A DEFINIÇÃO DE CORPO IDEAL A PARTIR DAS MÍDIAS E A INFLUÊNCIA SOBRE A SAÚDE MENTAL DE MULHERES

This article, based on an Integrative Literature Review (ILR), aims to analyze how the definition of the ideal body, influenced by the media, reflects on women’s mental health. Historically, aesthetic standards have undergone various transformations, intensified by contemporary media culture, which imposes an ideal of beauty based on thinness, youth and symmetry. From the analysis of six scientific articles, it was possible to observe that the media, by propagating stereotypical and unattainable images of female bodies, contributes significantly to the increase in body dissatisfaction, distortions of self-image and eating disorders. Media discourse reinforces the capitalist logic of consumption, transforming the body into a market object and encouraging practices which, although they promise health, often cause physical and psychological suffering. The influence of social networks and the visual culture of the “perfect body” contributes to the emotional illness of women, who submit to restrictive diets, aesthetic procedures and unrealistic standards in search of acceptance and social belonging. This highlights the urgency of critically discussing the impact of these ideals on women’s mental health and the need to promote more inclusive and realistic discourses about bodies. The RIL presented here fulfills its role by encouraging reflection on the effects of media aesthetic standardization and reinforces the importance of new research that gives visibility to female subjectivities in the face of this social pressure.