Influences of the media cause anorexia and bulimia in teenagers, which are dangerous ways of dieting that can lead to death. The media plays a big role in the way that majority of people look at themselves. The media gives us an update on what's in style & what isn't. From the way we dress & the way we talk, and for most teenagers, it is a priority to fit in. Through the society we live in, we are influenced through the use of magazines and the television. Celebrities also a play a huge role in the way we a influenced as well. We constantly imitate trends for actors/actresses to models and commercial adds. It is a natural problem for us to feel like we have to fit into this society. Majority of teenagers, from 57 percent of girls to 68 percent of boys with eating disorders feel that it is essential for the to be like everyone else.
Through television, the majority of commercials advertise only the skinny figured & light weight models. This is a fact, knowing that majority of models are required to a certain figure, some even have to be about 10% below the healthy body weight. Specifically for clothing models that advertise stores such as Macy's, Aeropostale, Gap, etc. the main thing they look at into choosing who to advertise their clothes through commercials are mainly from their body figure instead of facial appearances. Their main intentions are to make the viewers want to look as good as those wearing that brand of clothes. Also for Victoria Secret models, as many girls dream to become one of them, the requirements to be one are much more strict, the ideal height is 5'9-5'11 and the standard model size is 34 chest, 24 waist, and 34 hips. It is a a hard. This leaves teenage girls wanting and wishing to change almost everything about themselves only for the desire to fit the requirements and become one.
On popular shows viewed by the majority of kids and teenagers across America are influences of many young stars that act on shows on that channel. One major chanel specifically is nickelodeon, they have organized a few examples of how to stay in shape. One is the big help project, they encouraged kids to get involved in community services to get in shape & make a difference. Although their intentions were to advice the kids to help make a difference, I felt it was unrealistic knowing that they intentionally used the common actresses and actors of popular shows on the channel as a example. They showed them planting gardens without even breaking a sweat or ruining their make up or hair and still show that they have a great body because they stay active. I don't think that the message was at all affective to the viewers. Most kids tend to not take these projects seriously, for example another project they organized was the world wide day of play. It was the same exact thing, you basically watched the celebrities play games and sport but not any of them seemed out of breath & looking perfectly fine, but with an appearance of a good body to show of it. It didn't show the viewers watching a realistic example of how they stay in shape or how they were able to achieve that body image.
Nevertheless, from speaking of children's channels, another example would me Disney Channel, the majority of young actors they recruit to act on shows are of a a skinny body image as well. They specifically look for girls with a petite figure to play as fairies and girls with a long and thin body image to act as princesses. This gives other girls with dreams of becoming a fairy or princess like those on disney channel the intuitions of wanting to look exactly the same as them or to become just as skinny like them to become a princess, actor, or fairy. There isn't really a certain limit of when eating disorder can occur in a child, but through influences such as the desire to be like one of them, the media does a big role of how teenager and young children look at themselves, wanting to be "perfect" like those in the movies.
Most Importantly, the media does show of celebrities that have the same body type. Through the media, it easy to depict who is a popular celebrity or not. The main reason for that is in seeing who has a better ideal image of a "perfect" person. It are those models who everyone looks up to or hates because of what the media says is beautiful or out of style. For those shows who talk specifically about celebrity drama and competition such as the Insider. They are constantly sharing the latest information on how the celebrities are today and who is "hot" or who's "not". One episode talked about how celebrities were getting in shape after just delivering children, they were acknowledging those such as Kourtney Kardashian or Angelina Jolie, but then again changed the subject talking about having exclusive picture of Tyra Banks & Janet Jackson getting fat, they starting making fun of them & calling them "fat after fame". Things like that are a horrible example considering that most people are sensitive about the subject of body weight, it gave the wrong image on how people should look at themselves.
Overall, I for one again say that the media plays a huge role on the influences that most teenagers and young children look up to. Despite the fact of how powerful the messages through the media are, I say that it actually doesn't do a good job addressing the message of being yourself & being in shape when they have shows specifically telling you how to dress or how to look, & channels showing you workouts w/ commercials of people who have gotten in shape in a little amount of time knowing how unrealistic the results look through the commercial. All these examples and influences all are a part of the media. Also to celebrities and models who influence these messages of getting active when there are no realistic examples on how they are in shape but do tell their peers to be in shape and be just as skinny or masculine as them.
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