Effects of Negative Body Image on Our Lives

翟良锴

According to Wikipedia，body image can be defined as “a persons perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of his or her own body”.Body image can be influenced by many factors such as media，social values，culture，gender.These influences can lead to both positive and negative body images.The positive body image shows peoples satisfaction with their own body，the effects of which include happiness，confidence in face of people，great achievement in life.But if people think poorly of their body image，this idea can affect their life quality to a large extent.

To begin with，negative body images affect peoples happiness.Elaine Vilorio describes her experience：“I only saw my cousins sprouting bigger breasts and flatter bellies； it seemed like the reverse for me.I would go to the bathroom and lift up my shirt and cry for a bit”.As curvaceous figures are highly valued in Elaines society，she feels unwelcome and a lot of pressure by having a flat figure.Similarly in China，when ones body fail to comply with what people value，he or she finds himself or herself disgusted by others，resulting in few friends，no girlfriend or boyfriend.These situations make people sad，dissatisfied and self-abased.

Second，poor body images affect peoples health both physically and mentally.

Physically，studies show “the risk of eating disorder tendencies is associated body dissatisfaction overall appearance dissatisfaction”.Dissatisfaction with their bodies causes fat girls or boys to go on diets when they are developing their bodies during adolescence.They refuse to eat anything when they are extremely hungry.After long time of cutting meals，they develop the habit of not eating even if they feel in need of food，which is called anorexia.Their body begin to thin down and become scrawny，a condition that can cause their death if it is serious.Mentally，researches indicate “body image together with eating disturbances contributes to the elevated depression in adolescent girls” （Stice & Bearman 597）.Girls fall into the habit of feeling inferior to others by comparing themselves with popular peers.Then they begin to refuse taking part in social activities and separate themselves from others.That is when they begin to develop depression syndromes.

Furthermore，dissatisfactory body images affect life expenditure.It is estimated that “industries，including make-up，skin and hair care，fragrances，cosmetic surgery，health clubs and diet pills，create an annual revenue of $160 billion in the world”.In plastic surgery market alone in the US，according to a survey，“the market value was estimated to be more than $12 billion in 2014”.People who are not satisfied with their own natural bodies choose to buy beauty enhancers，go gyms，consume diet pills or do plastic surgery to help them look good.In order to do so，they have to invest in boosting their body images.In this way their life expenditures are increased.

Negative body images affect peoples lives greatly.It can make their lives less happier，depress them，affect their physical health，and increase their life cost greatly.There is nothing wrong with beautifying peoples appearances，but the problem is that people go too far by either not accepting their body or mutilating their bodies.Inner beauty should be valued more than outside beauty.Ways such as reading，thinking，can promote inner beauty.It is a beauty that can last longer than outside appearances.

References：

[1]Stice，Eric and Sarah Kate Bearman.“Body-image and eating disturbances prospectively predict increases in depressive symptoms in adolescent girls：A growth curve analysis.” Developmental Psychology 37.5（2001）：597-607.Print.