Body Image: Boys v. Girls
By: Mariah Meyers and Megan Flanagan
Do you look in the mirror, and hate what you see? Millions of people, boys and girls, feel body dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction could be an accumulation of exposure to unrealistic body images and expectations. Media affects both male and female body image, but usually in different ways.
Many people believe that body dissatisfaction is not influenced by media, or that media is not to blame for self image issues. An article by Jocelyn Noveck explores this opposing argument regarding male body image. David Zinczenko believes that with the rise of diabetes, a little healthiness wouldn’t hurt us. He claims that there are healthy role models in our media based society, such as, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, and Hugh Jackman. He states that, “What’s good about that image is that it is the picture of health.” Deborah Tolman also quoted in Noveck’s article, believes that body image problems are still more complicated for women. She believes that males have the choice of participating in media. According to Tolman, “As a girl, you can be the best debater at school, but if you’re fat, you don’t get people’s admiration, despite your skill. That’s not true with boys,”(Noveck).
However, most media influences women and how they perceive themselves, especially young girls. From an article on the Media Awareness Network, women are told that “if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they’ll have it all.” If they’re not being called fat, they are certainly aging. Through the years, the ideal body was curvy and healthy, but now that’s changed dramatically. The Barbie doll can partly be to blame. According to an article on the Media Awareness Network, 99% of girls ages 3-10 own at least one doll. This would make girls want to be just like Barbie, but if she was a real girl, her back would be too weak to support her upper body and she could only hold half a liver. In addition, 90% of women feel they want to change something about themselves (“Beauty & Body Image in the Media”). A group called the Body Project is working to try to fix this. Set up in college campuses and high schools around the country, participants will put up notes saying things like, “You are beautiful. Don’t be someone you’re not. Be yourself.” They will also go to book stores and put notes in diet books that say, “Love your body the way it is,” (Gupta).
The media also affects males, and how they see their bodies. According to an article on Seed.com, males are more affected by their “real body” aspects, which cannot be effectively ascertained through a television. These aspects include: body hair, sweat, blemishes, and smell (“The Media Assault on Male Body Image”). In addition, an article by Nancy Clark states that ? of boys want a bigger body. They believe that “real” men have more muscles. These“real” men receive more respect from peers, have more power, and come across as more threatening. Many pop culture figures such as G.I. Joe, Hulk Hogan,and Dulee Nulem cement this belief (Clark). An article by Marc Silva states that if G.I. Joe were life size, he would “have larger biceps than any body builder in history.” Figures like this have lead to an increase in muscle implants. The same article also makes the point that the male body is more and more objectified, and dehumanized. Magazines for wom en and gay men increasingly have naked male bodies in them (Silva). For example, an article on About.com states that the average playgirl model is thinner and more muscular. The models are younger, and airbrushed just like female models. The article also says that there are two pressures for men, to be lean and have muscles. Because of this, men are spending more money on looking good (“Male Body Image...”). In addition, an article by Xazmin Garza explores the world of men and cosmetic surgery. He states that because of the dramatic drop in the average age of male models, the average age of men who get cosmetic surgery also dramatically dropped. A big issue among men are the dreaded “man boobs”; this issue has caused an increase in the number of breast reduction surgeries. Popular media figure Mario Lopez, has become a model for the perfect pectoral muscles (Garza). Even in the past, there has been the mystic male “adonis”, Michelangelo’s David was, and still is, a symbol of male perfection. Over time, societies perfect man has gone from rugged to smooth. “ You’re either the Marlboro man or you’re the surfer boy. You’re a cowboy, or you’re a lean, mean swimming machine,” says popular fitness personality Richard Simmons. Body image is personal for men, but it is just as important to fit into a pair of jeans for men as it is for women (Noveck). Barry McKay states that, “In general, on TV and the news, we’re (men) finally getting caught up, in some aspects, to women with the whole bigger, better, blonder thing,”(Garza).More media exposure for men which leads to uncomfortableness with their real bodies, can eventually lead to aggressive behavior and sexual risks (Noveck).
A major problem caused by media influence is eating disorders. Women and men feel the need to meet the standards set by the media and go to extremes to meet them. According to Becker’s study conducted in 1995, before television was introduced on the island of Figi, the island had one case of anorexia. The island preferred women with bigger body types to show healthiness. Fiji was then introduced to shows like “Beverly Hills 90210.” The number of cases increased 69% . This just shows how much impact media has on people. There are actually websites where women pledge to develop eating disorders. Other women post pictures of themselves looking like “concentration camp victims” (Derenne & Beresin). It’s not just anorexia that is the problem, it’s obesity too. There are constant commercials advertising food on tv. Miracle diets, too. In an article by the CE news team, less than 5% of people that lost 20 pounds can keep it off for more than 5 years (Derenne & Beresin).
For males, eating disorders affect both gay and heterosexual men. Body image issues can lead to depression, which can lead to eating disorders, and steroid use. A common disease with males is muscle dysmorphia, which causes them to see their muscles as small, or inadequate, even if they are larger than average. This can lead to them to using steroids to try to reciprocate their “in-adequateness”. Steroid use is more common among athletes. A study was conducted comparing Taiwanese body image versus American and European body image. The study showed that Taiwanese men are happier with their bodies compared to American and European men. This was found to be the result of differing cultural values. Taiwanese men are celebrated for intellectual and cultural achievements, and are not judged on appearances, unlike American and European men. Also, In Taiwan there is close to zero magazines on fitness or body building (Male Body Image...).
In conclusion, males and females are affected differently by the media when it comes to body image, but both feel body dissatisfaction in some way or another. Females are affected more overall, while males are made uncomfortable about their real body aspets. Both need to know that most of the images they see of the “ideal body,” are photo-shopped. Continued awareness about this subject could expose the media’s enormous impact on both male and female body image. |