1.

Francesca is a student age between 18-24 says she’s an active person who participates in sport such as skiing, swimming and working out at the gym. She ticked neutral when she was asked the question “On a scale of 1 - 5 how satisfied are you with your current body shape?” As she picked neutral meaning she is neither satisfied or dissatisfied, perhaps she’s not satisfied because she knows that she could improve her physique making her satisfied. Francesca agreed that there is an ideal body shape to conform and gave her interpretations of the ideal body shape. She gave her opinion “There is an ideal body shape that is portrayed by the media as skinny and toned for females and lean and muscly for males. Although I do not agree that people should all conform to this. I would like to myself as it would give me more satisfaction with the way I look.” She argues how people should not conform to the portrayal from the media however she would like to for herself to feel more satisfied with the way she looks. Her feelings about her body affects her self-esteem so perhaps this is why she is on a healthy diet. Finally, Francesca states that she is active on social media sites.

 

2.

In comparison to Francesca another anonymous female in the same age category states she is not active and is very dissatisfied with her current body shape. She agrees that there is an ideal body shape to conform, her interpretation of the ideal body was ‘hourglass’ and ‘fairy skinny’. This person does not participate in any sport and her feelings about her body affects her self-esteem. All that aside, she is sometimes on a healthy diet and she uses social media networks.

 

3.

Comparing Francesca to the anonymous female, she is active whereas the anonymous female is not. Francesca is not dissatisfied with her body image while the anonymous female is. Perhaps the anonymous female is not satisfied with her body image because she is not active and does not participate in any sport. If she was the same as Francesca being active and participating in sport, then maybe she would be more satisfied with her body image. Both candidates’ states that being ‘skinny’ is the ideal for women. Francesca stated she’s on a healthy diet in comparison to the anonymous female, who states that she is ‘sometimes’ on a diet. From analyzing the results of these two candidates, the one who is more active, eats healthier and participates in sport, is the one who is more likely to be satisfied in their body image. However, this could be proven wrong by incorporating the results from one more female.

 

4.

Helen is also a female student age between 18-24 who is active and that says she is satisfied with her body image. She also agrees that there is an ideal body shape to conform and her interpretation of the ideal body was ‘slim’ and ‘athletic with curves’. She does not participate in any sport and her feelings towards her body do not affect her self-esteem. Judging from the results of her survey, Helen could already have a slim figure hence why she is satisfied with her body and does not feel the need in participating in a sport. She says that she’s sometimes on a healthy diet and also uses social media. The results from Helen contradicts the theory “the one who is more active, eats healthier and participates in sport, is the one who is more likely to be satisfied in their body image”, as Helen sometimes eats a healthy diet, does not participate in any sport however, she is active. All three females agree that there is an ideal body shape to conform with words such as slim, skinny, hourglass and athletic with curves shows how females interpretation the ideal body image.

 

5.

Jordan is a student age between 18-24 says he’s an active person who participates in sport such as gymnastics and calisthenics. His response to the question “what sport do you play and does this sport require you to be in a certain shape?” was “Must have high strength to weight ratio, but shape is less important”. He is currently satisfied with his body shape and does not believe that there is a current body shape to conform. His feelings towards his body does not affect his self-esteem and he is on a healthy diet. Jordan also uses social media networks. Evidences suggest Jordan is an active person who stays fit, eats healthily and does not worry about his body image. As Jordan stated that he is satisfied with his current body image, perhaps it is due to his healthy lifestyle.

 

6.

Ken is an active person who is age between 24-34 and does not participate in any sport. He is currently dissatisfied with his body shape and agrees that there is an ideal body shape to conform. His interpretation of the ideal body shape is “for males, a more toned build no matter big or skinny. for females, I prefer them looking like Victoria secret models”. Ken’s feelings about his body does affect his self-esteem and he states that he eats healthily sometimes. He is also active on social media networks. In comparison to Jordan, Ken is dissatisfied with his body image and his feelings about his body does affect his self-esteem whereas, it does not affect Jordan. One is on a health diet and the other is not. They are both active however only one participates in sports. Based on the results of Jordan and Ken, it can be pointed out that Jordan is happier and satisfied with his body because he looks after it by exercising and eating healthily. Perhaps Jordan already has a lean or toned body hence why he is satisfied with his body and does not have any negative feelings towards it that affects his self-esteem.