Anorexia and the Media - Assignment Example

Anorexia and the MediaToday's society is indisputably marked by cultural standard and principles. The question is still, does the media's representation of this norm foundation of destructive behavior in its populace? It is to be observed that there is a bias in the approach television targets people in advertising and programs. The images projected by the media in commercials and television programs give today's consumers an idea of what "normal" should look like. The people in these ads all have below average body proportions, material possessions and social status in order to deserve the attention the ad places on them.

People too often find themselves comparing to the waif-like models on television and every time they do this them self-esteem lowers dramatically. Five years ago, the average model weighed twenty three per cent less than the average women of the time and the difference is only growing.Research suggests that about one per cent of female adolescents have anorexia. That means that about one out of every hundred young women between ten and twenty are starving themselves, sometimes to death (Griffin, 2003).

We live in a culture which idealizes thinness and what teenage girls do not realize is that the perfection they strive for does not really exist. Celebrities and models in films or magazines are the product of a team of professionals and photos in magazines are often altered anyway. For example legs are made longer or thinner and waists decreased in width but still so many girls do not understand this and see models as the normal woman.Some "real" curvaceous women should be presented into the media.

We need a change in the attitude that only one particular look is representative of all women (tall, beautiful and underweight.). We need television, movies and magazines to reflect all women, all types of beauty, whether fat or thin. At present the public is being encouraged to think that only exceptionally slender women are considered beautiful and obviously many girls share this view as more than half of teenage girls are or think they should be on diets (Glantz, 2007). They want to loose all or some of the forty pounds that females naturally gain between the ages of eight and fourteen, some go too far and become anorexic.

What is essential is a change in the attitude towards women and their representation in the media, to ensure advertising uses larger figures and different shapes and to show women that to be successful does not mean 'thin' because the fact is that today the images are unhealthy and considerably affecting adolescents eating patterns.Men too are affected by the media's portrayal of what ideal looks like. With the beginning of televised football in the 1930's, the popularized image of males incorporated the larger than life appearance from shoulder pads to encompass movie heroes and muscular clothing models (Hammer, 2006).

With the males in the public eye having these muscular figures and distorted proportions, the normal male then receives the impression that this is what women want even if the look does not come easily to most men. Admired sporting heroes such as David Beckham and fit, muscular actors such as Russell crow are good examples of this image today. This male image could be just the thing a man needs to see in order for him to feel completely below expectations thus, resulting in low self-esteem or worse an eating disorder like anorexia.

Some will argue that anorexia is simply a mental illness and the media has always idolized thin, attractive people. They think that teenagers can separate fact from fiction and the realistic from the unrealistic.Of all the research done on this subject, there seems to be one factor overlooked and that is the individual perpetrator of these abnormal eating patterns. Generalizing for all of them obviously does not work with a lot of the theories because there is always the exception to the rule (Warin, 2004).

The problem almost definitely lies in the media's willingness to subject the audience to any means necessary in order to turn them into consumers. Young people are strongly influenced by the media's images which associate unrealistic thinness with beauty, sexiness, money, power and happiness. The media should emphasize the stereotype of a man or woman and should support them in being who they really are. ReferencesHammer; Jenny D`Attoma; Jeanne Moos; Brooke Anderson. (2006). Christie Brinkley`s Fourth Divorce; Anorexia Rampant in Hollywood?

; Joey Buttafuoco Going to Jail? Should Children See Stars Smoke? Flab on Hollywood Men. Showbiz Tonight (CNN).Glantz, Shelley. (2007). When the Mirror Lies: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Other Eating Disorders. Library Media Connection, Vol. 25 Issue 6, p84Griffin, J; Berry, E M. (2003). A modern day holy anorexia? Religious language in advertising and anorexia nervosa in the West. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 57 Issue 1, p43Warin, Megan. (2004). Primitivising Anorexia: The Irresistible Spectacle of Not Eating.

Australian Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p95-104