The Celeb Skinny: Trends in Media Depictions of the Body Ideal

The media has cornered its grasp on my aspects of our lives from reality television to box office hits to the gossip magazines that line the super market aisles, it is almost inescapable.  Even more so is the influence that is has on our perception and beliefs particularly when it comes to beauty and body image.  Constant exposure to these idealized standards of female and male beauty and physical attractiveness.  We live in a culture that touts the advantages of being exceptionally thin and beautiful.  Yet, these so called standards of beauty are increasingly harder to attain or maintain.  In fact, less than 5% of the female population is actually able to obtain the current media ideal for thinness.  There is also an increased value placed by society on this perceived ideal.  Women may feel that unless they meet this mold that they are not good enough, not popular, not successful, and not attractive.  It is a slippery slope and one that is certainly impacted by what is portrayed through the media.  Take a look at the following statistics about girls who have developed depression and poor body image as a result of the media. 

· In a recent survey by Teen People magazine, 27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body, and a poll conducted in 1996 by the international ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi found that ads made women fear being unattractive or old.*1
· One study of Saturday morning toy commercials found that 50% of commercials aimed at girls spoke about physical attractiveness, while none of the commercials aimed at boys referred to appearance.
· Other studies found 50% of advertisements in teen girl magazines and 56% of television commercials aimed at female viewers used beauty as a product appeal.
· In a sample of Stanford undergraduate and graduate students, 68% felt worse about their own appearance after looking through women's magazines.
· Research has shown convincingly that thin-ideal media exposure is related not only to body-image disturbances but also to disordered eating
· 1980 study by David M. Garner, Paul E. Garfinkel, Donald Schwartz, and Michael Thompson reported a significant decrease in the body measurements and weights of Playboy centerfold subjects and Miss America Pageant contestants from 1959 to 1978

Above pictured are celebrities who have received endless press for their thin appearance.  It is images like these that trend today's perception on the reality of the ideal body image.  How many women do you know that are affected by this?  How many of your friends, or sisters, or even mothers have ever dieted, over exercised, or struggled with weight issues because of the constant media pressure.  These unhealthy pressures affect so many in their day to day lives as they wrestle with depression, lack of self worth, or even worse debilitating eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.