Body Image

Our world is media-saturated: ads, TV, radio, internet, movies, magazines, newspapers, billboards, video games. Media sends messages on several levels: written words which people think are most important but they really aren't and images which are much more powerful and create an ongoing debate about whether the portrayal f women in advertising is a serious issue. Various studies have been conducted and many opinions are available on this subject.

As an example, Jean Kilbourne, (cited by Robin Gerber) a famous media activist of raising awareness about the exploitation of women in advertising claims that:" the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that the real women's bodies have become invisible in the mass media"(Bordo,2002,pp.379). This statement clearly implies that the constant exposure of images and texts suggesting the idea that the thinner a woman is, the better she is has a strong influence on females in particular, that contributes to eating disorders and low self esteem issues. In my opinion, this assertion is really valuable, and I totally agree with it for many reasons.

I will start by giving an overview of the articles proposed, then examine and analyze some advertisements. This analysis will lead me to present the impact that media images have on the way women perceive themselves; and whether this may be related to the recent increase in the incidence of eating disorders amongst them.

An important article by Robin Gerber, "Beauty and body image in the media" 2006 was proposed. It deals with the overexposure of women in the media, representing unattainable beauty standards. Gerber claims that Media purveyors promote the message that unrealistic thinness equals sexiness and popularity, thus beauty. He argues: "women's magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they'll have it all-the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex and a rewarding career" (Gerber, 2006).

The author also observes that these images are being taken to extremes in the fashion industry, displaying tall silhouettes and skeletal bodies that each woman tends to attain despite health-related risks. For instance, "one out of four college aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control."(Gerber, 2006). Consequently, Gerber defines thinness as a culture, blaming media of causing hazardous effects on one's body.

This issue is also mentioned in "The Globalization of Eating Disorders" by Susan Bordo (Bordo, 2002). As the title implies, the author analyzes the true causes of rising eating disorders. She points at the fact that results of eating disorders find its origin in media power. Indeed, Bordo explains that advertisements are not as innocent as they seem (Bordo, 2002). on the contrary, they contribute to the image of women culture shapes: "they are never just pictures[...].they speak to young people not just about how to be beautiful but also about how to become what the dominant culture admires, values, rewards." (Bordo, 2002, pp.370).To strengthen her statement, she even shows the results of a conducted research that clearly proves the considerably harmful effects of media on a whole culture.

This research was conducted in the Fiji islands, highlighting and comparing women's behavior towards their bodies before and after having access to television. "Until that time, Fiji had no reported cases of eating disorders [...] just three years after the station began broadcasting, 62 percent of the girls surveyed reported dieting during the previous months"(Bordo,2002,pp.371). The most important assertion resulting from all the research and observations Bordo makes is that body image problems became generalized, affecting the whole wide world.

In 1913, Webster's dictionary defined beauty as "properties pleasing the eye, the ear, the intellect, and the moral sense" (Webster, 1913). Nowadays, the definition of beauty has completely changed. Beauty has become visual and nothing else than that. The best way to prove this point is to examine some ads. When examining various ads, one can notice that there is most definitely a standard type of models used, and norms set visually but also in a verbal way.

First, most models usually have extremely thin bodies, look happy, and have a good social and financial status. (See ads no. ). In the case of many popular ads, the representation of the woman occurs through the association of her being with parts of her body. For instance, we notice that a common visual technique utilized in advertising is the use of women's legs as framing devices for a scene or shot. (See ads no. ) .These ads look very similar and set the norm of being beautiful as having two types of women's legs: "long" and "sexy."

Another association is a women being with her breasts. Ad no. makes the suggestion that a woman's breasts must conform to specific societal standards: women are told that they are no greater than their breast. Furthermore, she often has her face missing (See ads no. ) or seem to have her mouth closed (See ads no. ). This might suggest that the viewer does not need to care what the woman has to say, as long as she looks good. Worse, sometimes women are clearly represented as objects like when women's bodies actually ARE the product. For instance a bottle of beer in the shape of a woman's body (See ad no. ).

In addition to the visual image of female bodies in advertisements, there are also a wide range of ads with verbal cues that implies a specific beauty standard. For instance, slogans on ads no. clearly demonstrates that first, most products are associated with women, and second more importantly, associated with particular expectations of their appearance and wealth:" thin, rich". Clearly, these advertisements aim at constantly creating "ideal" images of women, undoubtedly harmful.

Theses ideal images are more and more out of reach, leading to unrealistic ideas of perfection: there does not seem to be a boundary on how beautiful we can be. Media contributes in a considerable way in promoting unattainable ideal since it is exhibited in a massive way, everywhere we

go. I cannot tell you how many times I have opened up a fashion magazine, listened to advertisements

on the radio, watched commercials on TV, and saw so much emphasis in articles leaning toward change.

For example, when I go to even a grocery store there is almost always a magazine with statements on the cover such as, "Lose 10 pounds fast",