Unfortunately, in today's society, the media plays a big part in how we feel about our bodies, and how our opinions about what our bodies should look like develop. From a young age, we see pictures, movies, tv shows, magazines, etc. that all display thin, very attractive looking people. From runway models to cartoon characters, everyone seems to be extremely thin. There may be an overweight person, or a few normal weighted individuals, but in a lot of cases, these people appear to be more insecure, and sometimes seem to be shown in a light that makes them seem less attractive than the stick thin individuals. On the surface, the media might appear to be embracing more diversity in body shape, size, and color, but in actuality, I think that it is much the same as it was "years ago". The topics of television shows have changed, but a lot of the standards for actors and actresses has stayed the same. Models are the same, if not more underweight now, and the trend is spreading to younger girls as model agencies start to look for a younger, fresher face. Last year at the Dallas International Film Festival, I saw a film titled "Girl Model", which was about young girls in Europe who are picked up by modeling agencies and sent to Asia to be models. They lie about their age because the agencies want super young looking girls, and girls who are 14-16 are already looking too old. The movie showed how they are exploited, and how they are promised a career, and money, so the girls leave their poor families, but come back even more poor. One of the girls they were following had a photoshoot, but they covered her face when they printed the picture, so they didn't have to pay her. She couldn't even afford to purchase the magazine at that point. This movie just further shows that media has a very negative impact on our body image. The girls in the film were very distraught because they kept being told that they didn't have the right look, so clients didn't want them. This demonstrates how even within the media, they are very particular with how they want someone to look. Whether a person is trying to make a career in some form of media, or just simply observing it, they develop the idea that there is a very particular look that you have to have in order to be seen as beautiful. Unfortunately, this image happens to be very thin, and very made up, so behind it all, even the models aren't up to the standard. I've seen a lot of photos of actors/actresses/models when they aren't made up for some event, and they look nothing like they do when the media presents them. There have been several controversies over the media altering a person's image to make them look thinner, or making their face not look like them. I can only imagine how terrible it would make the person feel to see themselves on tv, in a magazine, or on some advertisement, and barely recognize themselves because of what the media has changed them into. It hurts their body image, and it hurts the viewers' because they try to live up to what they see, and look like their role models.
As a health educator, I think it can be very difficult to prepare effective messages to counter the negative images of the media because they affect each person on a different level. Each individual's mind works differently, and they interpret what they see in the media in different ways, so it can be hard to convey a message that can affect a lot of people in the desired way. Currently, since there are trends of younger and younger girls who are having body image issues, it presents another issue; addressing this younger audience, and finding a way to stop this negative imagery and communication that is causing the problems. Girls in elementary school should not be thinking they need to go on a diet, and be obsessed with their weight. They should be enjoying their childhood, and while they're parents should be encouraging healthy habits, it should never be in a negative or demeaning way. I graduated in 2011, so I'm 19 years old. Thinking back to when I was in elementary school, there wasn't a focus on how our bodies looked. A lot of kids at that time were very active, and I hung out with my friends outside most of the time. Even if it was just walking around the neighborhood, we were always doing something. No one used fat talk, and everyone was included in activities and accepted for how they looked no matter what. I can't imagine my elementary school self being concerned with how I looked. I didn't even start wearing makeup regularly until I was probably a freshman in highschool, and even then, I wore very light make up until my junior and senior year when it became more "fashionable" to wear more make up. Now I see girls of all ages wearing make up, and dressing like they are teenagers no matter what age they are. I know that I struggle some buying clothes because I can't fit into women's sizes, but the clothes they make that do fit me often reveal so much skin. It'd be nice to find shorts that were mid thigh length instead of knee length or barely covering my butt. Media has slowly shaped this style, and they continue to shape how people view themselves, even if it means having to find a new, younger audience. The media is expanding this negative image, and I worry about the direction of things with the images being shown to younger and younger audiences. I think the only way that health educators can start countering these images is to show girls how their role models look off-scene, when they are in their everyday lives, and better educate the population as a whole as to what a healthy body looks like. Instead of showing the "ideal" and trying to translate it to every person, they need to show what healthy looks like on a spectrum. This would be the most effective way to demonstrate what health actually looks like, and also educate people on the risks of being underweight or overweight. We need to let them know that you don't have to kill yourself trying to be beautiful and healthy.
