Entry 8

First, I have been involved in the fashion industry for four years. With that, I see how it is important to take care of the body image, not just for models, but also for designer, the press and the public interested on it. After several audition, I have seen many girls that are turned down because of one or more aspects of their look. It gets in a point where they feel dissatisfied with themselves because they cannot satisfy others; therefore, these girls do not achieve their desire to be out there. As a matter of facts, I chose to write about Body Dysmorphic Disorder because I feel like although it is not as common or known about as disorders like OCD and depression it will definitely be an issue in the near future. When it does become a common disorder, I feel that everyone should be aware and well informed. BDD has only been formally recognized as a medical disorder for a little over ten years, so research is in its early stages. BDD affects 1-2% of the American population, which seems to be an insignificant amount. However, researchers believe this number is inaccurate due to misdiagnosis or undiagnosed. Individuals who may have symptoms of BDD are often times to ashamed or unaware of their disorder to go see a doctor. Growing up, major disorders and health issues were always mentioned or taught throughout my high school years. BDD was not one of those disorders mentioned in order to spread awareness about BDD, health professionals, clinics and schools need to inform the general public as much as possible. As a result of being informed, possible BDD sufferers will be more likely to seek help and will have a better understanding of what is going on in their life. After learning all about symptoms, treatments, how it starts, how it process and affects the person’s life; also family member, I see that this disorder will increase if it not presented to the public now. As we see on my blog entry 5, there are so many ways that the media have been persuading people with that they want, and think it is good and right. As we are the little people and we cannot stop the media, we have to help ourselves and other close to us.

Entry 7

I chose to write about Body Dysmorphic Disorder because I feel like although it is not as common or known about as disorders like OCD and depression it will definitely be an issue in the near future. When it does become a common disorder, I feel that everyone should be aware and well informed. BDD has only been formally recognized as a medical disorder for a little over ten years, so research is in its early stages. BDD affects 1-2% of the American population, which seems to be an insignificant amount. However, researchers believe this number is inaccurate due to misdiagnosis or undiagnosed. Individuals who may have symptoms of BDD are often times to ashamed or unaware of their disorder to go see a doctor. Growing up, major disorders and health issues were always mentioned or taught throughout my high school years. BDD was not one of those disorders mentioned in order to spread awareness about BDD, health professionals, clinics and schools need to inform the general public as much as possible. As a result of being informed, possible BDD sufferers will be more likely to seek help and will have a better understanding of what is going on in their life.

While writing my blogs I was able to focus on directing important points to my audience. I was also able to support each point effectively. It also helped a great deal by reading others work. I was able to see how other students approached and supported topics and ideas. Comments left on my blogs were also helpful in reassuring me that I was going in the right direction or helping me improve different aspects of my writing.

The one thing that was probably the hardest for me to do was to find reliable and credible sources. My topic is very uncommon and there has not been a lot of research conducted about it. I was surprised that I found as many sources as I did but some of the research and information was the same. I ended up using some information off there that I was able to back up with other more credible sources but was still disappointed that the majority of the information was questionable.

Entry 6

Here are couple key terms I have found through out my Annotated Bibliography. The concept of ideal body image directly impacts a person’s body image satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Satisfaction is a person’s body image being similar to the person’s concept of the ideal body image. One’s body image represents the physical ideal that one seeks to follow such as fashion models, celebrity, movie star, athletes, and fitness professional. Body dissatisfaction is person’s body image being different from the one’s perceived ideal body image and feelings of dissatisfaction of the physical appearance. People who are dissatisfied have negative self-perception and self -worth, in which can lead to many disorders.

More and more America is seen as a country with large people because of its social habits such as fast food and low exercise activities life style. Having advanced technology, Americans have easy access to entertainment from all over the world. They often see celebrities from different countries; moreover, the beauty from the East. The media is one of the reasons why body dissatisfaction has raised throughout the years, but also family and fashion pressures for women to be thin. The Western views of the woman’s ideal body portray a slimness, which most women cannot obtain. This slimness is also presented by the media to society as attractive, desirable and more successful than any other body shape. By seeing the ideal body constantly, people change their own perception of body image. As seen in society, there are more people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, eating disorders, anorexia and depression (Glauber, Rhodes, Bryne, Fink & Grammer).

           

The modeling industry is another strong influence on developing ideal body image perceptions, in which have been projecting thinness as ideal for many years. The lean body type is the predominant body image sought in the hiring of models to market clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, and other products because of the superficially ideal thin body image conveyed in the print media and supported by the popular demand. Americans are in constant contact with media advertisements from the food, fashion, and cosmetic industry. However, over time changes in anthropometric measurements, including BMI, of the idealized female body have declined significantly, which is opposite the increasing body size of American women. Frequent exposure to magazine articles about dieting and fitness are associated with the increased levels psychosocial distress among adolescents. Body dissatisfaction is enhanced when the media promotes unrealistic body images through their marketing efforts. The chasm between media-defined ideal body image and realistic body size continues to widen. Individuals should be conscious of their exposure time and reaction to the media's influence toward their development of their ideal body image. BDD typically appears during adolescence and young adults, and it can coexist with other mental disorders.

Entry 5

I’ve found few websites that inform and give statistic about the media influence on people, so I did a summary of all that, so we can have an idea how we are all driven by it.

Body Image

Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls diet. The number one magic wish for young girls age 11-17 is to be thinner. (justthink.org)

Females cite the media as the most important source of pressure to be thin.(If Looks Could Kill, Reaves)

Studies show that reading “teen magazines” and having exposure to thin models creates lower self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, decreased confidence and potential eating disorder symptoms (mediafamily.org)

By age 13, approximately 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies”. This number will increase to 78% once girls reach 17 years of age. (National Institute on Media and the Family)

Advertising

Key points from Killing us Softly, Kilbourne

In addition to products, advertising attempts to sell women the myth that they can, and should, achieve physical perfection to have value in our culture.

As advertising pushes its objects, it turns women’s bodies into objects, often dismembering them with excessive focus on just one part of the body to sell a product.

Advertisers themselves acknowledge that they sell more than products, that the images in advertising are designed to affect the way we see our lives.

Men and women inhabit very different worlds. Men’s bodies are not routinely scrutinized, criticized and judged in the way that women’s bodies are.

Media images of female beauty influence everyone. They influence how women feel about themselves, and they influence how men feel about the real women in their lives.

Magazines

Women’s magazines have 10.5 times more ads and articles about weight loss then do men’s magazines

1 out of 11 ads has a message about beauty

In a study of 17 magazines, the largest percentage of articles were about appearance

60% of white middle school girls read fashion magazines

Magazines account for more than half the reading reported by teens

Girls, more than boys are dissatisfied with their bodies and report magazines as their primary source of information

Subjects exposed in a study to seeing thin models reported lower self-esteem than those seeing regular or oversize models

60%+ of college students feel worse after reading magazines

Changes found in magazines between 1970 and 1990 include increase emphasis on fitness for attractiveness and a decrease in the model hip to waist ratio (becoming less curvy)

Little girls and teenagers are increasingly sexualized in advertisements. A growing number of ads are reminiscent of child pornography.

Advertising is not solely to blame for rigid gender roles. However, there is no aspect of our culture that is as pervasive and persuasive as advertising.

Entry 4

This video is the perfect example of a female who has chronic Body Dysmorphic Disorder, so she is obsessed with plastic surgery. This interview was aired on October 12, 2005; it is about 10 minutes length and very interesting. It is the first time I hear about Jenney Lee and her plastic surgeries, so I did more research to find out what other procedures she had done until 2010.

The video is an interview with Jenney Lee and Dr. George Pratt, who is a psychologist from La Jolla Scripps Memorial Hospital, hosted by Larry King.

Jenny plastic surgeries began when she was almost 20 years old, when her husband at the time would mock her about her breast size and her nose shape. She had breast implants put in to please her husband; however, her breast augmentation got attention not only from her husband, becoming jealous. He started insulting her because of the implants, and after one year she went under surgery to replace for a smaller size. After that she decided to have full body liposuction and rhinoplasty done, all at once. Since then her romance with plastic surgery started.

In her early thirties, Jenny is mother of two and married a second time. She had undergone 44 plastic surgeries, and she has spent about $100,000 on her obsession.

Jenny is constantly asked about her need to modify and tweak her body in keeping up with celebrities, and the most asked is why she cannot see that she is beautiful woman in her own right and does not need to go under the knife. It is because of these questions that she has been in Oprah Winfrey talk show twice and CNN.

Entry 3

"Do you want to change your body image?' 'How many pounds would you like to lose?' How do you see yourself" These question only have one answer, so it does not leave room for creative thinking, opinions, ideas, and discussion. On the other hand, questions such as "How should we help people who have Body Dysmorphic Disorder?' 'How can plastic surgery be regulated, so people with BDD are protected from their own disorder?' 'How can the media help the society to have realistic perception of body image?" Open-ended question like these have many possible answers; therefore, people are not afraid to answer them because there is not right or wrong. Questions are considered good when they are intriguing, unambiguous, encourage multitude of responses.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder has two sides’ issues. People who wish to change their image, most times, do not think they can potentially have the disorder, so the see plastic surgeries as a tool that will solve their desire to change, but after months of the image change they find themselves dissatisfied again. On the other hand, people without BDD believe they can get a plastic surgery done, for whatever reason without hesitations.

A survey is a good resource to measure people's knowledge about BDD and other related disorders, and also to see people's perception of their own body, if they wish to change their body image. I believe a large amount of people do not know what BDD is, how a person can acquire the disorder, and how live if affected by it. Another result that I expect is the desire to change their image if they have the time, money to do so. Also the results may show most woman between the ages of 20-45 have done plastic surgery or will do it in the close future. The survey will be online and any person is welcome to take it, so I can have responses from different groups of people.
I also have used interview from magazine with celebrities from television. The reason for the interview was because the celebrity Heidi Montag has done several surgeries at once. I could interview friend that have done breast augmentation, in which one the reason is because they are in the modeling industry, and they believe for them to succeed they need to be comparable to other models that have the perfect size for fitting in designers' clothing.

Entry 2

After doing my Counter Argument Essay I noticed my paper was more focuses in Body Dysmorphic Disorder and they surround practices like plastic surgery, psychological test and media influence. Before I was focused on the media influence on people view of beauty not including the disorder which is a big part of the generation seeing because of the advance of technology. Now using the right key terms for my research, I find articles that are very specific such as interview with people who have done several surgeries because they need to feel perfect, studies with people who have BDD and volunteered to expose themselves to reality that they have been hiding from. I see that my counter changed because at first I did not know enough about the issue, and I believe a lot of people are not aware of the disorder that is commonly seen in society.

The study “How Do People with Body Dysmorphic Disorder View Themselves? A Thematic Analysis”, shows how people see themselves by drawing a self-portrait. Eleven people with BDD are interview with a questionnaire based around life events, their perception of the self and their future. After drawing their view of themselves the increase of threat perception resulting in disordered interpersonal relationship is significant. Most of them developed BDD when they were in their adolescence, and some because of other peoples influence. Life has changed drastically to them, and it is just looking back that they appreciate life when they were happy. People develop Body Dysmorphic Disorder from all different sources, and they need to look back in their lives to revive the moments where the disorder was inexistent. Visual techniques are one of the most effective neuropsychologist methods. Doing these activities increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

This article proved to me that legalization of plastic surgery is necessary, so people who do have the disorder can understand their problem and be treated before undergo to surgeries. Legalization such as doing a psychological test in each patient before any image change is made. Most surgeons do surgeries in any patient, of course they have few visits before the surgery to make sure the patient understand what they want to get done and how the procedures go. However, I believe that more should be done. Doctors should be required to report psychological test to a medical entity that overview surgeries. One of the gaps I found is that more science has gone into the procedures than into understanding the need for them. There is a substantial amount of data claiming that other disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Society Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) could also be underlining issues to the problem and associated with BDD. These key terms are very interesting when working together with BDD.