Research Paper about Body Image Issues

📌Category: Health, Human Body, Mental health
📌Words: 742
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 03 February 2022

Body image issues have plagued the world like the pandemic.  Some members of society want change while others want to stick to the old ways. The roots of contemporary body image issues revolve heavily around unrealistic expectations, a desire for equality in sizes, and a history of influences.

Society has set expectations that are far out of reach, which creates an unrealistic standard for all human beings. Society expects people to dress nice, women to have a "barbie" look, and men to have the "triangle" figure.  Specifically, these expectations influence people to dress in nice clothes that cost way too much.  As a result, bankruptcy is often normalized; however,  in the past, it was a source of shame. The desire to purchase and consume items is a way for individuals to search for acceptance from peers and to feel good about ourselves because we have “nice clothes”.  Additionally, society sets a standard for women and girls to have the “ideal Barbie figure”.  Barbie has tried to fix this by creating three new body types, curvy, tall, and petite.  But as Source C mentions, “they now have four unrealistic beauty standards for girls to see themselves in.”  More specifically, source D refers to someone attempting to switch the doll’s clothes, but they come to find that the other barbie’s clothes don’t fit the curvy barbie around her shoulders or her plump butt.  At the same time, men face the expectation to be buff and show off their masculinity through their muscles.  As source B highlights a study where men were shown either neutral pictures or pictures of men with the “ideal body type”.  Consequently, the men who saw the muscular men reported feeling worse about their body weight and shape.  This study proves that social media and other media outlets are directly to blame for body image issues in both men and women.  On the other hand, it is good to desire a pleasing appearance and quality of life.  Some people see an “ideal body” as a sign of dedication in someone because they worked hard to get their body to achieve personal success.  As you can see, society has unrealistic expectations that need to be fought and destroyed, however, without a certain standard many would not prioritize their appearance.

People are voicing their opinions on concepts like Barbie that cast an “ideal” body size.  These people strive for equality amongst all body sizes.  On the one hand, women are protesting Barbie because she sets an ideal body standard for people to look up to.  Women want to be recognized the same no matter what their body shape is.  On the other hand, women and girls are not the only ones struggling with body image and criticism.  Men are told to be muscular and have a defined jaw.  A man is told that speaking out is considered a sign of weakness.  Going back, Barbie is changing and Mattel is trying to find a change to better Barbie’s body.  As Source C says, Barbie has come out with, “a plethora of bodies and skin tones.”  Certain women still fight the changes Mattel has made because they believe the curvy barbie is still too skinny.  In sum, people just want to be judged by their personality and not by their bodily shape.

Without a doubt, the history of elements like Barbie and outdated body image standards play a role within individual mind sets.  In the beginning, Barbie was based on a German gag gift for prostitutes.(Source D)  She was designed with big breasts and a large butt in a time when flat paper dolls were most common.  She was an instant hit amongst young girls.  A short time later, we are here today where Barbie has summoned an F5 storm amongst activists and protesters.  These protesters want a change, but they also believe that Barbie can’t mean anything no matter what body size or shape because there is no story behind her. At the same time, men have always struggled in silence.  Men were told that showing emotion and speaking out was weak and girly.  Men were supposed to shut up and keep their feelings to themselves.  As shown, men and women have always struggled through time with contemporary body image.

As shown, body image issues will not cease until we fix the unrealistic expectations, we address the desire for equality in sizes, and highlight historical roles.  People want change and need change.  In a time where everyone wants to hate each other, why can’t we come to find a common issue that is body image and strive to fix it?

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