TV and Me: How our changing bodies are portrayed in the media

How does the media portray our changing bodies vs in real life?

Created in Partnership with Zuellig Family Foundation

Many of us have been exposed to the media since we were young — even when we were babies! We learned how to sing the alphabet, speak words, or know colors with the cartoon TV shows we’ve watched. As we grow older, the things we learn from the media takes on more serious topics. Want to learn the current state of our society? Watch the news on TV or hear it on the radio. 

However, another thing that we learn from the media is about how we view our bodily experiences and how bodies, in general, should look like. This is important especially as we approach our puberty as it affects how we view the changes that are going on with our own bodies! So, let’s take a quick look to see how the media shapes our perception of what the human body looks like versus how it is in real life.

Fat equals funny?

Have you ever noticed in the media how fat people are portrayed and/or are treated by other characters? Yep, it’s bad.

Fatphobia is defined as either having the fear or aversion to gaining excessive amount of weight or the discrimination and ridicule of people who are overweight or obese. In the media, this issue has been rampant for quite some time. In cartoons and real-life films and TV series, fat people have always been the center of attention — not because of their skills, talents, or abilities but simply because they are fat. They are made fun of or portrayed to be less than that of their “skinnier” co-characters.

A good example of this is how in the cartoon show Spongebob Squarepants, fat characters are made fun of or show negative characteristics. Patrick Star is portrayed as a dumb, lazy, starfish who doesn’t know how to open a mayo jar or even know if mayo is an instrument or not. Similarly, Mr. Krabs is portrayed as the greedy, money-minded owner of the Krusty Krab. Both Patrick Star and Mr. Krabs provide comedy to Spongebob, Squidward, and Sandy Cheeks — all of whom are relatively thin characters and seen as smart, intelligent, and wise.

Being fat is normal. As we go along with puberty, it is expected for us to gain weight and gain fats in our  thighs, tummies, and breasts as our body changes and matures. These changes in our body are natural and normal and that’s just the way things are. Starving yourself to avoid gaining weight is never a good idea.

Normal things are bad things?

Our bodies change with puberty, but these changes are seen as bad — unfortunately.

As we reach our teens and our bodies mature, it is normal for us to experience things like being more prone to having acne (also called “pimples”) and to grow body hairs in different places including our armpits, legs, and pubic area, among others. However, the things we see in media have taught us that these things are dirty and must be “groomed.” 

It is common to see anti-acne medication in TV commercials where the messaging is that acne is caused by dirt that penetrates the skin and that teens must use their products to avoid acne — and this isn’t entirely true. Dirt can also cause acne but, during puberty, our hormones are very active and this causes our oil glands to produce more oil which traps bacteria and dead skin cells which then causes the acne. This makes having acne normal for teens which means they don’t have to feel too self-conscious about it in the first place, let alone spend a lot of time and money getting rid of them. Young people’s self-esteem can also be affected just because they don’t have “flawless” skin as they see on celebrities and ads.

When it comes to body hair, women are especially pressured to shave their face, armpits, arms, and legs just to be seen as beautiful. TV shows, films, and commercials portray shaving and hair removal as an important part of a woman’s hygiene when it shouldn’t be. Meanwhile, men who shave anything other than their faces are labeled as being “girly” or “feminine.”

Let’s try something out. Open your TV or watch some videos online. How many times have you seen people your age who have acne or have body hair? Will you even ever see one? That says a lot about what the media decides as beautiful, normal, and worth seeing which shouldn’t define what is normal and natural for you.

Why do these standards exist?

Well, it’s complicated.

There are many reasons why these unrealistic body standards exist. Some scholars would argue that the human body has always been the subject of defining what beauty is, especially in art, and this affects not only how paintings or sculptures of humans look but also how we, as a society, expect to see ourselves. If paintings like the Mona Lisa look a certain way, then society would think that everyone should look like the Mona Lisa. In modern times, these come in the form of what type of bodies we see in the media. Celebrities set the tone of how our bodies should be and it’ll always be unrealistic.

Also, having these unrealistic body standards is sometimes caused by plain ol’ consumerism. In our example earlier with acne and body hair, it’s easy to leave these things on their own since they’re natural things on our bodies. But, telling people acne and body hair are ugly and disgusting allows businesses to sell a lot of products like anti-acne, shaving razors, and hair removal creams. This gives businesses the money because young people, like us, are conditioned to think that we should buy their products to be considered beautiful. See how problematic that is?

It’s time we unlearn the bad and learn the good.

Say it with me now: all bodies are naturally beautiful! 

It’s time that we recognize that the media has taught us something that isn’t good: unrealistic body images. It’s time we throw out the concept of the hourglass shape, clear skin, and hairless body as the “perfect body” and start accepting and learning to love our bodies, no matter how they look and what shape and size they are – most especially when you’re a teenager going through natural changes!

These unrealistic standards of beauty are set upon us to think that we should change ourselves for us to be considered normal, beautiful, and accepted. But we are already normal, beautiful, and should be accepted as we are — right now. Our bodies make up who we are and why we are unique, and that is the truest form of beauty that no media show or advertisement can ever change.

The media is a great tool to learn a lot of things. In fact, it is an important part of our day-to-day lives. However, we must be careful with the things that we see and consume in the media. Not everything is true or is good for us, and one of these is the body image we were taught to be normal when, in fact, it’s not.

So, hug yourselves! Your body is normal and beautiful — and so are you! Now, let’s get even more Body Curious!