

Advertisers create their message based on what they think you will want to see and what they think will affect you and compel you to buy this product. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn’t mean it has to work with you as an individual.

Homework Assignment

Now it’s your turn to find a

commercial!

Journal Entry: April 16

• What are your thoughts on the media’s portrayal of men and women in ads or on TV?– Have you ever thought about these

stereotypes before?– Do you think any of them are true? Why or

why not?

• List 5 things you appreciate about your body image