How the Media Distorts Male Self-Perception Essay -- Exploratory Essay

How the Media Distorts male person Self-Perception Women are insecure. They constantly diet and scrutinize their bodies. They f on the whole victims to the anorexically thin models appearing in the media. wherefore do men have it so easy? For years these questions are what women asked themselves. In a world where appearance is everything, women have been the main source of all the hype concerning the image and body. Advertisements have been criticized for years about putting the pressures of the perfect body into the heads of millions of women. Up until a few years ago, it was believed that only women had the eyes of ordering on them. Now the scales are balancing. More men are beginning to feel pressured, by the same society, to have a muscular body and to confront a perfect male image. However, some men are taking this pressure to the extremes. The media is having a negative effect on the way men charm their bodies making them feel as if they need to look like the models sh aver, which can often result in muscle dysmorphia. Through exposure to the media, primarily advertisements and movies, the physiological appearance of the male body has drastically changed, from barely seeing the torso to men in their briefs. In past decades, the male body was portrayed in a rugged sort of way (Luciano 4). It didnt matter how many muscles the man had or the degree of atonement, but the way that the man carried himself. He was his own seller in a busy market. If he wanted to appear tough and manly, the way he presented and carried himself would make all the difference. For example, in the first 2 Rocky films, Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, is beefy yet buff (Law). He is the idol of women portrayed as ... ...s in Magazines. journal and Mass Communication Quarterly. autumn 2002 697-711. ABI/INFORM Global. Proquest Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA. 11 Feb.. 2003 .Luciano, Lynne. Looking Good Male Body Im age in Modern America. New York Hill and Wang, 2001.Olivardia, Roberto. Muscle Dysmorphia in Male Weightlifter A Case Control Study. American Journal of Psychiatry. Aug 2000 1291-6. ABI/INFORM Global. Proquest Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA. 11 Feb 2003 . Pope, H.G.. Muscle Dysmorphia a New Syndrome in Weightlifter. British Journal Of Sports Medicine. Oct. 2002 375-8 Expanded Academic ASAP. Infotrac. Horn Lib., Babson Park, MA 11 Feb 2003