The media plays such a huge role in how people perceive themselves in respect to the actors and actresses on TV or in movies or ads. And it is very easy for society to point the finger of blame at the media’s images of the “ideal body” for causing eating disorders among other body image issues. Having an eating disorder is a lot more common and also a lot more serious than people realize. An eating disorder can have lasting effects on a person aside from the immediate consequences. But the media isn’t the only culprit behind eating disorders, families affect how one perceives themselves as well.
Consider the show on TLC, Toddlers & Tiaras, now whether or not you have never seen an episode the name of the show alone should tell you what the main idea behind it is. This is the description of the show right from TLC’s website,
On any given weekend, on stages across the country, little girls and boys parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Toddlers & Tiaras follows families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles, and lots of cash. The preparation is intense as it gets down to the final week before the pageant. From hair and nail appointments, to finishing touches on gowns and suits, to numerous coaching sessions or rehearsals, each child preps for their performance. But once at the pageant, it's all up to the judges and drama ensues when every parent wants to prove that their child is beautiful.
From this blurb alone, you can imagine what takes place on the show. It is hard to picture that girls and boys that young are subjected to such extreme measures for a beauty pageant. Something like this pays considerable contribution to body image issues at a very young age. With moms like the ones on the show, its no wonder why children as young as five or six are developing eating disorders. On the show, the girls are forced by their mothers to watch what they eat and as young as seven years old get spray tans and fake teeth so they are “pageant ready.” While not all of this is about eating disorders it does highlight where family pressures come from and how they begin at such a young age.
I think what the most crucial part to remember in terms of eating disorders and their development, is that little girls and boys absorb what their parents say about their bodies, and that their socialized to view perfection as healthy and beautiful. When subjecting a child to national critiques of their own beauty, the worst part it seems is having the parent mold them to fit that definitino -- to think what it'll do to them when they're older.
ReplyDeleteAShley Brocker
from music videos, advertisements, tabloids and idolized celebrities; we live in a society driven by the media and sadly a heavily focused on physical appearance, aka eating disorders, skinny bodies, and god forbid you have curves.
ReplyDeleteBattling the media and American society's obsession with thinness seems impossible. our culture, young girls, victims, and population needs to realize that what's seen on a glossy magazine is air=brushed, manipulated, and altered to be FLAWLESS. This is not how they realistically look, look at the explosion of cosmetic surgery- young girls and all of us are striving to reach these standards, standards that are unattainable, unreal, destructive, self-battering and self-scrutinizing.
Whether you have a diagnosed "Eating Disorder" or dysfunctional relationship with food or negative body image, these patterns affect such a broad part of our society- it's important to recognize those affected by these issues on a daily basis, regardless of whether they are starving, skin and bones.
Dove's campaign is among the first which strives to love oneself, and the beauty in different body types..
I highly recommend checking out this site,
http://www.about-face.org/r/facts/ed.shtml
EXCELLENT RESOURCE!
-Lindsey Bloomberg