The “perfect body” has been a popular issue, described in lots of powerpoint essay projects, in lots of  for the modern generation, especially among females and it results from the body image preferences. Body image refers to the multidimensional, dynamic, and subjective concept that entails the individual’s perceptions of feelings and thought about one’s body (Neagu 30-31). Body image remains constant over time mainly and it does change under the influence of factors, such as age, health status change, and exposure to the media (Neagu 30-31). Thus, this phenomenon does not merely represent one’s biological endowment or objective perception by other people (Neagu 30-31). Therefore, the way, in which an individual perceives and evaluates the own body, does have the significant effect on self-estimation and life satisfaction. In turn, perception of the own body is dependent on various factors, including personality and self-esteem, genetic traits and pathologies, and cultural factors (Neagu 30-31). Formation of body image implies body size, the attitude that means satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and monitoring activities (Calogero and Thompson 3; Neagu 30-31). However, women are more concerned with body image compared to men, and they report higher dissatisfaction (Neagu 32). Therefore, there is too much pressure on girls compared to boys having the perfect body as a result of traditional gender roles, western values, tendency for women to overestimate their bodies, impact of the media, and even increasing concerns about their body among men.

Gender expectations stimulate women to be more concerned with their body image compared to males. The traditional roles suggest the link between women and beauty, as well as strong desire for attractiveness (Neagu 32). On the other hand, men are supposed to be strong and powerful, while their bodies should provides a mean for effective management of the external environment (Neagu 32). These unconscious, as well as conscious assumptions, about thebody functioning and gender role lead to different impacts on the self-identity and body image, as well as their interrelation, between males and females (Neagu 32). A study, conducted with the participation of 3,300 girls from 10 countries, showed that 90% of them experience dissatisfaction with at least one part of thebody and the majority complain about weight (Calogero and Thompson 7). When one focuses on the beauty of the body as opposed to its functionality, there is a likelihood for low body esteem and dissatisfaction, which may lead to depression, body shame, fixing, avoidance behaviors, anxiety, and continuous checking (Brennan, Lalonde, and Bain, 130; Neagu, 32). Therefore, it is evident that gender expectations based on the traditional roles put more pressure on women to have a perfect body compared to men.

Apart from the traditional gender expectations, western society also greatly values higher physical attractiveness in women compared to men, and it creates gendered context in the society. The latter encourages women to measure their social value in terms of their appearance (Bakhshi 376; Neagu 32). The social context inclined towards gender creates a self-critical orientation among women, which leads to tendencies for comparison and negative body esteem (Neagu 32). As such, females are more likely to participate in social comparisons of the upward nature with people of the same gender in terms of attractiveness and physical appearance (Neagu 32). On the other hand, men are less subjected to rigid norms related to outlook and thus, they focus more on social comparisons of a downward nature, which does not have negative effect their self-esteem (Neagu 32). As men focus more on their body functionality, they make temporal comparisons when thinking about the improving in future. In contrast, women have pessimistic expectations about attaining the desired appearance (Neagu 32). Females equate a perfect body with youthfulness and thus, as they age or bear children, they experience reduction in perceived attractiveness due to gaining weight (Neagu 32). Therefote, it is clear that the western society has put great pressure on women to have perfect bodies.

Women have a tendency to overestimate their body size, and thus, they tend to feel overweight, even if their mass is within norm. Studies indicate that females are more likely than males to worry about their weight and usually report higher mass than it actually is (Calogero and Thompson 5). In a study involving people aged between 20 and 64 years, about one third of women reported being heavier than they were, while 50% of men reported the average value (Calogero and Thompson 5). A similar study involving girls, who felt overweight while having normal body mass, showed they they also had been suffering from low self-esteem for about two years (Calogero and Thompson 5). Similar studies in Japan reveal that women are more concerned with losing weight compared to men, and a large number of these females do overestimate their body mass (Calogero and Thompson 5). Similar studies in Nigeria indicate that girls are more dissatisfied with their body parts as compared to boys, and the major complaints appear about ears, breasts, and sex organs (Calogero and Thompson 6). Thus, women experience more concenrs about body compared to men.

The contemporary media place too much pressure on women regarding the perfect body. They portraying thinness as the hallmark of female attractiveness and this forces women to cut weight and get thin (Mask and Blanchard 357). An umbrella study comprising of 47 experiments indicates that after exposure to media images of thin girls as opposed to the average sized ones, numerous females tend to become dissatisfied with their bodies and get the desire to lose weight (Mask and Blanchard 357). Women tend to envy thin models portrayed on television shows and movies and alter their eating habits to become more skinny (Mask and Blanchard 358). From the provided information, it is evident that mass media, including televisions, magazines, and movies, excert a lot of pressure on women to reduce weight by providing images of the expected ideal female body.

Opponents of the discussed position state that both men and women have almost equal pressure regarding their bodies today. Wtihin the last twenty years, there has been a growing concern about men developing body dissatisfaction (Neagu 32). Some of the males desired to become thinner, especially to get rid of fat from their abdomen, while others wanted to develop muscles through bodybuilding, steroids, and protein supplements (Neagu 32). The two wishes play an important role in the development of muscle dysmorphia or anorexia nervosa (Neagu 32). Men are becoming more concerned with their body image in the aspects of height, body hair, and sex organs, which are not the attributes of body attractiveness only, but also relate to functioning (Neagu 32). However, a man can still exercise masculinity and thus, experience less pressure than women, who cannot change their body proportions in case of certain types of constitution (Neagu 32). Meanwhile, the interest of men in creation of better body image is affecting females, forcing them to be even more concerned. The percentage of men engaged in image building is lower compared to women (Neagu 32). In addition, boys seem to have lower body dissatisfaction than girls during the adolescence (Calogero and Thompson 7). Therefore, men are engaged in development of proper body image at the lower extent compared to women. Thus, it is clear that women expirience more pressure than men.

Therefore, perfectness of the body is the major contemporary issue that affects the way, in which people perceive their bodies. Perfectness entails sexuality, health, and beauty among other features. A person’s perception of their body determines attitude, and this may cause self-denial and negative feelings towards oneself. Even though perfectness may appear as an issue for both genders, girls seem to experience more pressures than boys. Traditional gender expectations place more emphasis on women beauty compared to men, as wells the western values do. Women tend to overestimate their bodies, which is less common for men. Modern mass media also place emphasis on thinness as the ideal women appearance, hence placing pressure on women to cut weight. Opponents of the above ideas report that within the recent 20 years, men have also become increasingly concerned with their bodies. However, research data indicates that men focus more on functionality rather than appearance, and dissatisfaction is still much higher in women compared to men. From the provided information it is that even though some men also tend to be concerned and unpleased with their bodies, the women and girls experience more pressure and the associated dissatisfaction.