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Shipman Timothy
Ms. Ghafoerkhan
DE English
26 March 2021
The Impacts Media has on Body Image
With social media becoming more about showing off the perfect lifestyle and traditional
media becoming more widespread, it is hard to ignore the potential damage to one’s mental
health. One aspect of mental health is body and self-image, and it is this aspect that the media
can cause the most damage to. Media representation has overall negative effects on one’s body
and self-image and this can lead to self-esteem issues, eating disorders and body dysmorphic
disorder.
Body image, as the name suggests, refers to how an individual sees their own body. Body
image relates to a person’s beliefs about their appearance, body, height, weight, shape, and sense
and control their body (Brazier). Body image can be broken down into positive and negative.
Being comfortable in one’s own skin and being ashamed of one body, respectively. In terms of
how many people have a negative body image, “[body dissatisfaction] varies between 35% and
81% in girls and from 16% to 55% in boys. Studies reveal that 40 to 70% of uninjured
adolescent girls are unhappy with at least two features of their bodies, with 50 to 80% stating that
they desire to be thinner” (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). In terms of what can affect one’s body
image it is parents, peers, life experiences, culture, and media. One’s own upbringing has a
substantial effect on one's body image but, culture and media is the one that is consumed the
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most and potentially has the most impact. But the question of, how does media impact
someone’s body image is somewhat complicated to answer.
Social media has the most impact on someone’s body image. This is due to the constant
comparisons that happen. Social media has become a place where people present themselves in
the best way possible; so, a comparison is natural to make. As Nesha Chaudhary puts it, "People
end up creating unrealistic ideals for themselves based on what they see and feel distressed when
they aren't able to meet those ideas or self-expectations (Heger)". These comparisons are often
small and happen on an unconscious level but, with a high level of social media usage, the
imparts of the small comparisons add up quickly. This combined with the fact that photoshop
and filters are commonplace on social media, and the effect can be worsened.
While social media can cause a person to have a negative body image of themselves, the
effects of having a negative body image is much more frightening. One of those effects are
eating disorders. It is worth distinguishing the fact that social media is not the sole cause of
eating disorders but rather a catalyst for one to develop. This can be seen in this study, “... 44%
of adolescent girls believed they were overweight and 60% were actively trying to lose weight
even though the majority of these young girls were within normal weight ranges” (Morris). This
shows how girls believe themselves to be not good enough, even though they were by all
accounts. Another study suggests that the relationship between media and eating disorders
among undergraduate college students found that media exposure predicted disordered eating
symptomatology (Morris). The constant comparisons to unrealistic bodies can be linked to cause
some form of eating disorder. Symptoms of eating disorders include but are not limited to;
extreme portion control, over exercising, skipping meals, weighing daily, binging, and purging,
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forced vomiting, of foods. While eating disorders may be an extreme result of a negative body
image, something that is much more common is having self-esteem issues.
With the constant comparisons happening between someone’s body to the “ideal” body,
it is only a matter of time before someone feels as though they are not good enough. As body
image is an important factor for one’s self-esteem, having it damaged can lead to a person
developing an eating disorder mentioned previously. “Body dissatisfaction is negatively
associated with self-esteem and is a strong predictor of self-esteem reduction, particularly in
adolescents” (Hosseini). This negative self-esteem and Eating disorders can lead to body
dysmorphia.
Body dysmorphic disorder can be defined simply as a mental health disorder that that
someone overcompensates for a perceived flaw. Symptoms include but are not limited to; strong
belief that you have a defect in your appearance that makes you ugly and deformed, belief that
others take special notice of your appearance in a negative way, difficulty resisting the urge to
fix or hid the perceived flaw, seeking cosmetic procedures with little satisfaction and avoiding
social situations (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). People with Body dysmorphia are often at risk for
suicidal thoughts and actions. Having a negative body image can also lead to body dysmorphia;
“A critical event or series of events such as teasing, and rejection may lead to body image
misperception. Studies have found that the more frequently being teased about body size and
weight while growing up, the more likely to experience body image distortion and body
dissatisfaction during adulthood” (Hosseini). All of this can be linked to negative body image
that was imposed by the general media.
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While it may seem that the influence of media on someone’s body image may be small
compared to the other factors, it is argued that it can have the most impact due to how much it is
consumed. And it may also seem that a negative body image only goes as deep as some selfesteem issues but it has much deeper and darker implications. it can lead to a whole host of
disorders such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia. This is because of how the media sets
the unrealistic standards of beauty, that cause these problems in adolescence and teens.
Work Cited
Brazier, Yvette. “What Is Body Image?” Medical News Today, 12 Oct. 2020,
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249190.
Heger, Erin. “Why Social Media Can Make You Feel Bad about Your Body — and 3 Easy Tips
to Use Social Media to Boost Self-Esteem.” Insider, 9 Mar. 2021,
www.insider.com/how-social-media-affects-body-
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image#:%7E:text=Social%20media%20can%20negatively%20affect,themselves%20to%
20peers%20and%20celebrities.
Hosseini, Seyed Alireza. “Body Image Distortion.” StatPearls [Internet]., U.S. National Library
of Medicine, 2 July 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546582/.
Morris, Anne M, and Debra K Katzman. “The Impact of the Media on Eating Disorders in
Children and Adolescents.” Paediatrics & Child Health, Pulsus Group Inc, May 2003,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792687/.
“Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic, 29 Oct. 2019,
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder/symptomscauses/syc-20353938.