One of the sources used for this Teaching Module is Thin Is In? Think Again: The Rising Importance of Muscularity in the Thin Ideal Female Body by Frances Bozsik, Brooke L. Whisenhunt, Danae L. Hudson, Brooke Bennett, and Jennifer D. Lundgren. In this article the authors take a look at how social media can affect the idea of the ideal body image particularly in females and whether the idea of a thin body for women is out and a fit body size is in. The idea is that even though these people who post picture that are trying to promote exercise and having a fit healthy lifestyle they really only want to improve and show off their appearance. The authors have this statistic “ 72% of 1050 Pinterest fitspiration posts emphasize appearance whereas only 22% emphasize health (Simpson and Mazzeo 2016). The degree of emphasis on appearance suggests that these media are promoting a new thin-and-fit body ideal for women (Bozsik et als 2018).” The authors then go on to conduct two studies in order to try and gauge whether the ideal appearance has changed from this idea of Thinspiration to the idea of Fitspiration.

 

The first study is conducted by comparing pictures from Miss USA pageants and trying to figure out if there is a correlation between the attractiveness, thinness, and muscularity of competitors over time. The results were that there was a correlation between time thinness and muscularity but not attractiveness (Bozsik et als 2018). The second study was of pictures from social media sites. The authors took pictures of social media sites and had them given out to the participants with some showing a fit and thin women and other showing the same women with their muscles photo shopped out so that they only appear thin, the participants then had to decide which ones they preferred. The results found that they were partially right about their hypothesis, when put side by side most of the participants chose the fit and thin over the thin but when shown at random this was not the case (Bozsik et als 2018). In conclusion the studies did find that thin and fit bodies were in fact found attractive by women and that if put side by side the thin/fit is preferred over just thin so there is in fact a possibility that the ideal body type is changing and social media is helping to promote and move it forward.

 

The media creates a platform for men and women that tell them they need to look a certain way in order to gain approval from society. These media platforms set such a high standard about body images that it is incredibly difficult for the average person to meet. Even though it's almost impossible to look anything like the models in magazine, people still strive to look this way due to the fact that they believe this is what society says they should look like in order to be considered ‘’beautiful’’ (Pompper, 2007). In addition, When we think about body and beauty standards affecting people, we most often think that it is mostly only women who are affected. This article is telling us otherwise. It tells us that men and women are equally affected by these beauty standards, especially in magazines.  

 

Self-perceptions of one’s body often leads to distorted images. In Nicole Taylor’s book Schooled on Fat: What teens tell us about Gender, Body Image, and Obesity she conducted interviews with teens individually and with their group of friends. Alongside the interviews she also observed teens in physical education classes, during lunch, and in the hallways between class (Taylor, 11). During this interview participants reported their height and weight. Many female participants “who were criticized by their peers for displaying too much body fat self-reported height and weight within the healthy weight BMI scale” (Taylor, 12). It was found that many teens engage with popular media messages about body size (Taylor, 13). Taylor also found that many teens felt guilty about what they ate due to them being so wrapped up in their social peer relationships (Taylor, 13).

 

It is important to teach all people but especially young girls and boys that the “body perfect” image is unattainable. And by trying to attain it can lead to many disorders and health issues, because the “body perfect” image is the new thing it can lead to many mental issues that are linked to how we feel the media sees us and how that image does not match with the image the media told us how to look. “Prospective and longitudinal studies con rm that dissatisfaction with one’s body, or negative body image, can be understood as one of the most consistent and signi cant precursors of negative self- perception, negative emotional states, and unhealthy body-related behaviors” (Dittmar, 2).  But most importantly the article tells us just how toxic the media can be to everyone no matter age or gender.