A revealing example of young, insecure girls attempting to imitate their favorite celebrities is the Kylie Jenner lip challenge in which girls put their lips in a shot like glass cup and “suction” their lips for a “fuller look” (Moyer 1). While some girls see this as a way to look more attractive, it is incredibly damaging and can causes serious health issues; Dendy Engelman, a dermatologic surgeon explains that it can cause “significant pain, swelling, and bruising result from these suction techniques, but there is potential risk for scarring and permanent disfigurement with repeated attempts” (Moyer 2). In addition, it can lead to “scarring, bruising and even lip indentations” that may be “permanent.” There is even a cosmetic device called the Candylipz that provides youngsters with a tool to create a fuller lip that has the same possible consequences as the lips challenge Those who have participated in this challenge say this process is “quite painful,” making it hard to eat and requiring “heavy makeup to conceal the wounds” (Moyer 3). These girls are trying to become more beautiful based on an idealistic role model, who has obviously gotten numerous surgeries to enhance her image. Artificially changing your look with makeup is one thing, but it is concerning when young women (who are not fully developed mentally or physically) begin making uninformed decisions that could change their look forever.
Every teenage girl goes through a time in her life when she just does not feel good enough. That time when the perception of what a girl should look like is just not realistic. Body image is a big part of a girl's life, no matter if it is a positive or negative one. It helps decides whether or not she will grow up to be confident and strong or scared and nervous. Having a good perception of yourself is important to having a positive body image. However all around us society is shoving “the perfect body” in our face and shaming those of us who don’t fit the cookie cutter image they’ve created. From lingerie store Victoria's Secret, to popular teen magazine Seventeen, all of the women that we up to seem to have that perfect body. How are we letting something like pretty underwear, promote a perfect body for teenage girls? Dove steps in eventually to explain that nobody on this Earth is perfect.
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
How should I look like to have the ideal body? An increasing number of women ask themselves this question many times in their lives. Deborah Sullivan’s essay, “Social Bodies: Tightening the Bonds of Beauty”, discloses the different cultural traditions that require various methods of body modifications. Women should undergo such modifications to obtain social acceptance. Similarly, “Pressures to Conform” by Celia Milne discusses the effects of media and society on women, and how women view their physical appearance. The media gives women a plethora of choices for the perfect body and even provides ways on how to achieve them. There is no escaping. There is no excuse of not getting the ideal body that ranges from that of a stick-thin ramp model’s to the buff and chiseled outline of a body builder’s. Still, the struggle doesn’t end here. Women also desire smooth, wrinkle-free skin, hairless faces, and ample busts. “Stencil” women are celebrities, models, actresses - women whose coveted looks are seen through discriminating TV screens, posters, and magazines. The steady demand for these forms of media is mainly due to women who are looking for body images to pattern from. These women are on the constant lookout in updating their appearance and considering the bulk of information that the media presents to them, the media is a source of considerable amount of physical and psychological stress. In their fight for their roles in society, women undergo various body modifications to suit the taste of the present-day culture.
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
Every culture has a “perfect body image” that everyone compares their own bodies to. Girls especially have the mental thinking that they have to live up to the models on TV and magazines. In the United States the skinnier the girls, the more perfect their image is perceived. The “perfect body image” has an intriguing background, health and psychological problems, and currently few solutions.
...el and Lacey in 1992 which analyzed 221 American TV shows and found that 69% of characters that were female have “thin, anorexic body types” (Raphael & Lacey, 1992, p.108). Our society’s unhealthy obsession with being beautiful has lead girls at very young ages in to very unhealthy decisions. Plastic surgery being a number one thought in my head. I personally like to blame the media on making girls believe that it is not about being healthy and looking healthy but doing things that have developed in to very serious and dramatic issues such as eating disorders. Why not encourage diverse body types instead of skinny ones? Thankfully, I feel as if I do have control and a sense of what is realistic beauty, however, as mentioned in my biography, my personal experiences related to beauty insecurities are linked to the more important and broader social forces of the world.
In the early 1990’s, it was reported that eleven million women in the United States suffer from various eating disorders. At the same time, at least ninety percent of people struggling with eating disorders are female (Stephens). Many researchers tried to figure out why so many women today were suffering from these terrible conditions that destroy people from the inside out. After thorough amounts of research were done, it was concluded that today’s society generates intense amounts of pressure on women to fit an “ideal image” of the models they see in various ways. Thanks to false advertising, false images of women, and the changing “desires” of society, the Beauty Myth gives women an image of themselves that is physically impossible to achieve.
...to them to love themselves as they as are is the first step in taking back control from the media. The media would like for them to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty for their own selfish benefit to solicit their industry. However if we don’t give in to medias perception of perfection the media will have to change.Certain companies like Dove have realized the medias negative effect on adolescent girls and has taking matters into their own hands by publishing a new ad with healthier looking model. This ad is one step in the right direction to building back up young girls self esteem and making them comfortable with their bodies. Women will never stop wanting to improve themselves however by embracing all different beautiful attributes women have they will refrain from practicing unhealthy methods and will work towards realistic goals that will make them happy.
As the clock hit 6:00 PM, on December 21, 2012, while waiting on tables at my job, I found myself holding hands and praying with complete strangers. Rumor had it that this was the end of the world, and life as we knew it. As Gregory Rodriguez stated in his article, “Truth Is In The Ear Of The Beholder”, “Rumors and conspiracy theories can only thrive in the minds of people who are predisposed to believe them,” (Rodriguez, 347). My coworkers, customers and I, must have all fallen for the rumor seeing as we were all in a panic as we called our loved ones, to tell them goodbye. Our digital lifestyle has undeniably accelerated the spread of rumors by using outlets such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In our society today, people would rather see what celebrities are up to than what is going on with our health plan. Watching the news makes us aware of the latest trend, new gadget, who’s in rehab, or who has an eating disorder. In the eyes of society, women like Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian, and Megan Fox are the epitome of perfection. What girl wouldn’t want to look like them? Unfortunately, this includes most of the girls in the US. Through TV shows, commercials, magazines or any form of advertising, the media enforces a certain body type which women emulate. The media has created a puissant social system where everyone must obtain a thin waist and large breasts. As a society, we are so image obsessed with the approval of being thin and disapproval of being overweight, that it is affecting the health of most women. Women much rather try to fit the social acceptance of being thin by focusing on unrealistic body images which causes them to have lower self esteem and are more likely to fall prey to eating disorders, The media has a dangerous influence on the women’s health in the United States.
As prom season goes by, I realized there’s a problem with our society. If women have an hourglass shape or thin shaped body there being rated high on the scale of “the perfect body image." The media manipulates women by establishing an unachievable standard of beauty and body perfection. This manipulation has led women to dissatisfaction with their bodies.The media’s influence on body image has established an unachievable standard of beauty and body perfection.Images of women in magazines and on the television have impacted a woman's sense of body satisfaction.This has created an unhealthy obsession with images of beauty and the idea of perfection in our society.The media that controls the magazines and television has caused social pressures that mentally urge women to maintain the image that pertains to their ethnicity and culture. This has set a trend, indoctrinating female from childhood and adolescence which later on brainwashes them into maintaining a specific body image causing negative effects in adulthood.
The alternative cause of having an idealized body is women want to increase their attractiveness. Women seem very critic about their own beauty. In a commercial, “ Dove Real Beauty Sketches,” there is a lack of self-esteem on how the women describe themselves from behind the curtain. Dove published survey data asserting, “Only 4% of women globally consider themselves beautiful and 54% agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic.” The body images of women in which how women see themselves in the minor or in their mind have become so dramatic. Women are
To many, the notion of a teenager undergoing plastic surgery is appalling and unbelievable. For others, such as eleven-year-old Julia, a nose job was able to help her lead a happier and more normal life. To eighteen-year-old Kristen a breast augmentation is a traditional rite of passage of the family. She claims that she “just wanted to look normal,” and that after surgery, she does. (Sweeny, 2009) In these types of cases, cosmetic surgery can be beneficial to the confidence of teenagers in what Ann Kearney-Cooke calls “an epidemic of low self-esteem among girls.” (Sweeney, 2009) Whether it is a physical deformity, such as protruding ears, or simply a lack of something that other peers have, such as large breasts, cosmetic surgery can help teenagers cope with self-worth in a world where beauty is ridiculously selective. However, aside from the confidence-boosting possibilities resulting from teen cosmetic surgery, there are many reasons why it should not be taken lightly for an adolescent. Although cosmetic surgery can potentially be beneficial, there are also many extreme risks for teenagers, including medical complications and in some rare cases death, and thus should be solely a last resort after meticulous analysis for serious cases. Furthermore, neither the adolescent brain nor body is even fully developed.
The mass media plays a large role in shaping a teenage and adolescent girl’s body image. By pushing an ideal body type that is uncommon and untrue to life, girls strive, and struggle to obtain this image. When the mass media only shows one type of body as desirable, they are alienating every girl who does not fit into that category. Pushing these ideal bodies onto teenage girls at an important developmental time in their lives can be detrimental to their bodies and their self worth. By showing what a girl should look like, the mass media is damaging the body images of young girls, and unless awareness is raised, could become more and more adverse on young women today and tomorrow.