Teens like us watch these adverts and think that if they look like them they will fir in and be respected. Each year thousands of teenagers exercise and go on diets just to look like them. Surveys show that girls are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer, or losing their parents and 46% of teenagers are on diets.This is not right, we should not be pressured into looking how the media picture perfect looking teenager. In fact todays models generally weigh 23% less than the normal person. Also if you think it the average height and weight of a model is 5'10 and 110 pounds and the average height and weight of a person is 5,4 and 145 pounds, so it is extremely easy to see how this creates a big health risk for young teenagers.
As noted in an article by Samantha A. Goldstein entitled, “Teen Body Image, the Media, and Supplements: an Unhealthy Mix,” on average, “a person residing in the United States observes nearly 3,000 advertisements in newspapers, billboards, magazines, and television every day” (par 2). This statistic confirms that the media’s influence on our everyday personal decisions is truly inescapable. So what exactly does the media want teenage girls to look like? What is the epitome of the perfect body? For women, an ideal of thinness is worldwide.
This really bothered me for many reasons. One of the biggest issues that I had with this program and major element of the photo business is the effect it has on young girls, especially girls aged 9-15. This is a very critical age for girls because, during this time, puberty happens. During this time, more girls will stop doing what they love because they are self-conscious about their bodies enough without the help of the fashion industry. It isn’t fair for a girl to open a magazine and think that the images they see are how they should look.
Size zero puts pressure on young women who are overweight. By comparing themselves to “zeros” young women only achieve low self-esteem. They are made to think they are unattractive. They go through the stress of unsafe cosmetic surgeries such as tummy tucks, to appear like fashion icons. Celebrity nutritionist Dr Adam Carey says that, “I think the current vogue is macabre.
They make it look like it’s fun and that other people should try it. TV shows have changed teenagers today by creating these horrible role models. “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” were supposed to show how hard life is when you’re pregnant at a young age, but it’s the exact opposite of what it’s really doing. Now that the first two seasons of “16 and Pregnant” are over, they are looking for a new group of pregnant girls to be on the new season. Girls recently are found to be trying to get pregnant to get on the show.
The focus of this research was to see what caused girls to be so pressured into being really thin or why some girls were anorexic. In my research, I learned the media plays a big part in why girls go to the extreme to be thin. Major points I learned is that the media targets teen girls with photo-shopped images of models. There are positive effects of media, I think otherwise. When girls see these “models” they feel no matter how it takes to get there, they have to be like these models.
The problem is this standard is so unreal and changes from day to day that how can any woman truly be this so called perfect woman? “Then the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a big nose and fat legs.” This line tells the truth of every teenage girl, and boy, in the world. At this age is when we come to “know” what it is that is beautiful and how to hate ourselves for not being that pictured image of it. We look in books and magazines on TV and the internet and see the images of models that are so skinny, nipped and tucked to perfection. Also we have Photoshop now; no one can look as good as some one that is enhanced by a computer to be something they are not.
In a Dolce and Gabana ad, a women is shown being put down by a male twice her size with three other men eagerly watching .This is degrading for women because it makes it harder for men to take them serious when the media has given them little value in society. It seems as if women’s role in the media is solely to show
According to the American Society of plastic surgery, the most common reason for women to get cosmetic surgery is because they are unhappy with their bodies. Ezine Articles states “Almost ¾ of women surveyed said they think about their size and shape every day unhappy with their bodies” (Women and Cosmetic Surgery). Most women use cosmetic surgery as a confidence boost. After receiving the treatments they feel more beautiful and more confident in themselves. Heidi Montag is a 23 year old American reality television icon.
Professor Dionne Taylor an expert in criminal law stated “....skimpy outfits and sexual dance moves are ruining the self-esteem of girls. The explicit dance moves and foul-mouthed lyrics fuel negative attitudes towards women and affect women’s confidence, education and even their employment prospects. It is blindly ignorant.” (Cox, 2013) Ever since the launch of YouTube in 2005 the consumption of youth watching provocative music videos has increased and “In August 2008 Teachers reported a rise in sexualised behaviour in children aged seven. “(Jones, date unknown) In July 2013 Walkwood Church of England Middle School in Redditch became the first to ban skirts for girls aged nine. The ban comes as increasing numbers of young girls copy the 'sexy schoolgirl' look popularised by celebrities such as Rihanna and Brittany Speers.