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Prince Ea

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HERE'S A SECRET THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE... Don't forget to like, comment and SUBSCRIBE! https://goo.gl/3bBv52 Inspired by Viktor Frankl, Mans Search for Meaning RIP For more inspirational videos check out: A Powerful Story About Life https://goo.gl/VUYG3P Anger Eating Monster https://goo.gl/bK2UtR How To STOP Negative/Stressful Thinking Once and For All https://goo.gl/kTLSVj Keep in touch with me around the web for more inspiring content.

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Prince Ea

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Prince Ea

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Prince Ea

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I Am NOT Black, You are NOT White (2025)

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It's my body, but society's perception of it?

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I want to take you back to an episode of "That's So Raven" that had a lot of meaning to me. It was the episode where Raven designed a dress that was going to be featured in a big fashion runway show and the front page of a magazine. For Raven it was a great accomplishment, but it was also an uphill challenge for her to overcome. As much as the dress was an accomplishment, the way it was going to be shown off had a very impactful message behind it. A model, size 0 (is there any other size for models?), would be modeling the dress as well as appearing on the front cover of the magazine. Raven took it in herself to try and model the dress and prove that there is not a set standard for beauty. The message was clear back then that size should not matter and that not everyone fits into the ideal portrayed by the media as seen when the model said "I don't even look like that!" even when it is her appearing on the cover of the magazine and the manager of the runway showing saying that Raven did not fit into this ideal.

Another episode I want to take you back to is an episode of "America's Next Top Model" where the models were asked to label themselves with words that were used against them that made them feel unwanted and not beautiful. Granted it was a show where most of the contestants fit into society's "body ideal," but the message was clear that even models experience body dissatisfaction, insecurities, and internalizing thoughts of body disapproval. I found it interesting that when put in front of a mirror, everyone has something negative to say about themselves even if they appear to fit into what society presents body image to be.

Nowadays there are shows like Gossip Girl, The Hills, and 90210 that all have something in common. To be desirable, female characters are depicted as having thin waists and large breasts and the male characters are depicted as having abs and wealth. The audience for these shows then associates these characteristics as what is wanted by the opposite sex in society. This association then turns into body dissatisfaction and disapproval of looks for both male and female audiences and continues the trend that in order to be accepted in society, you have to fit into the "ideal body image." TV shows like these need to embody the messages like "size should not matter," "you are okay just the way you are," and "you are beautiful no matter what anyone says" instead of unrealistic depictions that are seen as fantasy instead of reality.

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I want to take you back to an episode of "That's So Raven" that had a lot of meaning to me. It was the episode where Raven designed a dress that was going to be featured in a big fashion runway sho...

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It's my body, but society's perception of it?

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These three articles highlight how their is a new wave of body dissatisfaction happening for men as well as women. The need to "bulk up", have abs, and big muscles associates a new type of unrealistic standards set by society and depicted by social media.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-lovejoy/body-image-issues-are-not-just-for-women_b_5034285.html http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-increasingly-affects-boys/283897/ http://time.com/3086207/body-image-men-women-media/
Let me guess...when you hear body image issues and the media, you probably automatically assume women, right? Well, that's not the truth anymore in today's society. Men receive a lot of comments about "Man Up" and "Be a Man" because the media depicts them as strong, buff, and hot. The fact of the matter is that there is an unrealistic expectation for men to when it comes to media selling their images for fashion. These men are oiled up, abs showing, and usually have great facial hair and let's face it not every guy has a six-pack or huge biceps and that's okay. But in the reality of social media, men have a social standard set to appear attractive to the opposite sex and when you are outside that social standard then "good luck buddy, you are not hot enough." The thing about social media and body image for men is that it is not something that is assumed to be happening. Society sees men as these big, strong, bruiting characters that do not let anything bother them but the reality is the same feelings of inadequacy that women feel, men feel too. Men have the pressure of having to bulk up, hit the gym, and protein, protein, and more protein to get those sexy man pecks and abs. The media promotes this idea that in order to become "what women want", men can take whatever means to achieve the desired image that society promotes such as eating disorders or steroids.

In today's society, there is a set standard for each gender and for men you need to be chiseled in such a way that it appears unnatural just like it can be seen for women needed to be super model skinny. Society needs to recognize that both men and women are affected by this depiction of unrealistic body images. Society needs to stop marketing images that are unattainable for society and social comparison is at a constant war for what society portrays as "hot or not" and what individuals are interpreting. Society needs to realize its shaming attitude towards body types that do not fit into "the ideal" and that there is stigma now attached to men and their body types along with women.

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These three articles highlight how their is a new wave of body dissatisfaction happening for men as well as women. The need to "bulk up", have abs, and big muscles associates a new type of unrealistic standards set by society and depicted by social media. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-lovejoy/body-image-issues-are-not-just-for-women_b_5034285.html http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/body-image-pressure-increasingly-affects-boys/283897/ http://time.com/3086207/body-image-men-women-media/ Let me guess...when you hear body image...

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It's my body, but society's perception of it?

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We live in a culture dominated by the idea that you have to look a certain way in order to be socially accepted as depicted through social media. Within this culture, there is a set standard of what the "ideal body" should look like and it is an unattainable standard at that. Let's face it people, if you're a woman you've go to be top model skinny, have big breasts, and a curvy behind and if you're a man you've got to be a hot, buff dude that has muscles galore, which anatomically makes no sense to me at all. In this culture, you actually start to question whether or not the pictures being broadcasted are actual humans or just computer generated pin up versions of what society wants everyone to look like. And the sad thing to boot is the nature of social media and body image is not going to change because society is always striving for this "ideal." With social media effects, no wonder people are having perception issues of how they should look and experiencing the consequences of attributing unhealthy practices to look this way or that way to be accepted.

Within this cultural aspect of society, we are constantly exposed to this unrealistic ideal and associate with what we are exposed too because we naturally compare ourselves to what is socially expected. There is self-construal within this society, which is how individuals try to define who they are and create meaning for who they are (Prieler & Choi, 2014, 380). This self-construal within this type of society creates different responses to social media and creates more social comparison to what the media is promoting. So one's self definition and meaning is based on society's promotion of looking a certain way and not accepting uniqueness of each individual's looks. In our society, we pay greater attention to what the media is saying about looks that disturbs the natural individual body image and look at those around us differently. For example, I see models in the media looking one way and then I see my peers look similar to these models and socially compare myself to them and want to self-construe myself to look that way. This in turn may lead to more dissatisfaction in the way I look, cause me to consider eating unhealthy or not eating at all, or considering plastic surgery to look like what the media is trying to tell me to look like so I can not only be similar to my peers, but also accepted by them (Prieler & Choi, 2014, 381).

This culture then promotes norms that influence the ways individuals should look as well as opinions on social comparisons to those fitting within the perceived ideal of body image. Social media use such as Facebook or Instagram, are used within this culture of body image that relate to the need for approval of appearance, socialization of self-stature, and validation of body image (Prieler & Choi, 2014, 381). These social media sites relate to how in this culture of body image, individuals look for support from like-minded individuals such as in how many likes you can get on a picture and the ability to filter the way you look for more appearance approval. But at the same time these sites can be used for support, they can also increase one's body dissatisfaction because an individual may be proud of what they have posted but because of social comparison, individuals can self-generate negative thoughts about their body image because of others' appearances posted on these sites (Prieler & Choi, 2014, 382). The entertainment of these social media sites may motivate individuals to promote their uniqueness, but can also have a negative affects on how social comparison comes into play that stems from what the media is influencing society to believe about body image.

We need to move towards a movement that promotes liking ourselves and not needing to have others approve the way we look. This culture needs to generate a self-concept generated through social media that allows individuals to promote their uniqueness we all have, the body types that are actually realistic, and the self-worth each individual has despite what social mediated forms of body image would like us to believe. Society needs a big wake-up call in order to move towards body acceptance and appreciation in order to overcome the realization that the "ideal body" does not exist.

Prieler, M. & Choi, J. (2014). "Broadening the scope of social media effect research on body image concerns." Sex Roles, 71, 377-388.

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We live in a culture dominated by the idea that you have to look a certain way in order to be socially accepted as depicted through social media. Within this culture, there is a set standard of what the "ideal body" should look like and it is an unattainable standard at that.

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It's my body, but society's perception of it?

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Social media is everywhere in today's society because we are able to take it on the go, connect to anyone, and it surrounds us in our everyday life (Jenkins, 2006). Body image portrayed by social media is something that has become a part of our daily lives in such a way that our awareness for it is has lessened because it is everywhere and we engage with it through many uses of social media technologies (Jenkins, 2006). With body image, comes concerns about the way it is portrayed and the influence it has on society. Media teaches lessons, puts forth attitudes towards body image, and leads to exposure to an unrealistic ideal. Social media promotes body image in ways where the "perfect" body cannot be attained through modeling, socialization of "ideal" gender body types, and numerous ideas to improve one's self image (Williams & Ricciardelli, 2014, 390). With these portrayals you start to wonder the influence these unrealistic images have on individuals as well as how as how appearance of oneself can lead to body dissatisfaction because there is no support or natural look to how social media portrays body image (Williams & Ricciardelli, 2014, 390). The way social media portrays body image raises concern for how it will affect individuals' perceived body image, self-worth, and vulnerability to the messages the media is outlined in its various forms. The effects of media is widespread and those influenced by its messages to look a certain way create attitudes toward their own self-worth and how their bodies are sources for self-worth because of the importance of looks that social media puts on society (Williams & Ricciardelli, 2014, 391). Social media has negative dimensions that promote social pressure to conform to unrealistic body ideals rather than promoting body appreciation and body acceptance (Williams & Ricciardelli, 2014, 391).

Rather than social media embodying a negative interpretation of how someone should look, which in turns cause psychological and physical harm in the forms of eating disorders to validate one's self image, social media needs to take on a role of the promotion of healthy body images that are actually attainable and depicted in the appropriate way (Williams & Ricciardelli, 2014, 390). Our society needs to see images that promote motivation to be healthy and show all types of body images not just the "supermodels" or "buff bodies". There needs to be a reciprocal interaction between the nature of media produced and the messages being sent out. There needs to be a promotion of how everyone needs to appreciate the way they look and accept that we do not fit into this unrealistic body image and that we need to be okay with that. Our society needs to have a convergence towards shaping the way media can be experienced in our lives that can promote the idea and image of how we want to create and share the truth of body image (Jenkins, 2006). The fact of the matter is that, social media has many layers and in order to make the truth about body image visible, society needs to have a motivation to promote body appreciation and body acceptance and the ultimate message that "YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH THE WAY YOU ARE!"

Jenkins, H. (2006). Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape. Confessions of an Aca-Fan. http://bit.ly/08iBZvB

Williams, R. J., & Ricciardelli, L. A. (2014). "Social media and body image concerns: Further consideration and broader perspectives." Sex Roles, 71, 389-392.

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Social media is everywhere in today's society because we are able to take it on the go, connect to anyone, and it surrounds us in our everyday life (Jenkins, 2006). Body image portrayed by social media is something that has become a part of our daily lives in such a way that our awareness for...