Personal Image
Every
male or female has always had a problem with the way they look, and how other
people perceive them in some way.
Whether it be their looks and face, their weight, the way they dress, or
even the people they associate themselves with. When you think about this
concept you normally think girls in their young teenage years, and sometimes
even middle aged adults. But this can in
fact, happen to males as well. Personal Image is the idea, concept, or mental image
one has of oneself. But what makes a person feel bad about their image? And what
do they do about it?
Personal
image has become a reoccurring subject talked about in today’s society. As a
young kid even I looked up to all of the pretty models and actresses on TV,
reading all of the magazines, looking at the pretty clothes and make up,
wanting to be just like them and dress the way they dressed. I thought it would
make me look more mature. But isn't that what every young kid dreams about, Being
a “big kid”? To many people, they see the perfect image as a young beautiful
girl whose face is clear and flawless, with perfect makeup their lips shining
and eyes glowing, skinny, with the best clothes and fashion sense. But is that
really what the perfect image and body is supposed to look like, or simply just
what the media and magazines make it out to be. These are questions most people
ask themselves after reading these magazines and seeing these beautiful people.
Media
and magazines portray what would be commonly known as the “Perfect Image” in
many ways. They use these beautiful, skinny models to advertise the perfect
size you should be. They put the models in the best clothes to make you feel
like you need to dress like he/she dresses. Models, singers, and
actors/actresses are all ways that the media draws you in. These use these
known famous people to attract more people to buy their products. Famous people
like Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, people that everyone knows and worships. Many
young teenagers admire and want to be like these iconic stars, on the other
hand making older adults feel old and bad about the way they look, wishing they
could be young again.
The
media knows the ways that people think, and exactly how to catch their eye.
Therefore using these well-known and famous people to use as advertisement to
sell their clothing, TV’s talking about different ways of dieting and losing
weight to have the perfect body. Some of these methods have proven to be
successful, attracting many young teenagers into the stores and the amount of
money being made increasing rapidly, but some have proven unsuccessful. For
example the concept of the perfect body can have a negative impact on people.
After seeing ads for all of the ways to diet and lose weight, many people see
what they think are the perfect body and do everything that they can to have
that body. Sometimes putting their health at risk, leading to eating disorders
such as Bulimia which is where someone eats little portions and then throws the
food up thinking it will make them lose weight. Also another disorder is
Anorexia which is where the person doesn't eat at all, convinced that they are
fat and work out constantly to lose weight. These are very dangerous, unhealthy
and can lead to death in some cases. Ads of the perfect image can also lead a
person to want to get plastic surgery, changing the way they look, spending
mass amounts of unnecessary spending’s.
But
what if that wasn't the case? What if the way personal image was portrayed was
in fact a positive thing. To some, seeing magazines full of models that are
beautiful and in great shape could be more of a motivation than something to
feel bad about. Making some people want to work out, eat healthy, and start a
diet. People will begin losing weight the right way, the way that is proven to
be more successful and safe. Seeing someone who has expensive and popular
clothing may make someone feel thankful for everything they have, and in fact make
one not feel jealous at all of the clothes models wear, feeling just as good
and satisfied about their own clothing. Surprisingly enough people might not
feel bad about their personal image, they may indeed feel happy about the way
they look and wouldn't change a thing about it. Media and advertisements of
beautiful models make many feel great and thankful for everything they have
been given, and everything they've achieved in life so far.
This
concept of personal image all depends on the person. One may view it in a bad way,
as something that would make someone feel the need to change the way they look
and their body, in some cases inflicting bodily harm upon themselves. But to
others personal image is a motivation to look even better than they already do,
or to admire and appreciate the way they look and how hard they worked to get
there. Every person has their own opinions and feels differently about certain
situations. These opinions may be based off of how they were raised and have
always been known to feel about certain situations, their culture, and even as
deep as their confidence level and if they have high or low self-esteem. Personal
Image is a very diverse concept; it is more than what meets the eye. The
perfect image and body doesn't have to be what the magazines make it out to be.
The perfect body could be someone who is a little bigger. The perfect image can
be someone who doesn't wear too much makeup, who doesn't have all the perfect
clothes, if they like the clothes they have and are content with them nothing
else should matter. As long as you’re happy with whom you are and the way you
look, you too are the perfect image. Would you rather be like everyone else,
dress like everyone else? Or would you rather be your own person and do/wear
what makes you feel confident and happy? These are all very important questions
to think about when discussing Personal Image.
