Medias Influence On Adolescent Girls Body Image example essay topic

Medias Influence on Adolescent Girls Body Image, Identity and Sexuality Gender Identity begins in early childhood when roles are given to children as to which toys they should play or not play with. A child's body image is influenced by how people around her react to her body and how she looks. A pre-adolescent becomes more aware of what society's standards are for the ideal body. The media has always had images of what the ideal woman should be. As in the way she should look and the way she acts. The media today does and doesn't always depict what is good for an adolescent or pre-adolescent to believe about themselves.

There are also many good influences from the media. Role models such as Oprah and Ricki Lake have given many adolescents more of an ideal individuality to strive for. Young girls look at their images in the mirror and don't like what they see. Does this sound right?

Girls as young as nine years old report dissatisfaction with their bodies. Girls tend to struggle with body image in far greater numbers than boys. Boys don't focus as much on their body shape and size as do girls. Some attention to body size and shape is part of the normal growing process. As children reach adolescence their bodies change and children especially young girls become more aware of how they look.

Some of these feelings are normal. But when a girls life is affected by her thinking about her looks it turns into a problem. Avoidance and Isolation are signs of a problem beginning. Being positive and having healthy relationships help girls maintain positive body images. The ability to talk to someone, whether it be a parent or friend or coach, can help reinforce healthy body images. Self esteem is the key component to a healthy body image.

For the most part if a girl displays confidence and personal control, the likelihood of a positive body image is greater. The four top selling magazines with a target audience of teen females are Seventeen, Sassy, Teen and YM. "In similar fashion, magazine and book reading gradually increase during adolescence. Approximately one-third of high school juniors and senior say that they read magazines daily". (Textbook) These magazines often show positive and negative images of young and older women. They are often times covered with young women who look "perfect".

These girls are being exposed to unrealistic images of women. The social pressure on females to achieve a nearly impossible thinness is constantly being reinforced by female images portrayed in the media and advertising. It's almost impossible to ignore the many images of thin beautiful women. When turning the pages of a popular magazine, women are being invited by the ads and spreads to look a certain way, thin. What girls don't see is that the average size of women today is a size 16 not a 6. Models look beautiful for a reason.

They have hair stylists, makeup artists, wardrobe people, and skin care specialists to make them look that way. Besides that they have the best photographers in the world. Beauty and fashion ads don't just sell a product they sell a lifestyle. Many adolescents can be influenced to have a positive body image despite all of the negative media influences. Many magazines designed especially for adolescent girls, such as American Girl, focus on positive outlooks on the young girl's lifestyle. American Girl Magazine says "Girls in this age group are more curious about the world than ever before.

They " re beginning to consider the impact they can have on the people around them, on the environment, and on their future. All the while, they " re undergoing profound biological changes. Adolescent girls are entering one of the most challenging and complex phases of her life so far. Our advice titles include expert guidance on serious topics, such as The Care & Keeping of You and Staying Home Alone. In its eleventh year, American Girl magazine continues to offer articles, activities, and stories that engage and inspire. Girls can also read and respond to issues that concern them in a safe, fun environment on our Fun for Girls Web site.

Through empowering books and products, American Girl celebrates girls at the age they are now-and inspires confidence in who they will become". (American Girl Magazine) Not only do magazines try to portray the "perfect image" of girls and women but television advertisements and programs try to achieve this representation of the perfect body as well. "Adolescents like adults, often use media simply for entertainment and an enjoyable diversion from everyday concerns. They also use the television as media to obtain information, especially about topics that their parents may have been reluctant to discuss in the home, such as sexuality. Adolescents may also sue media to relieve anxiety and unhappiness as a way of coping. Some adolescents watch little or no television, others on the other hand watch as much as eight hours a day.

Popular sitcoms such as "Friends" show three main female characters. All three of these women are strong intelligent women. They all have good jobs and don't depend on their spouses or boyfriends. The negative side to watching this program is the physical images of women. Out of the three women in the program, not one of them is over a size 6, if that.

The fact that they make fun of the "naked fat guy" who lives across the street is wrong. The show gives the impression that if you aren't a size 6 then you aren't cool enough to hang out with them, or you won't land that great job, or be involved with a handsome man. These things might not be that obvious to the viewer but to adolescent they might think otherwise. Another show that is youth targeted is "Dawson's Creek".

Dawson's creek was a show that I personally grew up with. Girls wished they were Joey potter, and wished they had boyfriends such as Dawson or Pacey. The show unrealistically looked at high school and told a false story of how high school really is. In the hour episodes, there would be a problem, whether it was Joey not knowing who to date or should the couple have sex. In the end of the 60 minute episode things were fixed. Adolescents watching the show get a look at fantasy high school.

What they don't realize is that problems occur everyday and things don't always get fixed within a 60 minute period. Shows like Dawson's creek also show negative female images to adolescents. The three main females in the show are skinny and beautiful. And in the end they always get the "hot" guy. After watching the show for 6 seasons I don't ever remember their being a overweight or normal size youth. Overweight characters are typically portrayed as lazy, the one with no friends, or 'the bad guy', while thin women and pumped-up men are the successful, popular, sexy and powerful ones.

How can we tell our children that it's what's inside that counts, when the media continuously contradicts this message? Another form of media that I wouldn't have thought was very influential but is is Billboards. Billboards are a good way to advertise because as people are driving their eyes are drawn to the billboard, and the advertisers want to make every detail possible so that the person driving or walking by will be interested in what the billboard has to say. Often advertisers will use pictures of models who are thin to attract even more attention to their service or product. Seeing these billboards, reading these magazines and watching these shows often have a great impact on adolescents. These types of media can bring about many eating disorders, and show problems, such as alcohol and sexuality on television.

Adolescence is a time of confusion when teens are often trying to discover who they are as they journey closer to adulthood. They face increased independence, life choices and new friendships and they begin to date and seek acceptance from the opposite sex and their peers. All of this while their bodies are changing and their hormones are raging. This combined with any additional problems in their family, friends or new relationships can easily put teens at a higher risk for an Eating Disorder.

Eating disorders are an overwhelming result of the Medias influence on adolescents. Television contributes to obesity. Children who watch a lot of television are less physically fit, because television takes time away from physical play. The food advertisements that adolescents are exposed to on TV influence them to make unhealthy food choices. Commercial after commercial you see "Burger King, McDonalds, or Wendy's". Adolescents snack excessively while using the media, and they eat less healthy meals when eating in front of the TV.

Watching TV lowers children's metabolic rates below what they would be if they were sleeping. Watching shows that depict bad nutrition and body weight encourage children to develop less healthy diets. The rising rates of childhood obesity present one of the most significant public health challenges we face. While there are many factors that contribute to the problem, the media is one of the most significant ones. Anorexia and Bulimia are other eating disorders that are influenced by the media. The media's images of beauty are only shallow, real beauty shines from within a person.

An anonymous victim of anorexia once said, "I see myself very clearly, somewhere between fat and thin, but not yet perfect". As the quote illustrates, the media's images are causing many average, healthy adolescents to question their own body image. Adolescents often feel fatally flawed if their weight, hips, and breasts don't match up to those of models and actors. Today even elementary school aged children are obsessed with their weight. This never-ending struggle to be at the ultimate level of perfection leads to nothing but harm.

Since the American public seems obsessed with being beautiful, the media should redefine the concept of beauty around being healthy, loving, and altruistic. Until we redefine the media's vision of beauty it can only continue to be detrimental to the public who live with these images daily. Diet advertisements are another problem. On television, in magazines and newspapers, we are continually exposed to the notion that losing weight will make us happier and it will be through 'THIS diet plan'. Time and time again it has been proven that, for the long-term, regimented diet plans DO NOT work, yet our society continue to buy into the idea that they do.

Pop-culture's imposed definition of 'the ideal body' combined with the diet industry's drive to make more money, creates a never-ending cycle of ad upon ad that try to convince us '... if you lose weight, your life will be good. ' The flip side is that as long as we continue to buy into their false claims by purchasing these, often dangerous products, the more the diet industry will keep pushing their slogans at us. Sexuality in the media is another thing that influences Adolescent girls. Over the past fifty years changes in the media towards representations of sex are astounding.

The media used to portray husbands and wives sleeping in separate beds. If you asked a Adolescent today about who sleeps with who on whatever show they might be watching they could probably give you a few answers. "Sex Sells" a very important theme that the media has now thrived on. "Adolescents like to watch television programs with sexual content". (textbook) The use of contraceptives and the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases on TV are relatively rare, if they aren't seeing the proper precautions to take when taking a step like that, how likely are they to do it themselves. children will see an average of 15,000 sexual images each year on television. On Music Television 'MTV', 75% of the music videos will involve sexual imagery, 50% involve violence and 80% will combine the two. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1995).

MTV is television station geared at adolescents trying to connect with them telling them what is hot and what is not. MTV sells sex through their own shows, one which is entitled Undressed, is primarily about teen sexuality. Other shows like "The Real World" and "Road Rules" constantly show sexuality. Without knowing it adolescents look to be like the characters or people on the reality shows. You never see a "fat" person on these shows either, the people who are having sex or almost that are "beautiful".

They have amazing bodies and look "perfect" in many adolescents' eyes. Other shows like sex and the city may not target adolescents but draws them in anyways. I could go on and on with the many shows that show sexuality and influence adolescents. The fact is that they see it every day on almost every program they watch. And they watch a lot of programs as stated above. Many adolescents turn to the media to teach them about relationships, sex roles, and sexuality.

Many use the media to fill in the blanks of what society, schools, and parents have not explained to them. Advocates for Youth, formerly The Center for Population Options (CPO) is a national organization that focuses on adolescents as the critical group to reach with information on reproductive health and family planning options. The media project, just one of the projects set up by Advocates for Youth works with the television industry to provide accurate, up-to-date information on adolescent sexuality and reproductive health. The ultimate goal of the project is to help American teens make informed, healthy decisions about their sexuality. We do this by keeping television writers and producers informed on the issues, and also by encouraging the industry to incorporate positive, healthy portrayals of sexuality into their programs. The Media Project does not aim to eliminate sex from television, but rather to help television paint a more realistic picture of the responsibilities and risks that accompany sexual activity.

The Media Project provides accurate information, script consultation, and story ideas to many teen- and adult-oriented shows - such as Dawson's Creek (WB), Any Day Now (Lifetime), Felicity (WB), Sex and the City (HBO), Mo esha (UPN), Judging Amy (CBS), and Strong Medicine (Lifetime). In an additional effort to encourage the television industry to embrace the issue of positive sexuality and to highlight current programs that succeed in portraying sexual health issues without compromising entertainment value. (Transitions). Not one thing can influence a Adolescent girl about her body or image or sexuality.

Many things can. But as I've talked about in this paper the media presents a huge influence on adolescents. Some media is good, some is bad. In order for adolescents to learn correctly they need to start at home. Parents must tell them which is good shows and bad, and sit down and ask them questions. Adolescents are at a critical time in their lives, any influence on their outlook on sexuality, body image or identity could damage or help them in the long run.