Media Effects Body Image Essay Example for Free

Media Effects Body Image Essay Over the past 10 years, mass media and the access to social networks has evolved substantially causing the effects of negative self-image and what is considered beautiful. Body image expectations for both African-American male and female share the battles of society’s expectations, yet African American women body images come with a stricter and more unhealthy stigma; growth of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter brings these expectations of self-image into our homes and our children minds. â€Å"The Internet is easily the most pervasive form of mediated communication that we encounter in our lives. Even traditional forms of mass communication drive us toward the Internet† (Bryant, Thompson Finklea, 295). Social networks influences negative self-image and expectations of what is beautiful to society. Beauty expectations has a long standing history into our lives, but comparing the increase in body augmentations, extreme dieting and even bulimia nervous in our generation is heavily related to mass media. Over exposure to social networks may contribute to the development of low discrepancy for sexual desire with partner, negative views toward self-body image, and even the need to seek illegal avenues for plastic surgery. As humans, we tend to rate ourselves pretty harsh and I believe social media networks have caused an increase for the expectations of body image. Recently, the media has had a huge impact on relationships, the proper raising of children and especially the ideal body that an African- American woman should have. Although, I do highly believe that we should improve woman’s health, I also know that every person doesn’t look like the model we see on television. In the African American culture, recently, it has been a turn of times and the media thin-ideal is being curvy within our community. Every new music video and social media networks put the black woman with the tiny waist with huge thighs and butt as the perfect woman. The impact of the  media is causing a change in African American women views on their lives, body and overall expectations as what a black woman should look like. It is well known that obesity and being curvier than other races is well documented withi n society, yet it’s now becoming an issue with our society to enhance these features that we are so well known for. Even for the common thin-ideal woman that is often portrayed in the media is typically 15% below the average weight of women, representing an unrealistic standard of thinness (tall, with narrow hips, long legs, and thin thighs) (Johnson, Tobin, Steinberg, 1989). Yet within the African American culture, video vixens promote their bodies as a sign of owning who they are and controlling the situation regardless of what they may have on. Still another perspective is that of Melyssa Ford, â€Å"the highest paid video girl to date† (Byrd and Solomon, 2005) who describes her vulnerability on video shoots, objectification by men, and the process of reclaiming power over her own body, which she describes as her commodity. Without denial, Melyssa Ford is a well-educated woman and one of the few vixens who have used her body to open doors to new opportunities, but believing her body is the golden ticket is the main issue that I have with the media influence. These contrasting perspectives demonstrate the complexity of issues (e.g., the range of perceptions about woman’s objectification) and pose critical questions for scholars who seek to understand contemporary Black women’s experiences (Byrd and Solomon, 2005). The idea that the African American woman has been created as an object and should have a particular body to be accepted into their culture as the ideal African American woman. Black culture has always been the more voluptuous curves in women, yet those women were considered cornbread fed and the ones who weren’t blessed with these assets, didn’t go out their way for unethical surgical practices. The social media negative influence on African American women growing up within the 21st century has made it seem the simple life is depending on the curves of your body, instead the knowledge of your mind and the power in your beliefs. Proper parenting is started at home, yet with social networks being such a part of our children’s lives, the media is also in the homes. In the process of the media influence, I believe the importance of the media understanding the black culture and the expectations of a woman’s curves also cause many medical issues that we are associated with, such as: Type I and II diabetes,  high blood pressure and obesity. With overweight being accepted in most black families homes, the media and social networks should deter as much as possible from promoting the oversexed woman is the ideal woman. The effect social networks has on the children coming behind us is powerful and I believe the power of the media should be used more effectively. There is evidence that social media influences behaviors at home because women such as Ford promotes her body as her job, just as woman who is a part of the corporate community, but her body expectation is for her job, natural African American women are not all curvy. I had the opportunity to speak with several close friends who utilize social networks as often as I do and I wanted to know their take on their own body image when looking at different women on Facebook or Instagram. Do they feel the need to conform and seek that particular body? Do they feel less beautiful that moment when looking at these women? Although all of them stated they didn’t feel any less beautiful and was comfortable within their skin, they did state it causes them to want to stay in the gym more or avoid a meal for the sake of staying the â€Å"ideal body type† as an African American woman. But 2:3 of the women claimed they did have a lower sexual discrepancy when it came to being with their mates and questioned themselves during sexual intimacy after looking at these women. 1:3 of the women even resulted in having plastic surgery for a breast implant after seeing the changes in a models career off of Instagram because she felt like this would increase her chances of finding a husband. â€Å"Social comparison theory is one of the few theories that are commonly used by mass communication scholars to understand the relationship between media exposure and body image dist urbance† (Zhang, Dixon Conrad, 266). The ideal African American woman portrayed in the media and on social networks is difficult, almost impossible, for the majority of the women if you want to live a normal, healthy life. When you have a certain type of body within the African American community, the woman seems to be more glorified by men and catches the attention quickly. Yet, often African American women who have curvy shapes find themselves not liking the attention because of comments. The effects of lower discrepancy are basically the lack of compatibility between two individuals and this may increase with the harsh media influence. I believe social networks and media influence has caused African American women to want a voluptuous body  because apparently this is what gets a man attention. â€Å"Stice and Shaw (1994), suggested that as women internalize the thin-idea/media image, they tend to experience heighted body dissatisfaction, set unrealistic body dimension goals, and ultimately engage in disordered behaviors designed to achieve the thin-ideal body image (Hawkins et al, 2004). The increase of plastic surgery within the Black American culture probably has increased within the last five years due to the wanting of large buttocks and smaller waist which media makes to believe this is what a Black woman should look like. The media so- called expectations of the perfect African American woman can’t be the only problem when it comes to the issues the culture experiences toward wanting a certain look. Possibly, the future research will get the attention of media and social media executives to realize their power over the younger generations to develop positive influences and promote healthier lifestyles. In this research, I was able to find that African-American women often compare themselves to images on social networks and although it causes them to work out more, it isn’t necessarily causing a healthier lifestyle and positive self-body image. Works Cited Bryant, Jennings, Susan Thompson, and Bruce W. Finklea. Fundamentals of Media Effects. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print. Byrd, Ayana, and Akiba Solomon. Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips and Other Parts. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. PsychINFO. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. . Hawkins, Nicole, P. Scott Richards, H. Mac Granley, and David M. Stein. The Impact of Exposure to the Thin- Ideal Media Image on Women. University of Houston- PsychINFO. Taylor Francis, Inc., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. Johnson, C. L., Tobin, D. I., Steinberg, S. L. (1989). Etiological, developmental and treatment considerations for bulimia. Special issue: The bulimic college student: Evaluation, treatment and prevention. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 3(2-4), 57-73. Stice, E. Risk Factor for Eating Pathology:

Internet Addiction Disorder Essay -- Internet Addiction Essays

The World Wide Web is an intriguing information highway. Its beginnings only date back to the 1990’s, but it has quickly become a major staple in our lives. As with anything there is a good and bad side. Americans and people around the world are becoming more and more reliant on using the internet for their informational, academic, social, entertainment, organizational, and connectional needs. Along with all of the good that this has brought a new disorder is arising, internet addiction disorder. Although internet addiction disorder has not been added as of yet to the DSM hopes by the researchers are high that it will be added in the future editions. Much research has been done to understand the complexities of the disorder. Most of the research has been done on youth and young, college age adults because they seem to be the most vulnerable. Our young people are growing up with the internet and rely on it much more than older adults at the present. They seem to have more of an interest in things of a technological nature (Chou, Condron & Belland, 2005). Through the research predictors of internet addiction disorder are being examined. Scales are being developed to help in diagnosis. Diagnosis criteria are being formulated. Patterns in and researched. There has been an international congress to discuss the disorder and what is being done for treatment around the world. This paper will review the information on research findings, diagnostics, and the treatments that are being used. It will also examine information as to the very nature of the internet what seems to give it the power to pull people into addiction. Explaining Internet Addiction Some researchers say that internet addiction is similar to gambling addiction (Chou... ...2010). Internet addiction or excessive internet use. American Journal Of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 36(5), 277-283. doi:10.3109/00952990.2010.491880 Yen, J., Yen, C., Wu, H., Huang, C., & Ko, C. (2011). Hostility in the real world and online: The effect of internet addiction, depression, and online activity. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(11), 649-655. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0393 Young, K. (2014). Reflections on the first international congress on internet addiction disorders- cultural and clinical perspectives. Retrieved from http://netaddictionrecovery.blogspot.com/ Zhang, H., Jiang, W., Lin, Z., Du, Y., & Vance, A. (2013). Comparison of psychological symptoms and serum levels of neurotransmitters in shanghai adolescents with and without internet addiction disorder: A case-control study. Plos ONE, 8(5), 1-4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063089

Cultural evolution Essay

In his article â€Å"Where Do Social Relations Come From? †, Michael Grossetti discusses the ways that human relationships are studied by sociologists, citing that often the methodology begins by starting with the relationship ad working backward to define it (Grossetti,p. 289). The most lasting relationships are the ones that come from organizations, he concludes, especially those related to family and friends. When we related this conclusion back to cultural evolution theory, we can argue that the lasting relationships of this generation because at this point in time most relationships are forged out of organizations or via our families. However, we can clearly argue that once this may not have been true as people had longer term relationships with people in their neighborhoods and those with whom they had a physical proximity. Grossetti argues that neighborhoods do not provide a basis for lasting relationships as they do not necessarily share life values or interests which draw people together (p. 292). When discussing this assertion in relation to cultural evolution, we can argue that in the recent past, neighborhoods did share a commonality that is now missing – immigrants would tend to settle in neighborhoods, neighborhoods would be divided by racial or religious lines, or at the most tangential neighborhoods would be reflective of a certain socio-economic status. Now, according to Grossetti’s study, relationships have evolved to the point that people develop relationships based primarily on organizations which they belong to –church groups, work groups, or interest organizations. When this is combined with the use of social networks, it can be observed that people are then creating a new means to segregate themselves via their interests. People have developed a new means to identify people with like interests and create new association groups. The interesting aspect of this evolving form of meeting may be that it creates relationships among people who in previous generations may never even have met. Because social networking allows people with common interests to meet without the traditional introduction of a mutual friend, they may completely change the way relationship develop in the future, dovetailing nicely with the theory of cultural evolution.

A Story Of A Trip To The Ziggurat - 1074 Words

It is finally spring time and I have been working at the temple for 3 months now. I am still doing very the same old boring jobs, but I am working very hard. I do not understand why I am not at least getting different jobs. I ask the priest why and he tells me that I am still not ready. I am deeply upset for I want a sense of excitement in being a scribe. All I have gotten so far is disappointment. When walking to the ziggurat the next day I get an idea. What if tonight before the temple closes I come and sneak in after hours and read what the other scribe’s work. This way I could know how to impress the priest. If I get caught I could get into a lot of trouble, but I have to take this risk. This morning I still do the same old boring†¦show more content†¦I immediately apologize to my father, but he just gives me a big hug. I dont understand. My father says he felt the same way I did when he first became a scribe. He copied someone elses work because he thought it would be fun. We both laugh and I felt a sigh of relief. I am glad my father is not mad at me, but the priest is and I have no idea how to regain his trust. I decide that I will write an apology letter to him and deliver it myself. The next day I spent all morning writing my letter. I explained how sorry I was and how I would do anything to regain our friendship. I even signed it with my cylinder seal. A cylinder seal is a cylinder made of metal or stone that is used to print a signature on a cuneiform tablet. My father and I then walked to the ziggurat to give the priest my letter. When we arrived we saw the priest talking to a man who seemed to be very important. Everyone was staring at both of them. The man seemed to be angry. He kept complaining about a scribe that was supposed to be there to help him. The priest apologized and explained how the scribe did not show up. I ask my father who the man was and he told me that he was King Hammurabi. I could not believe I was standing this close to the king. The king then turned to leave when his anger turned into joy because he had seen my father. The king explained how he needed a new scribe for his council and the one he had chosen did not show up for three days .Show MoreRelatedReligion And Religion902 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent religions had different centers of the world, and all of them were built using various types of architecture, which reflected their own specific culture. In Babylonia, ziggurats were regarded as artificial sacred mountains which were the links of all three cosmic levels. These ziggurats were built with seven stories resembling the seven planetary systems, and as the shaman ascended up the temple he would finally reach the top of the temple resembling the summit of the universe . The religiousRead More3. Paleolithic Age Or Older Stone Age Was Marked By Hominids,1819 Words   |  8 Pagesformulas that are usually considered part of the ritual, which is a generally accepted purpose, is to ensure the resurrection in another world avoiding the dangers that lurk along the way. In order to help the soul of the deceased, or his double, in his trip into the unknown, the priest before he sealed the last door of his tom b next to the mummy laid the initiation papyrus. Their knowledge will allow the deceased to safely navigate the underworld Duato, who needs to go over the uncertain journey through