In society, people strive to look and be how the media presents the images of how people should be. We as human beings are constantly shaping and being shaped by the world around us. In society, there are norms and expectations that people are expected to follow and live upon by. As trying to achieve the ideal self image, people sometimes behave in self destructive behavior. As a result people are involved in eating disorder situations that create a social issue in our society. I believe that media is the greatest influence on the issue of eating disorders. Unfortunately no one can stop the media.
Media takes advantage of the low self-confidence of both men and women that they have gained from seeing so many unrealistic ideal images presented in the media. The problem is that many people are attempting to achieve the ideal figure that society has set. They don’t realize that society’s ideal body image unachievable and unrealistic. People are under a lot of pressure to be thin because they feel that’s the only way they would be accepted, this leads to the result of them staving themselves, vomiting, and unhealthy dieting, which causes the eating disorder.
To apply the symbolic interactionism theory to eating disorders, it is important to acknowledge the role of the individual and how their interactions with other individuals influence them to reach the thinness ideal. The pressures for people of obtaining a great body image and of looking thin come greatly from interactions with other individuals. As humans constantly interact with other individuals and interpret their behavior, society is constantly changing which causes the individual also to change its self- concept.
The ideal figure today is completely different of what it used to be a few decades ago for the reason that society keeps changing the appearance of and individual and the way they are presented in the media. The society we live in has a big impact on shaping our attitudes and beliefs. A lot of our thoughts and ideals are formed sustained by the interactions we have with other individuals. It is important to know that even though certain ideals are created in people’s minds these ideals don’t remain constant.
As a result in how these ideals keep on changing, it also allows the individual as well as society to change too. The media and also the interactions with other individuals create meaning to each person to create that thin ideal image. The symbolic interactionism theory influences the behaviors of the individual by interacting with others and interpreting the meaning in given messages through interaction, but the influence is not important until each individual decides how important the message they gain from interacting with others really is.
