Men’s magazines write articles on how to seduce a girl into sleeping with them. Haven’t we as a society moved past the sexist ideals of the past? Judging from the way media portrays women, it seems as if things are only getting worse! (Next slide) One of the most common ways television depicts teenage girls as ditzy, body obsessed, ‘pretty’ princesses with a credit card. The girl’s interests are usually limited to make-up, hair, boys and shopping.
As a teenager there will be a time where breaking the bonds of childhood, entering a world of rebellion, and being obsessed with popularity will be normal. For teenage girls, in order to acquire this popularity they need to be thin, busty, and wear revealing clothing while gossiping about peers and spending time worrying about boys and parties rather than their academics. But, where did this image of how to be a popular teenage girl come from? For decades, teen films have portrayed popular teenage girls this way and the film Mean Girls is no exception. This film not only displays how the world expects teenage girls to act, but also how difficult it is for teenage girls to resist acting this way.
During their teenage years, girls start to question their identity. Modeling teaches young girls to center their identity only on their looks (Machoian). Girls look at magazines and see a beautiful model on the cover wishing that they looked the same. They forget that the model they see on the cover has make-up on, and, most likely the picture was edited using some type of photo shop. Modeling along with social media give girls the impression that they have to fit this idealized image to look thin and be beautiful, dress up nicely, and wear makeup or they will not be happy with themselves.
NOW explains that their endorsements are intelligent, well-rounded authentic women, but Fazzone wants to know if they are really women who bask in the sex object role, and what are the shows NOW endorses are really about? Felicity was the third-most feminist show in NOW’s “Feminist Primetime Report,” yet the women would do anything for the crush she followed to college. For example, in the show, once a week, Felicity would revolve her life around the same guy. The other shows that were ranked high in NOW were heroines they stated as one’s who “broke out of the sex object role,” but Fazzone explains that instead these “heroines” are empowered only because they’ve decided that what really drives female power is sex. How authentic are these actresses that NOW endorses, Fazzone questions.
Confronted with these images, the reader is encouraged to sympathise with the author’s contention. Many of these unrealistic images are also the driving force behind the increasing demand to see realistic images of young women in the media. Stark’s contention is strengthened by anecdotes from affected girls, attempting to recreate the ‘perfect body’ on themselves, who constantly obsess with these glossy magazines. Including Erin Young’s story of her ‘own struggle with body image’, that almost led to anorexia, plays a big part in encouraging the reader to side with Stark’s opinion. These stories assist the reader in understanding the serious widespread nature of the issue.
Most women these days would do anything to look pretty and attract the opposite sex. This story gives us the importance of body image to women and they get judged about it. Amber the “finger throated sickness one”. She gets teased because of her anorexic appearance. This is a mental illness common to the young woman.
The G-string is a symbol of society’s control over women. The G-string is seen as a societal need in order to be sexy and dictates how others see us and defines our power of seduction. In the story, the mischievous panties become the standard of sexy which every woman must meet. Gillian feels she needs to wear a G-string in order to fit in, be sexy, desirable to men, and most of all modern. Gillian strives to be more like the stereotypical character, Jeanie who originally introduces her to the G-string.
When individuals are stereotyped by their society it becomes a part of their conceptual scheme, or point of view, effecting how they perceive and relate to others (2). In the film Mean Girls (2004), the high school students labeled the alpha group of girls “The Plastics” because of their perfect appearance,
Magazines such as Dolly, Cleo, Girlfriend and Cosmo all exhibit impossible ideas of ‘perfect’ in which teenagers perceive as the only acceptable image in this society. Teenage girls in this day and age are all exposed to sexualised concepts of women, and that thin and hot is the only desirable image for teenage girls. Many people don’t realize the impact celebrities and models in the media have on adolescents, they can manipulate the way they display themselves to others. These magazines send a confusing and misleading message to readers. Half the articles in these magazines tell you that you are beautiful no matter what body shape, then they go on to show images of size six super models; portraying them as the idealistic teenage girl.
In magazines, the “ideal” body type is always on the cover so teens wont be able to miss it. In the film by Kibourne, she shows an ad with an excessively thin girls sitting down. The caption of that ad said, “The more you subtract, the more you add.” This caption sends the wrong message to these adolescents who look at it. Because they are inexperienced, they take whatever they see into consideration. Like Kilbourne said, they are the prime targets.