Media constructs the ideal representation of women that is unattainable yet, these images become the heteronormative discourse within society that is practiced by individuals. In the media, women’s bodies are constantly represented as being thin, beautiful, having flawless skin, no scars/stretch marks, and most of the movies or advertisements change the appearance of women through Photoshop to fit the ideal notion of women should be, which is the misrepresentation of women. The importance of social media influences women’s perception of body image which shows the unrealistic image of thin women as considered the ideal female beauty (Halton & Morrison, 2009). Research shows the exposure to the thin ideal media images increases women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies, where women learn to self-objectify themselves to conform to the stereotyped physical attractiveness ideal which creates negative affects through eating disorders (Perloff, 2014). Looking at Mean Girls and Mike and Molly, it shows the comparison of the ideal images of women to be thin, beautiful, hiding their imperfections, while there are women who are overweight trying to lose weight to fit the ideal image of a woman.
Mike and Molly is a show about a couple who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous group and together attempt to lose weight. Molly is cynical of her weight as her mother and sister are both extremely thin, beautiful individuals, whereas she inherited her father’s physique. Throughout the show, it shows the struggles of how Molly doesn’t consider herself to be beautiful because she is ‘fat’ rather she wants to attain that image of being beautiful which will only be done by being skinny. Body image is understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others, where people attend to their body image through modification, cosmetic enhancement used to have an acceptability by constructing their appearance (Featherstone, 2010). Her constant diets, exercises, idea of surgery to lose the fat shows the drastic measures that media and society puts on women to change their appearance to fit in. On the other hand, Mean Girls describes the ideal construction of how a girl should be through ‘The Plastics’, where these girls had certain codes and ideal behaviours that every girl wanted to copy and if they didn’t follow this construction they would be shamed or mocked. This was shown where ‘The Plastics’ wore pink, sat in a certain way, dressed in a particular way, their appearance mattered the most. Whereas, Cady who was known as the jungle freak had to change herself to fit that image to become part of the group and fit in. The famous scene in the movie, of the ‘Burn Book’ shows how these girls had their own imperfections but this book showed how they would mock all the other girls in school for not being feminine enough. Similarly, women avoid being mocked for their lack of femininity where they begin to change themselves to fit that representation of femininity. Media represents women trying to conform to the ideal standards of beauty that media puts out and that creates a problem which is that it is often misrepresented. We as adults resist dominant, damaging representations and improvise new images, we still have the ability to think critically and we don’t want to admit that media influences the way we come to know ourselves and others. (Kelly & Stack, 2006). Many girls are portrayed like the ‘The Plastics’ who are seen to be perfect, yet they have their own flaws, or women like Molly who are overweight and they are trying their best to fit into the heteronormative idea of how women should be. We as women can’t be exactly the way media portrays those women because they are unrealistic, and despite us knowing that we still choose that path of fitting in rather than embracing ourselves and our imperfections and making ourselves perfect. Work Cited Featherstone, M. (2010). Body, image and affect in consumer culture. Body & Society, 16(1), 193-221. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1357034X09354357 Morrison, T. G., & Halton, M. (2009). Buff, tough, and rough: Representations of muscularity in action motion pictures. The Journal of Men's Studies, 17(1), 57-74. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3149/jms.1701.57 Perloff, R. M. (2014). Social media effects on young women's body image concerns: Theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research. Sex Roles, 71(11-12), 363-377. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6 Stack, M., & Kelly, D. (2006). Popular Media, Education, and Resistance. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne De L'éducation, 29(1), 5-26. doi:10.2307/20054144
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