Hardly Perfection – The Media’s Body Image

Everywhere we go we are bombarded by the media’s idea of the perfect body. This unrealistic stereotype is portrayed in music videos, movies, magazines and on television. The message that many people, especially teenage girls, take from this is that they are not thin enough, pretty enough or skinny enough. Billions of pounds each year are spent on diet regimes, supplements and exercise equipment. These are purchased mainly by healthy girls who are plagued with feelings of inferiority.

It is the media that is responsible for conditioning our society into believing that to be a successful happy person, you must be thin. The media sets standards on appearances that are impossible to meet. It is only in the western culture that thin has become an obsessive goal for so many. In other parts of the world, like the Latin culture, a heavier set woman is more desirable because they believe a larger woman is physically fit and well fed.

Clothing manufacturers are also feeding into the cycle of abuse that we put our bodies through. What used to be a size 12, ten years ago, is the equivalent to a size 6-8 today. As a result, people, especially teenagers, are abusing their bodies in order to fit into popular brand name clothing. As many people have experienced, it is alot harder to find stylish clothing for those who are bigger than a size 12.

It is not just society that media is hard on, those in the entertainment industry have to battle against articles exploiting on any weight problems or figure flaws. A few years ago Gwyneth Paltrow talked about her struggles with the media in an interview with People Magazine:

“I’ve always been a slim person, but I’ve had issues with my body. Through most of junior high school I felt very awkward. I was small for my age and very skinny. A few years ago I quit smoking and went on
this macrobiotic diet. I gained a few pounds, but the gossip columns were vicious about it. But it made me wonder, what is the standard of being thin? We have this impossible standard and someone is always
pointing a finger.” – Gwyneth Paltrow

In this article, Paltrow discusses the media’s stereotypes and questions the standards of being thin which we have created for ourselves.

The media must be held accountable for the images and stereotypes that they present to the public. In a culture where eating disorders and negative body images run rampant, we must realize that the media is
here only to make money. We, as a society, must ask ourselves if we will continue to place value solely on outward appearance, or will we take into account the value that each one of us holds as individuals?

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