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Our Bodies in the Media

In any civilization appearance has a huge impact on the daily lives, of those living in it. Some cultures favor piercings, others strength, some wear clothes, others do not. The contributing factors for how they appear, typically go back to traditional roots. Our culture in the US, although influenced by our history, now has to deal with an almost daily changes seen in the media. It is nearly impossible to keep up with what is “in” and how we are “supposed” to look. With so much advertising and media focusing on a particular self image, there is no doubt why so many people struggle with accepting their self image. Both males and females, are both affected by man different outlets. Whether it be a victoria secret magazine, a commercial,social media, or a toy figuring, there are a number of contributing sources to our image.
Being a male myself, I can’t fully appreciate the relationship of a womans body image and the media, but I can get a pretty good idea based on observations and experience. Social media has become one of the biggest, if not the biggest influence on young people today. The fact that there many different words being created in reference to this, shows the impact it is having. For example the term “selfie” never existed before Facebook was invented. This effect can often often be seen as a negative, as Miribel Tran points out “Social media is prevalent in society today, and it has been scientifically linked with causing depression in young girls” Girls constantly are forced to look at pictures of their peers and compare themselves. This is so unfair, because not everyone is born with the same genetics, and it is simply impossible for everyone to be equally beautiful, from a purely physical standpoint. The same can also apply for males, but often in a different form. While most girls post selfies, trying to

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