I chose the the article,“How Do "Body Perfect" Ideals in the Media Have a Negative Impact on Body Image and Behaviors? Factors and Processes Related to Self and Identity" by Dittmar because it was fairly recent and it focused a lot on male body image as well as female. Media’s influence on body dissatisfaction has been recognized for many years, especially in relation to teenage girls and women. More focus has been placed on the effect media has on boy’s body image of late. “Recently, there are also studies with men and boys, for whom the media has started to portray an increasingly muscular body ideal” (Dittmar, 2009, p. 2) According to Dittmar, the research supports the belief that “weight-related self-discrepancies are activated with negative emotional consequences” as a result of images in the media. (2009, p. 6)
Teenagers today are bombarded with images of the ideal body. Magazines, television, movies and the Internet all present “perfect bodies” and these ideals are causing dissatisfaction among many adolescents. It is important to identify how media affects a person’s identity and body image. How has the media changed the way adolescent boys view their bodies compared to the “ideal”,and are young men striving for this ideal? How is this affecting the teenagers in our schools today?
This relates to many of the young people I see in the halls of my high school. Media is pervasive, affecting almost all areas of daily life, from magazines, television, movies, and the Internet. Increasingly in the media, the male body is displayed and reinforces the ideal male body as lean and muscular and there is a lot of pressure to conform to this ideal. Girls are expected to be thin and toned.
Adolescence is a time of physical change physical, as well as cognitive and social and thus teens are more susceptible to outside influences. Body dissatisfaction, body ideal and the media’s role, are all areas that warrant further study. Teachers need to be aware of the pressure on both males and females in terms of body
image.
Teenagers today are bombarded with images of the ideal body. Magazines, television, movies and the Internet all present “perfect bodies” and these ideals are causing dissatisfaction among many adolescents. It is important to identify how media affects a person’s identity and body image. How has the media changed the way adolescent boys view their bodies compared to the “ideal”,and are young men striving for this ideal? How is this affecting the teenagers in our schools today?
This relates to many of the young people I see in the halls of my high school. Media is pervasive, affecting almost all areas of daily life, from magazines, television, movies, and the Internet. Increasingly in the media, the male body is displayed and reinforces the ideal male body as lean and muscular and there is a lot of pressure to conform to this ideal. Girls are expected to be thin and toned.
Adolescence is a time of physical change physical, as well as cognitive and social and thus teens are more susceptible to outside influences. Body dissatisfaction, body ideal and the media’s role, are all areas that warrant further study. Teachers need to be aware of the pressure on both males and females in terms of body
image.
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