This article originally appeared in Epitome.
Imagine what it would be like if someone invented a talking machine. Every day, you would sit in front of your machine for a couple of hours while it told you that you are too skinny or too tall or that your nose isn't the proper shape or that your breasts aren't big enough or that nobody will ever love you because you just aren't good enough. How much would you pay for a machine like that?
More than likely you own a couple of machines like this. Do you own a television? A computer? A radio? Have you ever thought about the messages that these appliances bring into your home? According to the National Eating Disorder Association, a study of 4,294 network television commercials revealed that 1 out of every 3.8 commercials send some sort of "attractiveness message" telling viewers what is or is not attractive. These researchers estimate that the average adolescent sees over 5,260 "attractiveness messages" per year.
The average American spends four to eight hours a day listening to these machines. Even if we throw away our televisions, radios, and computers, however, we still won't be free from the message. It emerges in newspapers, magazines, billboards, store windows, on the sides of busses, in waiting rooms, and virtually everywhere else that we look.
Perhaps we can extend the machine metaphor to include all forms of the mass media. What messages do we get from print media? Most newspapers and magazines are loaded with photographs of fashion models, both in their article illustrations and in their advertisements. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, the average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. Furthermore, most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.
The average American is bombarded with 3,600 ads every day. There are fewer and fewer places that are free from advertising. The content of films and television shows are strewn with product placements and product-related plot developments. As a result of these trends, most forms of entertainment have become little more than long commercials. The major corporations are even "sponsoring" schools. They provide funding in exchange for Coca-Cola appreciation days, school bus ads, and other shameless product placements in the schools. We are awash in these messages from the cradle to the grave.
Of course, we are far too intelligent to let these messages change our behaviors. We are good critical thinkers who are able to decide for ourselves how we should look and feel about ourselves. This is a nice thought. Unfortunately, research indicates otherwise. Consider these facts:
- 25% of American men and 45% of American women are on a diet on any given day.
- Plastic surgery rates are up 500% in the past decade.
- 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.
- Last year alone, some 200,000 American women had breast implant surgery.
- 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance.
- Americans spend over billion on dieting and diet-related products each year.
- The number of men undergoing liposuction quadrupled between 1990 and 2000.
- Some psychologists claim that poor body images are so common, they are considered "normal".
The media bases its very existence on the principle that human behavior can be influenced in fairly specific ways. After all, this medium earns most of its money through advertising. If ads weren't hugely effective the mass media would have died off decades ago.
Look at the clothes you are wearing, the car you drive, and the music you listen to. Ask yourself why you chose these items. How did you even know they existed? How many of them were purchased because they were familiar to you? Is it possible that at least some of your behaviors are shaped by the mass media? If so, how much of your opinion of your own body is influenced by its messages?
The message is clear: We are not attractive enough and we won't be attractive enough until we buy all the right products and pay for all the right treatments. Of course, once we buy all the right products and pay for all the right treatments, we find that we still aren't good enough. We are then encouraged to buy more. This message is hurting us. It is even killing us.
Poor body image contributes to eating disorders, overzealous plastic surgery, suicides, self-mutilation, promiscuity, and a host of other dangerous behaviors. As the statistics quoted above indicate, these trends are growing more out of control every year.
While it is difficult to define (and, therefore to keep statistics on) issues such as overzealous plastic surgery or promiscuity, there are a lot of statistics that track eating disorders. In the United States, conservative estimates indicate that after puberty, 5-10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men are struggling with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or borderline conditions. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, anorexia nervosa is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women. Between 5-20% of individuals struggling with anorexia nervosa will die from this condition.
What can we do about this? It is extremely important for all of us to be critical thinkers. We have to question the message that is being forced on us by the media. We have to spread the word to others and speak out against the media outlets that are getting rich from our insecurities. We have to live according to our own standards, not those of the media. It won't be easy. Then again, very few important changes in society were easy.
