Pressure To Be Perfect: Influences on College Students' Body Esteem

Young people today live in an environment in which looks are of utmost importance, social support is low, and pressure to achieve the cultural ideals of attractiveness is high. The average American woman is 5′4″ and 140 pounds, whereas the average female model portrayed in the media is 5′11″ and 120...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southern communication journal 2010-07, Vol.75 (3), p.277-298
Main Author: Sheldon, Pavica
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College students
Families & family life
Fashion models
Feminism
Human body
Polls & surveys
Self esteem
Students
Television
Women
Young adults
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Young people today live in an environment in which looks are of utmost importance, social support is low, and pressure to achieve the cultural ideals of attractiveness is high. The average American woman is 5′4″ and 140 pounds, whereas the average female model portrayed in the media is 5′11″ and 120 pounds. Although a survey of 224 college students showed that perfectionism and media use were not related to students' body esteem, higher family and peer pressure and a high score on perfectionism influenced women to compare themselves to the models in fashion magazines and on television. High family and peer pressure also influenced men's body esteem. Because comparisons to models in fashion magazines negatively influence women's body image, women should be encouraged to examine the possibility that the bodies of magazine models are just photoshopped images with unreal body measurements. Feminism may empower women and men to act together to eliminate sources that threaten their body satisfaction and healthy eating.
ISSN:1041-794X
1930-3203
DOI:10.1080/10417940903026543