Youth Culture and the Media - Success in Youth Culture

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Year 11 English term 1 Youth culture and the media By Stef Dinte Final How would you define the meaning of success? Success does not have a set definition as it differs depending on the person. Is it determined by doing well at school, winning an important competition or by simply living a long and healthy life? Success is something that is established by your own individual understanding. When a person achieves their ultimate goal, they are successful. However the Media portrays success in youth in a completely different light, through their use of advertisements, product placements and highlighted social conventions, the media puts forward the image of the ideal adolescent as being popular and good looking, while rejecting the more important traits of intelligence, passion and determination. Through the media, a ‘successful’ teenage girl is shown as one in possession of all the latest clothes and gadgets, is one with long, soft hair, a thin figure, tanned skin and on top of this you must be popular. This presents and unrealistic image of a typical teenage girl. 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. On this cover of Dolly Magazine, there are several

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