The Distortion of Human Beauty

The Media has created what should be the "Perfect Body:" Tanned, flawless skin, perfect hair, long legs, size zero, the list goes on. We are so easily influenced by models and celebrities, that we hardly notice it. One might say: "No, I am fully aware that models are airbrushed, and that no one is that flawless." However, although we may not admit it, the media influences most of us, (me included) on how we perceive who we are, and who we want to be, and no one is safe from its influence. The media affects men, women, and children alike. I am aware that not all media is bad. The media has done a lot of good for the world. However, the subject of body image is a topic that the media has thoroughly destroyed.

When we are watching TV, we see ads for the latest make up, or the newest fashion trend, many of us think to ourselves subconciously "oh, that would make me look good" or "maybe that will stop my acne, so I have flawless skin like him." Ads are not the only media monster to tear up the self esteem of people everywhere. Celebrities in popular TV shows influence how we feel about ourselves as well. For example, according to the Teen Health and Media Website, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers that they weren't happy with their bodies after watching music videos or tv shows with popular celebrities in them. According to a study by Nancy Signorielli, “In movies, particularly, but also in television shows and the accompanying commercials, women's and girls' appearance is frequently commented on: 58 percent of female characters in movies had comments made about their looks, as did 28 percent in television shows and 26 percent of the female models in the accompanying commercials.” No wonder our body image is so distorted. We have been trained that attractive people are well-liked, more successful than those who are less attractive physically.

The media is the most affective when dealing with physical beauty. The latest “anti-meth” commercials have proven to be more effective than other drug commercials. Why are these commercials so effective? How are they different from other “anti-drug use” or “above the influence” campaigns? Simply because the “anti-meth” commercials show what meth does to your physical appearance. Consequently we learn that by doing meth, you are going to look, to put it bluntly, ugly. We have been so distorted by the media, and what a “beautiful” human is supposed to look like, that we will do anything to achieve what the media has told us beautiful is.

By: Ashley Hansen
Sources: http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=bodyimage&page=fastfacts