[1] The size that the thin ideal woman should be is decreasing while the rate of female obesity is simultaneously increasing, making this iconic body difficult for women to maintain.
[5] However, it is important to recognize the distinction between women who are aware of the advantage of thinness versus those who internalize the ideal and make it a personal belief system.
Some of these indicate that after women are shown images of ultra-thin models, they experience psychological and behavioral features associated with eating disorders, such as increased anger, depressed mood, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem.
Another study demonstrated that positive associations women made with underweight models frequently led to weight-focused anxiety and an elevated drive for thinness, both of which are principal symptoms of eating disorders.
[3][4] Several longitudinal studies have suggested that internalization of the thin ideal is a precursor to body image dissatisfaction and unnecessary dieting in women of a healthy weight.
Many theorists believe that the ultra-thin images in the media play a significant part in the influence of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and internalization of the thin ideal.
[4][12] A correlational study by Stice et al. (2004) suggests that a larger number of media exposures may be linked to a greater risk of body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and development of eating disorders symptoms.
[13] According to the sociocultural model of bulimia, eating disorders are a product of the increasing pressures for women in our society to achieve an ultra-slender body.
[15] In order to attempt to measure women's media-ideal internalization and comparison, researchers developed the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire.
[18] "The sociocultural etiological model is based on the premise that societal factors send powerful messages to girls and young women that certain physical attributes are unacceptable.
[21] Correlational studies have linked exposure to media that contain ultra-thin ideals to increased body-dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, self-discrepancies, and eating pathology in young women.
[22] Photo manipulation that elongates legs and narrows hips of already skinny models have harmful effects on young women because they compare themselves to those images.
[12] Stice and Shaw suggested that women who over-internalize the thin-ideal image tend to experience increased body dissatisfaction and a decrease in self-esteem.
The analyses of images in women's magazines observed from 1901 to 1980 and from 1959 to 1999 show that the featured models have become thinner over time, making the thin ideal even more difficult to achieve.
According to the study done by Donald M. Davis, "While many of society's institutions have moved forward with respect to women, television may be lagging behind, at least as evidenced by demographic variables.