“ The media needs to take responsibility for the effect it has on our younger generation....why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat”(Lawrence)? The actress Jennifer Lawrence expressed her opinion on what she believes, that the media is responsible for the damaging body image that has affected the younger generation. Considering this, recently there have been more studies and research on what has formed this ideal body.Also, the research conducted uncovered that the famous doll Barbie is one of the main reasons for the desire to have an unrealistic body. The negative body image in female adolescents has been affected by the influence of impossible body types in the media such as the doll “Barbie” and characters in popular …show more content…
After this statistic was proven, various amounts of examinations were performed to discover the ideal body type in juveniles. The various investigations influenced a woman named Renee Hobbs and her research team to create a website called “My Pop Studio”, where people online can create their own celebrity images based on physical characteristics. Soon enough, the results were revealed, and it proved that the majority of girls who went on “My Pop Studio” created themselves to look tall, very thin, and blonde (Heuback). These results infer that being tall, thin, and blonde is the ideal image young girls desire to have. In summary, the examinations that were managed proved that young girls are dissatisfied with their body, and would change their appearance if they had the chance. Also, traditional types of media such as magazines, TV shows, and commercials affect the perception of body image. Furthermore, a recent study revealed adolescent females who watch reality TV more than the average person start to care more about their appearance (“11 Facts”). After these examinations were proven, researchers started to investigate popular kid’s channels such as Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. A review analyzed 134 episodes of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, uncovered girls between the age of 10 to 17 became underweight (Culp- Ressler). Also, Disney was criticized for allegedly slimming their iconic characters ; Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck (Culp-Ressler). Popular
The media can have both positive and negative effects on anyone especially teenage girls. I personally think one of the problems with the media is the unrealistic images that they put out there. They put these images out there and make it seem like if you don’t look like this you wont be happy, successful, or accepted by anyone. Duke University statistic says “40% of all 9 and 10-year-old girls have already been on a diet”. This is a huge problem today and a problem that is just going to continue to get worse. Many people don’t understand or know just what effects the media has on teenage girls. I hope you can see what it does to their body image, problems they get from it and the eating disorders they could possibly
In fact, “...Barbie is so exceptionally thin that her weight and her body proportions are not only unattainable but also unhealthy”( Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive 283). This fact creates potentially dangerous situation for young girl to be influenced to emulate an unattainable body type. One particular research study conducted by Helga Dittmar, Emma Halliwell, and Suzanne Ive in 2006, found out that young girls, ages 5 to 8-years-old, who were exposed to Barbie, experienced self-esteem and body issues. “This is the first study in which an experimental exposure paradigm has been used with young children, thus offering a methodologically rigorous examination of Barbies as a cause of girls’ feeling of unhappiness with their bodies and their desire to be thinner” (Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive 283). When 162 U.K girls, ages 5 to 8, were given picture books with either no pictures of bodies whatsoever, images of Barbies, or images of Emme (a doll with realistic body proportion), they young girls who looked at the books were more unhappy with their body image than those girls who read Emme or non body books (Diep par.4-5). Their study did not find these same finding in the oldest girl, however the evidence that Barbie is not influencing this younger population of girls, still points to the need for some type of change as this early pattern of looking up to an unrealistic body image
Media has become a significant component within society. While media provides many pros, it supplies various cons as well. One very prominent fault that the significance of media has is its visual depiction of women. There is an abundance of media portraying women to have ideal bodies, and this undoubtedly has a negative effect on adolescent girls. Two of the many effects of media on females are depression and self esteem issues, as well as eating disorders. Unfortunately, body dissatisfaction caused by media is becoming more and more common.
I can remember her standing in front of the mirror looking at herself. How she thought she was beautiful, I don’t know. Because the image I saw was of a person who looked like a living corpse. She had to have weighed only 100 pounds, her hair so thin, the black bags under her eyes, and her overall grayish complexion made her look as if she were a dead. As she saw me staring at her in the corner of her eye, she slammed the door in my face. That was the big sister that I knew now. She was no longer the big sister that I could go to and get advice from or have a good laugh with. No, she was too busy with her own schedule and not to mention her terrible mood swings. My older sister
Under society’s norms for decades, young women have been put under the pressure and anticipation to have perfect bodies. That is, thin and curved, beautified by applying pounds of the makeup to their face but not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these standards imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model along the cover of Vogue being called flawless, it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the photocopy. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a pressing issue for young women. Advertisements and posters of skinny female models are all over. Young girls not only could be better but need to be more upright and feel driven to throw the perfect figure. Moreover, girls are evaluated and oppressed by their physical appearances. With supplements and apparel designed to enhance a facial expression; social media, magazines, and marketing campaigns and advertisements add to the burden of perfection. The fashion industry is a prime object of body image issues, as they believe clothes look better on tall and svelte women. Established on a survey participated by 13 to 17-year-old in the U.S., 90% “felt pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny”, with more than 60% routinely compares themselves to models, while 46%
Researchers have discovered that “ongoing exposure to certain ideas can shape and distort our perceptions on reality.” (Mintz 2007) Because young girls are subjected to a constant display of beautiful people in the media, they have developed a negative body image of themselves. Those who have a negative body image perceive their body as being unattractive or even hideous compared to others, while those with a positive body image will see themselves as attractive, or will at least accept themselves and be comfortable in their own skin. During adolescence, negative body image is especially harmful because of the quick changes both physically and mentally occurring during puberty. Also, young girls are becoming more and more exposed to the media and the media keeps getting more and more provocative. Young girls are looking to women with unrealistic body shapes as role models. It’s hard to find, in today’s media, a “normal” looking
As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.
In the minds of most girls, their body image is how people perceive them. They see themselves as inadequate if they do not meet up to society’s standards. However, in reality, we are not defined by what we look like on the outside. On the contrary, it is the image that Hollywood portrays that leads them to believe this. For the truth is we should live a healthy life by eating healthy and exercising daily. This is essential for our health not just because we are afraid of how others will look at us. In this essay, then, researching Hollywood’s image will show how it has a negative impact on the self-esteem and body image of young girls.
Every day we are exposed to some type of media. Whether you know it or not, the media that you view each day affects you in some way. This is especially true for women and girls. The media puts a huge emphasis on how women are supposed to look to be considered beautiful, liked, and successful. All around the world women and girls look in the mirror and think that they are not thin or pretty enough to be accepted by the world. Would you want your sister, niece, best friend, or even your mother to think of themselves in that way? The media puts way too much emphasis on looks, and it needs to stop.
Females everywhere are obsessively trying to alter their appearance to mirror the perfect body images surrounding us in today’s media. Body image dominates media everywhere you look, every time you turn your head we are pestered with beautiful women and perfect figures. The overwhelming urge for women to have a body just like the perfect models and idols we see plastered in media has spilled over into our children. Despite the outer shell of innocence, the psychological and sociological effects of Disney figures misrepresent the ideal body image as distorted to perfection and airbrushed to unrealistic; the iconic body image warping an adolescent mind into aiming for unobtainable goals.
Ever since the Disney Princesses were created, they have all had the same body shape: tremendously skinny. With the Disney Princesses becoming the largest girls franchise in the world, there is no denying the impact it can have on such young girls. These girls long for recognition and beauty, and expect nothing less than their favorite Disney Princess to reassure them of the perfect lifestyle they need in order to achieve their perfect lives. In our society today, girls are becoming over sexualized at a much younger age than normal. One’s physical appearance plays a significantly larger role today than it ever has before. With this in mind, I have decided to conduct research on how the Disney Princesses have impacted an individual’s outward appearance and body image. The Disney Princesses have always been a form of innocence for young girls. However, while it’s clear that the majority of people adore the Disney Princesses, still, most can see the impact it can produce on young girls that will follow them into adulthood.
Over the years a debate over who is to blame over the decline in how girls perceive themselves has arisen. With Photoshop being the societal norm concerning the media, it has become difficult for many to understand where the line between real and near impossible standards lies. Youths see an image edited to “perfection” and strive to reach the standards that they imagine due to the images displayed on magazines, television and social media. From Disney to magazines like Vogue the mass media bombards audiences with fake beauty that they, as normal people, will never be able to achieve. The mass media is responsible for causing the rise in the number of people with a poor body image, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries.
From an extremely young age, the media engraves into our heads that skinny is the only pretty. Everywhere you look there are advertisements trying to make you change yourself. "Get rid of cellulite now!" "Lose 10 pounds in less than two weeks!" "Get rid of wrinkles with this anti aging cream!" All that on top of all the stick thin, clear faced models exclusively being displayed in magazines and beauty commercials then the actresses always portraying the protagonist that finds love. It all sends a sad message: you're worth a whole lot less if you're not thin and society's perception of beautiful.
Body image has been something women are highly conscious of for years. The way the world presses this image of what a “perfect” body is onto women isn’t natural. The perfect body is always changing. From the early 2000’s to around 2015 skinny girls with long legs, perfect skin, and toned abs are what was seen as perfect. The famous Barbie doll toy has been around since 1959 when it came out and has been intoxicating the homes of young girls ever since. Barbie is a plastic toy that represents a perfect caucasian woman. Her unrealistic body proportions have had a negative effect on women for years and press them to look like her. The unrealistic anatomy of Barbie dolls affects the global image of what a female’s body should look like by planting
Everyday television, film, advertisement and music industries deliver contradicting messages to young girls around the world, especially in well technology developed nations like US. They create mayhem and confusion among adolescents, who are trying to find themselves, fit in and safely pass into womanhood stage. At home and school girls are being taught how important it is to obtain education, career, learn responsibilities as well as how to become great mothers and wives, take care of the house and act like ladies. But as soon as they turn on TV, open a magazine or log into the Internet they are being taken for a roller coaster ride, which may seem like a lot of fun at first, but going further it becomes a struggle and pulls teens further and further away from their culture and values presented by loved ones. They are being flooded with fake images of happiness achieved by purchasing a certain product, ability to fit in by wearing fashionable clothes and leaving a moment without worrying about the consequences that will follow reckless behavior. Media are guilty of supplying young minds with garbage just to make a quick dollar and don’t care about the future of next generations. In my essay I would like to provide some examples how television, film, ads and music create whirlwinds of emotional and cultural contradictions in young girls.