Body Image

Introduction:

It is human nature to compare. But when normal boys and girls alike compare themselves to the impossibly “perfect” body images of today’s television characters, the comparisons become criticisms then possible sufferings. The majority of the television characters out there, both cartoon and “real” people, are definitely categorized under “impossibly perfect.” Research shows that exposure to images of thin, young, and air-brushed bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem, and the development of unhealthy eating habits in both children and adults. Girls compare themselves to the skinny, Photoshopped images of women and girls with perfect faces, hair, and bodies (meaning skinny, big breasts, and curvy hips). Boys compare themselves to the technologically enhanced images of chiseled, muscular men. Normal boys and girls are comparing themselves to the 0.1% of America, which includes the majority of television characters.

Did you know?

• The diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion dollars a year selling temporary weight loss pills.
• 90-95% of women who lost weight on diet pills regain the weight.
• Nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner, and as a result have engaged in a diet or are aware of the concept of dieting.
• In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 percent of girls with normal weights believe that they are overweight.
• Over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight, and only one in twenty are above average in size.
• Heavier actresses tend to receive negative comments from male characters about their bodies (“How about wearing a sack?”), and 80 percent of these negative comments are followed by canned audience laughter.
• These negative comments can teach boys to reject heavyweight actors and actresses even before they even learn to “idealize” thinness.
• Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman—but today’s models weigh 23 per cent less.

Bad Role Models:

Anyone on Extreme Makeover:
The whole show is about how it takes so many extremely talented people to make an average person beautiful.
Too many Disney stars to name:
Almost all Disney stars are underweight, and a good chunk have had plastic surgery. This is is what we are letting 5 year olds watch?
The guys on Jersey Shore:
All are unattainably muscular… all get drunk and sleep with tons of girls.

Click here for a teen BMI calculator!