So we all have bodies—what's the problem? We all are born beautiful babies, then after playing in sandpits and looking at clouds for a while we start seeing advertisements on TV and in magazines and crash-bang we think we are not beautiful anymore...

Why?

Film and media advertisements are designed to make money by selling products. Advertisements are designed to make us want something we don't have, like a supermodel body, cars, clothes, cosmetics, holidays, a muscular body, a fantasy life etc. Advertisers believe that thin bodies (messages they tell girls/women) and bulked up bodies (messages they tell guys/men) sell products. Advertisements, TV shows, movies, magazines and music videos all try to make you believe that being thin, beautiful, popular and happy is important and can only be achieved if you look a certain way, buy certain products—like clothes, jewellery, CDs and other stuff—and behave in a certain way.

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But surely we wouldn't be fooled by advertising?

But we are! We are told that the way we look is not good enough, we are told we are the wrong size, we are told that something is too big—our nose, thighs, bum, feet, belly etc.—or that something is too small—like our breasts, mouth, arm muscles etc.

Did you know that researchers made a computer model of a woman with Barbie features and found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her body? Her body would be too narrow to fit in more than half of her liver and only a bit of her bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from daily diarrhoea and eventually she would die from malnourishment. And why do we all want to look the same anyway? It's only advertisements, TV, movies and music videos that tell us what the "look" is—why do they get to tell us how or who to be? We have become obsessed with fitting in and being accepted and it means we are all looking to become someone else, look different, be some other shape, size, height or weight.

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So what is normal?

Okay so here is the real picture: we are all normal. Every human being is unique and special and different.

Q. What size are you?

A. You are you-sized.¹

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Reality check

The physical images presented in the media are flawless in every way. Nobody looks that "perfect" naturally, not even the models themselves. The media message is that if you try hard enough, spend enough, suffer enough, you can have the look you want... that shaping your body will somehow bring you success and happiness.

So why is this important?

If we get too obsessed with trying to be or look different to how we actually are, we may develop some serious problems, like:

So what can I/we do?

More information

References

¹Cooke, K. 1994. Real Gorgeous. Allen & Unwin.
²Body image and the media: What's the connection

This fact sheet was developed for Somazone by Sukalpa Goldflam. Copyright © 2005 Australian Drug Foundation.

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