As you can see in the following picture these women are thin. This puts a negative effect on teenager on becoming thin. Feeling insecure with their body, and wanting to look skinny. Going on a "diet" but instead it becomes worse which goes into a eating disorder. After losing so much weight, people have trouble gaining the weight back. Researchers say that 90% of those who have eating disorders are women between the age of 12 and 25.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbYW6bNViw
As you can see in this video, even though she is anorexic, she still feels that she is fat. This makes the person continue to follow their eating habits, and causes serious damage to your body.
Questions:
1. After watching the video, do you feel that people should be portrayed that way in society?
2. What are your thoughts on people being extremely skinny and thin?
3. How does this effect younger children? What would you do to prevent them from choosing the wrong path?
This is wrong. Advertisements and commercials(The Media) changed the meaning of what real beauty used to be. They always portray women as skinny, tall and curvy(models). Many women see these models as their role models which is negative. They think that they need to be as skinny and thin as them. Society will always make you think that you are not beautiful in order to keep the beauty business going. If the media started showing non-skinny girls in commercials, many women would stop thinking that they are fat but sadly this is most likely not going to happen soon. This affects children because they believe almost everything they see on television and they want to be like the people on T.V. You have to always tell them what is right and what is wrong. Also there is a limit to everything.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. It is just sad that the fact people can't accept with what they have. People just want to find the easy way out and this ends up with poor dieting and cause damage to their body
DeleteIt is obvious that eating disorders are a big problem that is faced by many young people in our society today. The media likes to send certain messages through celebrities namely of what an ideal body/person looks like. This ideal type is often hard to achieve for some people. Many people unfortunately resort to starving themselves, or purging whatever they have eaten in order to fit into that “ideal” body. I don’t think that it is fair to portray people like this because it can heavily influence someone to take a fatal step in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteI think that being really skinny is very unhealthy and it doesn’t seem that appealing. People who suffer from anorexia basically look like a pile of bones, and to them it is appealing but to most other people, it isn’t. Obviously, there are people who are naturally thin, and a lot of the times, there isn’t a lot that they can do about it. To be honest, just because you are skinny, doesn’t mean you are healthy, fit, or in shape.
If a younger child or even a teen sees what the media portrays as beautiful and they don’t fit the bill, they might feel that they need to change themselves even if they are completely healthy. If I was a mother, I would tell my child the right from the wrong. Firstly, I might not let my child watch shows in which an unhealthy body image is promoted until he/she developed a full understanding about the dangers of a healthy body image. I would also teach my child to be proud of themselves and I would tell them that they don’t have to change themselves just to fit in.
I agree with you Zara. People who are suffering from anorexia are have trouble gaining the weight back. They have done so much damage to their body that there is no way they can reverse it. If I was a father I would tell my kids the same thing, be yourself and accept for what you have.
DeleteThe portrayal of the ideal body shape has always been influenced by society. Just like fashion, we've had different eras of the ideal body shape. For instance, during the Medieval Times in Europe, men and women who were overweight were considered beautiful because they were rich. Those that were lean were considered unattractive because they were too poor to feed themselves. Take a look at women in the 1950-1960's, they were proud to be curvy. Every magazine, TV show, even celebrities embraced their curvaceous bodies proudly. In today's time, we have a mixture of feelings. Many fashion industries demand a cut off on weight when it comes to hiring models. In fact, a lot of models have to have a minimum of a certain weight to be eligible to model clothing. In my opinion, due to my surroundings I have come to a conclusion that people have stopped starving themselves and have started to become healthier by staying active. I think this is a new trend happening all around us, where everyone is going to the gym and trying to make better choices when it comes to what they eat. So to answer your questions Philip, I don't believe that people are portrayed to be very skinny in our society today. I believe that the new "trend" in our society is to live a healthy lifestyle and stay active, despite your body shape.
ReplyDeleteYes I have seen people change and choosing the right life style. Going to the gym and exercising for a healthier life. This year I have seen many people follow this style and it makes me feel happy inside. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
DeleteI think that the media has killed how a woman should look. I think that people who are extremely skinny and thin are disgusting to look at(excluding the people who cannot help it). I don't like to see people in general to be extremely skinny and thin, especially when they can help it. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and women, typically with low self esteem, should realize that. I think that this affects younger children because they follow and act according to what they see. I think that you would have to sit your kid down and encourage them to feel and look good by having a healthy diet and to exercise
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I hate seeing people that are extremely skinny. Plus why would they do this to their body. I would also encourage my kids and show them what is right and wrong.
DeleteThat vido tripped me out hardcore. I personally dont think that people are portrayed to be that skinny. Thats like, woah, scary skinny. My personal thoughts on people being extremely skinny is,"eat something." Immediatly after I would think that this person needs to be educated about the appropriate health of the human body and how to achieve it, following an intervention. I belive the master answer is always education. No fluff, just facts. Young children need to know that an appropraite healthy lifestyle including healhy food choices and adequite excercise is a major step to understanding how a strong self image should be developed. Not by what the media portrays. I would tell them that a body as the product of a healthy lifestyle, is what your desired self and body image should be shaped around. Many might argue what that might look like. But nobody could say because everybody has a body unique to themselves and should always love and respect it.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that the media's portrayal of the average person needs to represent an actual healthy human being and not an anorexic being. Some people's metabolisms cause them to be skinny and that's okay because that's just how their body naturally is. But for people who starve themselves and binge etc. those actions are unacceptable because they are harming themselves. The media needs to take responsibility for all the negative impacts their campaigns cause upon our generation.Younger children nowadays are more exposed to these things because the increased amount of time they spend on social media sites and watching television. Also they might be influenced by their teenage siblings who are influenced to look a certain way. Lastly I think our schools should definitely address these issues the way they educate us about safe sex etc from grade 6. Our minds need to be fed positive feedback so we can have healthy minds and make healthy decisions for ourselves.
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