Body image

Body Image

Virtually all of the models who represent fashion houses are abnormally thin, in keeping with the perceived aesthetic preferences of the public. This focus on extreme thinness in women has been blamed for eating disorders and poor body image among some women whose bodies don't conform to this idealized image.

It is important to note that the media such as magazines and television and also current weight loss methods such as fad diets and excessive dieting raise a series of issues of an ethical nature around the notion of ‘body image’. The purpose of this essay is to therefore explore, from a consequentialist perspective and a non-consequentialist perspective, the way in which the media and current weight loss methods raise ethical issues around the notion of ‘body image’ and the current solutions aimed to combat this. This will be achieved through the examination of a range of phenomena such as the media in the form of magazines and television, current weight loss methods such as fad diets and excessive dieting and also various current solutions by the Australian Government and Australian Media aimed at combating the issue of body image in Australia.

The issue of ‘body image’ portrayed in the media, particularly in magazines, is often centered upon the ‘size zero phenomenon’. According to Frost, it is often thought that “the media portrayal of celebrities might be linked to the body dissatisfaction shown by young women with their weight and the alleged rise in eating disorders among young women. This is perhaps due to the fact that the media portrays unrealistic images of what women should look like and this puts pressure on women to aspire to be the same regardless of what it takes.

Body image is a big issue in ethical fashion as the media especially magazines tell lies in body image because there are many men and women out there who look up to celebrities and use them as role models but they do not have the right body image and this causes major problems.

The media should use normal sized models not just ones which are really skinny, for example Jacamo are a mens fashion online clothes store and they have sizes from medium to 5XL and have used Johnny Vegas and Freddie Flintoff to promote the adverts for Jacamo.

Matt Pilgrim