Do Media Cause Individuals to Develop Negative Body Images?

Do Media Cause Individuals to Develop Negative Body Images?

            The media in my opinion affects negative body images but might actually turn out positive for the individual. I agree with most the things which Dworkin and Wachs say about the media influencing peoples body changes. Dworkin and Wachs say that consumers are striving for a thin toned body. Yes, I agree that people follow what Hollywood and the famous do. Also, generally people in the media are very thin and toned. Is it such a bad thing for Americans to try and be thin?  Gallup-Healthways state in 2009 that 63.1 percent of American adults are obese. I think having media portraying thin people is setting a good goal for most Americans. How many Americans have a negative body image? Well hopefully 63% of them until they become healthy. I don’t expect these people to become walking pencils. I hope the portrayal of healthy or slightly underweight people inspire the obese people to work on being healthy. If a person who weighs 500 pounds tries to be the size of Angelina Jolie, they may drop to 200 pounds. If the media showed people who were 400 pounds, the person would probably drop 10 pounds. Having super skinny people and really big people will give a happy medium. I don’t think people should expect to look like super models, but maybe can help unhealthy overweight people balance their own weight and live a longer healthier life. If people are already in safe proportions, I hope that they can stay healthy, and strive for health over skin and bones.