Anthropometric characteristics of idealized bodies in the media

Sociocultural models of EDs propose that the thin and muscular body ideal bolstered by the mass media put great pressure on women and men to achieve an unrealistic standard. This body standard is usually a particular body type, for women a thin body shape and for men a muscular body type (Murnen, Smolak, Mills, & Good, 2003).

During the years of the fashion industry, researchers have noticed that models were becoming more ―tubular‖ (Voracek & Fisher, 2002). Seifert (2005) found that the

centrefold models in Playboy magazines followed a more slender body ideal trend over the years. He also reported that models had a high probability of having a BMI < 17 during the period from the 1960s to 1980s, and this probability was slightly higher in the 1950s. Thinness among models is not new, however, the gradual changes in anthropomorphic characteristics reflect that Playboy centrefolds remained slim, meanwhile, their shape remained curvaceous. He also noted that another decline could be observed in the probability of a centrefold model having a BMI < 17 from the 1980s to the 2000s (Seifert, 2005). Sypeck and colleagues (2006) described a similar tendency when they assessed the body size, normative body weight percentage, and waist to hip ratio of the Playboy centrefolds between 1979 and 1999. They reported that Playboy preferred models with a very low BMI. Although it may seem that after a while, the BMI of these models increased, and women seemed to be healthier looking, the weight of Playmates is still significantly below the normative age appropriate weight. It is important to highlight that the examined magazines (Playboy) are targeting a predominantly male audience, and the represented female body shapes might only reflect a male preference in female beauty and not the actual female‘s conception of attractiveness (Seifert, 2005).

Spitzer, Henderson and Zivian (1999) also report that Playboy centrefolds remained below normal body weight from the 1950s to the present, they also note that the body sizes of the Miss America Pageant (beauty contest in the USA) winners significantly decreased and at the same time body sizes of Playgirl male models increased. Parallel to these changes the body sizes of young adult North American women and men increased significantly, creating an even bigger discrepancy between the idealised media images and the actual sizes of the general young adult population. They report that while the increase in body size of male models in Playgirl magazines is due to an increase in muscularity, young North American men and women became bigger due to an increase in body fat (Spitzer et al., 1999). Other authors also reported that in the past 80 years not only Playboy centrefolds and Miss Americas, but also models became steadily thinner (Byrd-Bredbenner & Murray, 2003; Byrd-Bredbenner, Murray, & Schlussel, 2005). Research findings indicate that this steady decrease in body weight and shape represented by models and pageant winners is in a greater contrast of the average body sizes of young women in general. Especially that obesity is becoming more prevalent

among the general population; it is even harder to live up to the media body shape and weight standards (Byrd-Bredbenner et al., 2005). Owen and Laurel‐Seller (2000) also argues that models in these magazines have such a low body weight that fulfils the criteria for having AN.

Regarding men, Leit, Pope and Gray (2001) examined the body structure of 115 men who were on the front cover of Playgirl and they found that between 1973 and 1997 models became more muscular. Byrd-Bredbenner and Murray (2003) compared idealized bodies in various media products targeted to men, women, and mixed-gender audiences. They also compared these idealized bodies with young women in general.

The results showed that the idealized female body ideal in the media is not reflecting an actual or healthy body size. The pictures targeted to men, women or mixed gender audiences had more similarities with each other than with young women in general.

They found that the idealized female body image is representing a taller and much slimmer body shape than what a real woman, in general, would have. In many cases, these body shapes look malnourished. Attention is drawn to the fact that the gap is huge and continuously growing between the idealized bodies in the media and real physical endowments of young women (Byrd-Bredbenner & Murray, 2003). The observed societal changes in depicting idealized bodies represent a rather maladaptive tendency.

Obviously, it would be beneficial to support people‘s endeavour in having a healthier body weight, however making them feel bad about their bodies and pushing them to extreme dieting is not a way to do it. Effective diets and weight loss programmes need careful planning, since losing weight and continuous dieting leads to weight gain on a long-term (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2006).

In 1959, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company published their new BMI tables.

It was observed that the weight and height ratios belonging to each BMI range were slightly changed compared to the previous version. This resulted in that many person who was considered having a normal weight previously were in fact, overweight based on the new BMI ranges. Many people argue that this date is when the diet industry started blooming and when many of those who did not really need it started dieting (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1959). Another phenomenon that is more and more common in media is picture retouching with various technological methods, most commonly with Photoshop. Images in the media, especially in magazines not only

represent an unrealistic body standard for men and women but these pictures are rarely left without photo manipulation. Most images in magazines are in fact heavily altered and modified with Photoshop, which tool is an industry standard nowadays (Shen, 2015). Shen (2105) describes that modified images of women and men end up having changed body proportions (e.g. longer necks, longer legs, smaller hips, bigger breasts), perfect, airbrushed skin with no pores and, as a result, a body that does not exist in real life. This not only creates literally unrealistic standards but also further widens the gap between idealized media images and how average people look like.