Body image issues influence by media on adolescent girls

Pages: 1202-1204
Kirti Maheshwari and Jyotsna Joshi (Department of Psychology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)

Body image is defined as a self-attitude towards one’s body, it can be related with size, shape or aesthetics. The body is the first thing perceived in social interaction thus, the body image is crucial for the development of the self-respect. The media have become a powerful force throughout the world and strongly influence about how people see themselves and others. This is particularly true for adolescents. This article discusses how the media affect body image mental health and self-esteem and why the media seem to have such strong effects on adolescents. Body Image issues may appear when an adolescent girl’s self-evaluation of her appearance interferes with her physical and mental health. Media exposure profoundly affects the stereotyping of the perfect body, resulting in a multitude of body image disturbances. This paper investigates the impact of the media on adolescent female body image.