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Body Image and Media Literature Review

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Submitted By buggles12
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Literature Review

Pressure to be Perfect
Media has become an increasingly important aspect of today’s society. People interact with many different forms of media on a daily basis. Because of the frequent usage of media, it is reasonable to assume that it has its effects on people. The topic discussed in this paper is the impact social media has truly had on society. Focusing on the main factors that cause an influence to the general well being of people in modern society, this paper will discuss how the effects of media are determined and explore what is believed to be the two main categories in which media affects today’s society: mental illness and body dissatisfaction. In reviewing the literature on the different effects that media has on society as a whole, ten pieces of literature that discuss the effects that media has on the psychological well being of society will be shown, and that ultimately what is at stake in this conversation is the health of our society.
In reviewing the literature regarding the health impacts of social media on society, the authors used in this paper discuss either mental illness or body dissatisfaction. Authors such as Dohyun Ahn, Sheri Bauman, and Sandee LaMotte discuss the mental illnesses in their articles (“Is the Social Use of Media…”, “Associations Among Bullying…”, and “The Health Risks of Cyberbullying…” respectively. The remaining seven authors who focus on body image and how it is influenced by the media can be separated by three subcategories. First, authors Stefanie C. Gilbert, Gemma Lopez-Guimera, and Monique L. Ward focus specifically on the cultural standards of body image in their articles (“The Media’s Role…”, “Influence of Mass Media…”, and “The Impact of Media…” respectively. Second, Thin ideal internalization is discussed by Analisa Arroyo and Marlene B. Shwartz in their respective articles “Magazine

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