Research again

In one of the many papers I have read ( Tiggemann, Slater, Bury, Hawking and Firth, 2012), it is clearly stated that the current standards for female beauty emphasize thinness and the mass media represents " by far the most powerful and persuasive sociocultural transmitter."

Many women  compare themselves with what the adverts, for example, illustrate and because the media presents an ideal that it's almost impossible to achieve, some women experience body dissatisfaction issues and that's the moment when they try to modify their body in order to be as close as possible to the idealized image.

From another point of view, male voyeurism has been present from Newton to today. Women have been objectified since the 1970s and today the degree of objectification is even higher. The male gaze made women begin to self-objectify themselves which increased women's anxiety about their physical appearance. (as stated in Szymanski, Moffitt & Carr - 2011- “Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research). They are becoming their own spectator.

This problem has existed for many years but because society has evolved, the danger to fall into the trap of the mass media is even higher, considering the accessibility kids and teenagers have got to media.

"The National Eating Disorder Association (2006) reports that in the past 70 years national rates of incidences of all eating disorders have dramatically increased across the board.  The cause of these staggering statistics has yet to be determined, but research has shown that body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem put women at high risk for developing eating disorders. Today in our culture, the “thin ideal” is portrayed in every avenue of the media. Magazines, television shows, movies, commercials, etc. portray attractive women as being extremely thin. It is nearly impossible to escape the influence of the media and children are being exposed to these portrayals earlier and earlier in life. 
[Health Psychology page]