Her Body Image
People have presumptions of what the perfect body must look like. Caroline Heldman’s essay, “Out-of-Body-Image” discusses how body image affects people. Through many case studies, Heldman is convinced that people with lower self-objectification do better in life than those with higher self-objectification. The definition of self-objectification is how we define our body image through others eyes. While self-objectification has many effects, it tends to affect more women than men. Over the years, self-objectification is starting to increase in men. Heldman supports this idea by saying, “Boy and men experience self-objectification as well, but at a lower rate; probably because, unlike women, they rarely get the message that their bodies are the primary determination of their worth” (50). Although I agree with Heldman’s essay, I think the most negative outcomes of self-objectification weren’t discussed enough. Acquiring this ideal body image can lead to eating disorders, which could ultimately lead to depression or suicide.
The first like to self-objectification is body image. We are brain washed and controlled by everything around us. For an example, magazine ads portray a flawless and young female that has a “rockin” body image. An image many women would die for, only to fit societies (meaning men) standards. We are secretly blinded by advertisements of the ideal body image each day. According to Heldman, “U.S. residents are now exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 advertisements a day-as many per year as those living half a century ago would have seen in a lifetime” (50). Each one of the cover girl’s ideal bodies is not real, but computer airbrushed. These cover girls paint fake pictures in our heads, which lead up to people comparing their bodies to. Men and women are not the only ones being affected by the media, but children as well. Many people don’t realize that the media influences children at a young age. I’ve heard a 4-year-old state, “When I...