Societal Views on Body Image: Gender Comparison

Sense of body begins early in life so we may have no conscious memory of its. Depending on if you were fed when you were crying or cried because you were hungry. When we are taught to eat by ourselves we learn about the cultural images of appropriate behaviors early training has to do with the control of our bodies and their functions. Different cultures have different notions about body image, in Europe and the us, childcare books are common Values of bodies and bodily behavior are conveyed by non-verbal means.

We are instructed by actions as well as words, while we are conditioned by images of the perfect body according to society sense of body image can come from parents, siblings, relatives, and friends. Later in life, the agents of socialization come into play, which is: peer groups, media, and cultural icons.

The media is the primary source of what people think the perfect body image is these images that the media portray affect men and women differently.

It is thought that women are valued more for their bodies than men are. We are told that a smart woman who is not necessarily beautiful will be less successful in life and vice versa. Many young women believe that the perfect body will get them the perfect man and the only way to get a man is through the body stereotypes are great sources of cultural norms. Our society does not know how to value intelligence rather than just looks. For men, it is often wealth that gets the attention of women in society the amount of body fat is looked at differently in different societies: someone who is bigger is lazy and doesn’t work, while someone who is bigger in another society may be looked at as wealthy and gets enough food to eat.

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The motivation for women seem to always be to get men’s approval women will always struggle with this body image issue as long as it is a major problem in society, but with the help of women as well as men it can be broken. It is easier for a father to help his daughter with body image issues because the mother could be suffering from the same problems and subconsciously supporting poor body image. It is important for young boys to know that they should value a girl for who she is rather than what she has. Many years ago, disorders such as anorexia and bulimia were never heard of at the turn of the 21“ century, they are becoming an epidemic. There are 8 million men and women that suffer from some kind of eating disorder. According to a study, girls are more afraid to become fat than they are of other devastating things such as nuclear war, cancer, or losing their parents, Girls focus on their bodies so much that it takes away from them being involved in such greater social organizations and can even distract them from their studies, making them fall behind in school.

With people focusing less on their bodies and more on our environment, the world would slowly become a much better place. For this essay, I have interviewed two friends, one male and one female I asked them both the same questions, but with one of them pertaining to their gender. I’m going to start by explaining my girlfriend that body image affects women more than it does men in the United States. Her name is and she is 21 years old, She’s 5’2 and weights 130 pounds, She lives a very sedentary lifestyle outside of work. She does not do regular exercise, but does participate in yoga from time to time, She eats very heavily proportioned meals and snacks throughout the day, but keeps a low weight due to a high metabolism The first question I asked her was how important her appearance is to her. She said that it is pretty important, but she doesn’t make it take over her life. Many girls make it their priority to look their best every day, even choosing their appearance over eating. She has had a couple of

days like this, but it has not impacted her life so much that she believes it is a major issue, Secondly, I looked at what her favorite celebrity icons were. She stated FKA Twigs and Beyoncé. They both have a small frame and are very beautiful women. She says that she often likes to paint or draw her favorite artists and sometimes make the subject of her paintings herself, but with qualities of her favorite celebrity icons, Next, I asked what she feels obligated to look like as a woman She said that she feels like she always has to look very girly and wear makeup every day. She doesn’t wear heavy makeup every day, but does always make sure to add it into her daily routine a lot of girls start wearing makeup at an early age, meaning that problems with body image and self-image problems can happen at any age and most often occurs early in life, especially for girls.

Lastly, I asked what she dislikes the most about her body she said that she was not content with her weight. Even though many women would envy how her body is she thinks that she can gain a few pounds in some areas and lose a few pounds in others. She also says that it would benefit her a lot if she were a few inches taller than she is now my second friend, his name is he is 6 feet tall and 150 pounds He is 18 years old He doesn‘t participate in sports, but he does engage in exercise from time to time. He has a small frame with hardly any body fat he doesn’t move around a lot at work, but definitely does not live a very sedentary lifestyle. The first question I asked him was how important appearance is to him, he said that it’s pretty important to him as he makes sure he “looks good“ every day men are usually looked over when it has to do with body image.

It is not often that we see cases of men suffering from some sort of eating disorder, but it does happen and it is important to realize this and make an effort to try and stop this crisis I asked him what some of his favorite celebrity icons were. He doesn’t have many favorites but listen to a lot of heavy metal rock bands I was not able to observe the specifics because he did not give me any artists. Next, I asked him what he feels obligated to look like as a man. He said that he feels he has to be muscular and tall to be able to attract a woman. He suffers from low self-esteem because of this. I assure him every day that it does not just look and can also not he looks at all that can attract someone I say that he is such a beautiful person and I‘m glad to have him in my life. Lastly, I asked him what he disliked the most about his body he said that he wishes he was taller.

He is 6 feet tall which is a lot taller than the average height of a male he thinks his ideal height would be somewhere around 6‘4” to be able to trump over everyone else. From this statement, I feel a sense of him wanting to be an “alpha male” which is common amongst men. It’s similar to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which is survival of the fittest. He believes that if he were taller, that would make him the best man and better than every other man that he may envy. All throughout America, there are people that suffer from either low self-esteem or some kind of eating disorder some people may go about changing their appearance in so many different ways. It is important for parents, both mom and dad to instill on their children the importance of health and a positive body image. With the perspectives of both men and women during the millennial era, there is a possibility of hope for our children in the future.