The effect of advertising on body image is a discussion that’s provoked many researchers, psychologists and marketing professionals to take an interest and study this issue. In today’s society there is sufficient evidence that links how media portrays ‘beauty’ and our own perception of what is deemed attractive. However, the question that seems to lie unanswered is to what extent these barraging images affect us in a growingly intellectual and conscious society.
Researchers, such as Mary Martin and James Gentry believe that they have found a link between the rise in teen advertising and teenagers falling self-esteem. The argument is that by setting unrealistic and ‘photo-shopped’ expectations for a young person’s physical appearance, individuals find great difficulty in feeling content with their own body. It’s not altogether surprising when one out of every 3.8 advertisements have a message of attractiveness in it. This roughly results in the average person watching 5,260 messages relating to attractiveness per year and even more shockingly around 14 per day. What is even more concerning, is that these distressing figures only represent a small section of the media portrayed to us, as they are only seen if we turn on the T.V. The various other forms of media such as billboards and magazines are thrust at us daily, often without our recognition, but still arguably just as detrimental. It seems that with a growing consumerist culture this compounding message of ‘perfectionism’ and unrealistic beauty has become ingrained within both our minds and society, resulting in low self-esteem and the increase in psychological illnesses related to body image.
Despite my own views on this issue, it would be ignorant of me to disregard the other side of the debate. Some researchers such as Terry Bristol have actually found teenagers to be generally unaffected by these advertisements. This conclusion has been derived from the basic idea that repeat exposure can create a certain immunity to the images displayed in the media. As such, rather than individuals perceiving this as self-esteem shattering they instead become sceptical of these messages as repeat exposure arguably gives them a better understanding of the motives behind an ad and therefore they become somewhat less influenced.
However, ultimately my position on mass media having a damaging impact on body image still stands. Regardless of our society becoming more conscious about the various ways media affects us, it still does not overlook the underlying fact that the amount of people suffering from psychological illnesses such as eating disorders have doubled since the 1960’s. It seems that as long as businesses continue to attack body image to sell their products, the rise in low-self esteem and other psychological illnesses will continue to rise.
Sophia Warr
St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls
