The Influence of Media on Female Body Image and Identity

Gender identity is started in early childhood stage as the clothing styles and colour of clothes are used to define child’s gender. Today, let’s focus in the context of female body image and identity. In my opinion, female’s body image is basically influenced by how people around them react to their body and how they look. They are more aware of what society’s standards are for the ideal body.

Identity is the most critical thing in an adolescent’s life as well, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to establish one without fall short of the many expectations that our American society has for this age group. Most female adolescents struggle to find an identity that is individual and unique, while at the same time conforms to the various societal pressures to which they are exposed. Developing a sense of self can be even more challenging these days, due to the changes in family, school, and work.

In this society with the development of science and technology, media plays an important role in influencing female body image and identity. Based on White & Wyn (2004), the major factor that affects female body image and identity is due to the increase of media exposure, the advertising that targets this group specifically, and all of the technological advances that increase the types of exposure. Women are the most dedicated active audience willing to spend so much time, money and energy to look pretty. Hence, women always believe and influenced by latest beauty trends and driven for beauty satisfactory goal on social media.

The media influences female body image and identity as it provides images of ideal body which women should have or ideal women should be. Many female will imitate and acts like the ideal women. They feel dissatisfaction with their body image when they look at the mirror and compare their body with those models. They try to change to become like the models. Through social media, women see thin body shape and fair body skin as ideal physical beauty. When they saw most of the models that promoting commercial products in advertisement is slim and fair, they will admire them. To have a beautiful body shape and skin colour, they will follow what have suggested in advertisements like use promoted skincare products and cosmetics. They like to compare with others. They will do anything like diet and using any products that can make them in good looking. So they can look like those models that have slimmer body and fairer skin.

Do you think that female body image and identity influence by media most of the time? For me, it is Yes. Most of the people will influence by the images on social media as they most probably exposed to social media nowadays. Lastly, you may have a look to this video from Youtube,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuoV-YGXjWI