Miss Representation: Does media have a worse effect on females than it does males? Ella says, "Not really."


Is it possible to measure the effects of media? Really and truly, I just do not think it is. According to the movie we have recently watched in class, many women are deeply affected by the way females are portrayed in media. They often develop body image issues. This displays itself in the form of eating disorders, self-harm, and other forms of mental illness. It seems, however, that these issues are discussed as if they are exclusive to women. What we fail to discuss are the genuine body image issues that men and boys face.
According to Time Magazine, Men and Women are equally unsatisfied with their bodies. “Few men (24%) and women (20%) felt very or extremely satisfied with their weight, and only half felt somewhat to extremely satisfied,” researcher David Frederick, an assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University. He goes on to say, "These findings are consistent with the emphasis placed on the importance of being slender for women and for appearing athletic and/or lean for men. It would seem therefore, that we still have a long way to go before we achieve the goal of Americans being truly happy with their bodies.” Media makes us feel like we are supposed to look a certain way, and this can be extremely damaging, regardless of gender.
Unsurprisingly, these problems affect us in greater ways than we often talk about. Researchers say that “People who were more satisfied with their weight and appearance were more satisfied with their life overall, even when controlling for other contributors,” they wrote in the study. Our dissatisfaction with our physical appearance bleeds into other aspects of our lives. While maybe this cannot be clearly measured, it is important to speak about these issues from both a male and female perspective.

Source: https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/body-image-men-women.jpg

Comments

  1. Kayla BrunellMay 26, 2019 at 2:34 PM

    To me, yes men have body image issues and that can be a separate discussion which doesn't have to be in opposition to what women face, but the movie talked about a lot more than just body image issues. So yeah in this respect media has the same impact, which is what the movie said. But that doesn't mean media as a whole "doesn't have a worse effect on women" because in saying that you're ignoring all the sexualization and fetishization and degradation that happens to women and not men. I think what you mean is in terms of body image men and women have it the same, and that was what that section of the movie was trying to say, at least now I interpreted it.

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