Perfect Body Image Essay Sample

In this world, we all deal with a problem where we think there is an ideal body type of girls being thin while guys are supposed to be muscular and ripped. This idea could affect people’s mental health by making them think they are not good enough. If they don’t have that body type, it can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. This essay will show you that it is a problem that revolves around people. I have dealt with it myself and I know what it can do to your head and how it makes you think. There is a negative effect on people’s mental health by thinking there is a perfect body image and social media is a big factor in affecting people’s self-esteem. This idea can be seen by the fact it can lead to people having suicidal thoughts and the statistics showing that there is not an age or gender limit to how it affects you.

To begin with, thinking there is a perfect body image can lead to people having suicidal thoughts. “Last weekend, when changing her bed linen I found a one-off entry in a notebook saying she won't be happy unless she gets back to being thin again, and she is dreading the summer,”(Sharry). This shows that thinking there is a perfect body image can lead to negative mental health because this mother’s daughter was just doing a simple task like changing her daughter’s bed linen. She finds a skeptical thing on a page of her notebook where it says she won’t be happy until she gets thin again. This hit a soft spot to me because this has happened to me. I used to eat a lot and got a little fat and I even thought to myself, will I never be happy with myself? I didn't let that stop me and I changed for the better and this girl should always be happy with herself even if she doesn't have the body she wants. Also, “She then fell off that “healthy eating wagon” and went to the other extreme - putting on a lot of weight in a short space of time. She has stopped engaging in her schoolwork and is rarely going out with her friends,”(Sharry). When she stopped eating healthy and started to gain more and more weight which first started her to stop doing her schoolwork and go out with her friends which will keep making her more and more depressed and then this could lead to suicidal thoughts and possibly actually do it. And, “Just after Christmas I found a nail clippers in her bed which made me worried she was cutting herself...”(Sharry). This is a good example because this daughter gained weight and she started to become unhappy with herself which led to her mom thinking she was cutting herself when she found the nail clippers in her bed. This is what would make her have an awful mental state and this will always scar her for the rest of her life and this makes me sorrowful because this girl is considering hurting herself over just her weight. I've dealt with this and I worked on it and now I'm happier than ever and you can always change, so you should never take your life for granted. 

Secondly, people always think it’s just only girls where they can get mentally ill, but this doesn't just affect girls it affects both genders and there is no age limit either. “And it’s not just girls/women. Boys and men are also feeling the pressure to measure up to the tall, ripped-muscled, wide-shouldered, narrow-hipped bodies they constantly see – idealized images that dominate media and advertising,” (Puterman). I have felt this myself too because when I see models or bodybuilders it makes me feel kinda insecure about myself and it makes me want to better myself like some other boys do. When this happened it made me feel sad about myself seeing others having these nice bodies and achieving the goals I really want to. So for the other boys/girls that feel like this I know it gets better because I'm currently achieving my goals right now and feeling the best I have ever. Also, “It found that 57% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed admit to having felt anxious because of their body image, compared with 30% of 45- to 54-year-olds and 20% of over 55s,” (Lynn). This shows that there is no age limit because these are real statistics that consist of many ages and percentages of how people have felt when they don't have the “perfect” body image they would want. This made me feel kind of happy because people are finally understanding that there is no gender limit and age limit to people having feelings about their body image. And, “Some 10% of women have deliberately hurt themselves because of their body image compared with 4% of men. At the same time, 13% of adults admit to having experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings because of their body image,” (Lynn). This is a good example because these are facts showing both genders actually hurt themselves due to their body image and even adults are experiencing suicidal thoughts about their body image. This is sad because I would never want people to hurt themselves over something they can fix and change themselves for the better and become happier.

In addition, social media is a big factor in affecting people’s self-esteem by showing other people's body images. “Seeing friends' carefully curated selfies on Facebook is more likely to induce feelings of guilt or shame among young women, and lead to unnecessary dieting, than images of models or celebrities they see in magazines,” (Ratcliffe). This shows that when people post on social media it can make young women feel bad about themselves and do unnecessary things like dieting even when they don't need it. This is how I used to feel when I looked at others on social media and it makes me sad seeing people feel the way I did. It did make me feel guilty, so I know where they are coming from, but they need to know it gets better and this doesn't last a lifetime. Also, “The study, which questioned about 150 young women who completed five daily surveys over a five-day period, found that participants overwhelmingly considered themselves less attractive than the people they saw both online and in traditional media,” (Ratcliffe). This means that numerous young women feel less attractive when people see them online and in traditional media. This is sad that people completely change their feelings and how they feel about their looks when it comes to social media and that is a serious problem that needs to be fixed because making people feel that way is terrible.

Furthermore, Others will agree that thinking there is a perfect body image will lead to unhealthy mental health and possibly lead to more, but others disagree and think that it won't affect the human's mental health and self-esteem. They think this because there are people out there who know they don't have a good body image, but the person is happier than ever and is ok with their body. There are examples like that often and I know a lot of people who feel that way with the way they look and won't let anything change the way they do feel. There are a lot more examples of people who do let it affect them and do let it get to their head and hurt them in many ways like this essay is trying to show you.

In Conclusion, there is a negative effect on people’s mental health by thinking there is a perfect body image due to many factors. Social media is a big factor today that is affecting people’s self-esteem. This idea can lead to people having suicidal thoughts and there's statistics showing there is not an age or gender limit on how this problem can affect you. The point of this essay was to bring this problem to people’s knowledge and to know this is an issue that revolves around us right now. You can all have friends or family members who have this so you have to be considerate of what you talk about and who you are talking to.