Media, it's all over and sometimes we can't get away from it. Being skinny is the new and attractive way to be according to most media ads, which has brought on a lot of eating disorders throughout the years. It's amazing how much impact media has on people's thoughts on their own body image which can lead to unhealthy lifestyles and poor self-esteem. So what if media were to change it's approach to body image? According to a study done by Gabe, Hyde, and Ward after measuring women's satisfaction and dissatisfaction of their own body image as well as a few other factors, found that exposure to the "thin ideal" created by media made women feel more dissatisfaction with themselves. Of course media is probably not going to change their whole outlook because that would cause them to loose lots of money as well as a lot of companies money. However if exposure to media is monitored there may just be a decrease in eating disorder patients and people may start to understand that it's unhealthy to try to be of model size and that it is socially acceptable to look healthy rather than stick thin.
Sources:
Kovar, A. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/2009/BodyImageMedia.htm
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