The Influence of the Media on the Extreme Ideals of How
Males Think Their Bodies Should Look
Jansson-Boyd states that ‘Many studies have found that both
women and men do not believe that their current body form is attractive...
research has repeatedly found that physically attractive individuals are
perceived by most to be socially more desirable than those that are perceived
as being unattractive, something that is likely to have been reinforced by
consumer societies...’. The research I have looked into focusses on supporting
statements such as this highlighting the impact that the media has on men as I feel
that when it comes to body image the impact that it has on men can be
overlooked.
Jansson-Boyd states 'Many studies have found that both women
and men do not believe that their current body form is
attractive…’.Traditionally, research focusing on body issues has tended to
focus mainly on women. However there has become an increasing amount of
evidence to suggest that body image concerns is also something which men suffer
from in the present day. A research study conducted by Karazsia and Crowther in
2008 asked men to agree or disagree on a scale from 1 - 5 with statements such
as ‘I compare my body to bodies of TV and movie stars’ and ‘I compare my body
to sports athletes in magazines’. In the study a number 1 given as an answer
was a strongly disagree and a 5 was strongly agree. The results of the study
indicated that there is a high internalisation of media ideals present within
men of the common college age. This study supports Jansson-Boyd’s statement as
it demonstrates that young men do in fact have ideals for their bodies that are
different from the body they possess. It could be argued however, that the
study supports that young men struggle with these body insecurities, but not
men of all ages as older participates did not receive a score as high. This
research leads us to believe that the media’s influence on extreme body ideals
is something that young men in the present day are suffering from, due to
current trends, however older men may not be affected in the same way due to a
lack of the same interest in the trends of the present day due to a lesser
amount of engagement with popular cultural trends.
The Jansson-Boyd quote also states that these body
insecurities are ‘reinforced by consumer societies…’. A present day example of
this is the extreme lengths which men will go to in order to get this “perfect
body” which the media continually projects. One way in which this can be
achieved is through cosmetic surgery. Although cosmetic surgery is again
something that is seen to be mainly a women’s market, there is a growing demand
for cosmetic surgery among men. Mark Jannot, editor of health magazine for Men’s
Journal, Observed ‘This (cosmetic surgery for men) is a huge booming
market.’ An example of someone who has completely taken advantage of this
new-found market for men is Rodrigo Alves. In ‘Extreme Uk Dying for a Six
Pack’, a documentary hosted by Reggie Yates, he shared that in total he has
spent £210,000 on cosmetic surgery in order to get the perfect body which he
feels is desired. I feel that individuals such as Rodrigo Alves support the
statement about a consumer society where buying the perfect body is not seen to
be far from social norms. This also supports the facts that the media has a
large influence on men’s desperate need for the “perfect body” and the extreme
lengths that more and more young males will go to in order to get it.
In the documentary with Reggie Yates, ‘Dying for a six
pack’, Yates spends time with a 24 year old named Kyle Johnson. Kyle goes to
extreme lengths for the perfect body in a different way to Rodrigo. Kyle pushes
his body to places that it should not be pushed and trains in way that the body
isn't built for all because he doesn't feel that he can truly achieve happiness
until he is content with the way he looks. There is a part in the programme
where you see Kyle wrapping himself in clingfilm and heading to train weights
in the sauna and at this moment he admits to Reggie that if he continues to
lead his life in this way, with the training he is doing he ‘will be lucky if
he makes it to the age of 30’. The extreme lengths in which Kyle pushes himself
is all because he has become ‘obsessed’ with the need to have the ‘perfect
body’. In the documentary he says, ’I see a s*** body, when I look in the
mirror I am unhappy with what I see.’ even though he possesses a body which
many people including Reggie see as fit and a body that they cannot understand
the reasons behind Kyle being unhappy with it. Although Kyle is just one
individual, there are many more young men out there that are treating their
bodies in a similar fashion to Kyle, in order to achieve perfection and this
attitude is what supports the statement by Jansson-Boyd that ‘men do not
believe that their current body form is attractive…’. It is clear that although
it is not present in everyone, the strife for the ‘perfect body’ is something
that is becoming ever increasingly normal in the current culture. The problem
with this is that it doesn't seem like anyone is clear on what the ‘perfect
body’ really is as it is a fantasy enforced by the media that is constantly
filling our heads with extreme body ideals.
In conclusion, I feel that this body ideal is a current
trend that is aided by the media and is displayed in packaging and marketing
used for a large number of brands. The research that I have looked into
suggests that these ideals projected by the media are having a larger impact on
males than is consciously realised. I think that Jansson-Boyd was correct in
what he said in his quote and I feel that male body image issues is something
that needs to be discussed before more males push their bodies to the point
that they will not live to see much of the future.
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