Topic: Body Dysmorphia: How have various social influencers perpetuated unrealistic body standards? Do eating disorders arise from body dysmorphia?How does body dysmorphia affect a person?
Synthesis Letter:
Dear Professor,
Throughout the readings and search for various sources for my essay, I have come across various factors that cause and affect body dysmorphia due to the depictions of the body on social media. I have tried selecting reliable sources from the Baruch database and Youtube for my entries. All of these sources describe various factors such as the ideal body standard that leads an individual in the US to developing body dysmorphia and further developing eating disorders to attain or maintain a “thin” body standard.
Kirsh S. (2010) addresses the evolution of how body standards overtime become thin and obese bodies were represented as “undesirable”, “ugly”, and “lazy” to further glamorize thin bodies. From as early as the age of 6 through Barbie dolls and Cartoon figures kids play with to the social media influencers adolescents see on the internet. Moreover, Sanders and Eaton (2018), used cultivation theory, increased media exposure causes people to believe that the ideals portrayed in media exist in the real world, suggesting the connection between body dysmorphia and social media. Due to the overexposure of “ideal” bodies on the media, these individuals start believing their bodies are unnatural in a way. For instance, in Dr, K (2020), the guest Ingrid further supports the notion of body dysmorphia by talking about how she perceives her own body as something unnatural and the discomfort she faces daily due to feeling this way. While, in Weir K. (2016), the author presents another aspect of the constant representation of “thin” bodies as the “ideal” bodies by addressing how people with all BMIs resort to different unhealthy eating habits to attain and/ or maintain their desired body. However, unhealthy eating habits can lead to various eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia nervosa, and/ or binge eating.
I believe that the information I learned through reading all of the sources mentioned above will help me properly express my ideas about the topic on my paper. I have more knowledge about the development and various aspects and reasons for body dysmorphia and how this disorder can even lead to the development of eating disorders. I will try being informative and detailed so my audiences can understand my topic even if they have no prior knowledge about the topic itself. By doing so, it will be easier for my audience to engage with this topic and reflect upon how social media influences them.
The knowledge I learned will create a ‘conversation’ about the problem because my paper will include the 5 ws and h itself, why, what, when, who, where,and how. This will give the audience to understand and question various aspects of my topic. Thus, I will write my paper differently from all the sources mentioned in a way so there is a smooth flow to the entire paper by interpreting these topics based on my own thoughts and beliefs using proper logic and citations. I will not disregard or misuse any of the sources above to prove my point in the process.
Sincerely,
Zumanah Perveen