Body Image Research Paper

Fake nails. Excessively slim body. Perfect tan. In other words, the image of a woman that society portrays as being beautiful. These traits produce an unrealistic perception of women in which the mass media has fabricated and thrown on to society as the ideal body image. With abnormally high expectations, it is seemingly impossible to achieve the standard body image that the media has set, resulting in a great deal of upset. According to the study, “How We See It,” conducted on women aged ten to twenty-one, less than ten percent are content with their body (Holland). This asserts that over ninety percent of young women are unpleased with the way they look. “The findings reflect the intense and damaging pressure on young people to conform to …show more content…
Having a fuller body as society’s “it” image signified that people were more accepting of all different body types. Society’s main goal was not to pressure women to conform to an unrealistic standard but rather to embrace their true beauty. Whether a woman weighed 110 pounds or 160 pounds, she was still considered equal to other women. In the past, a woman’s appearance was not the sole factor of her human worth, but, unfortunately, society today has allowed that philosophy on a woman’s appearance to change. This change, however, was far from abrupt; the “in look” of the time gradually changed every few years due to impacts of the media. Being attached to the media in such a way as being hypnotized by them, society was allured in a negative way, allowing these changes to take place. The initial major event occurred in the 1890’s when “The first surgical breast augmentation procedure was performed with a paraffin injection” (Proquest). This marked a stepping stone in the up and coming cosmetology field, which is now a billion dollar industry. After that injection was invented, it was like a domino effect in the cosmetic world: one invention led straight to another invention which led straight to another invention. Suddenly, beauticians had the cure for everything, from liposuction all the way to botox. By reconstructing and …show more content…
Despite the initial intent, cosmetic surgeries only boosted self esteem for brief amounts of time in patients causing it to become an unhealthy addiction to some women. The next milestone was the creation of the Barbie doll in 1959 by Mattel Toys (Proquest). Becoming every little girl’s dream doll, Mattel Toys had finally reached the top of the toy industry. With no original intentions of doing so, they had also managed to set the new beauty standard: a tall slim body, extremely lean legs, and an impossibly tiny waist. However, this change did

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