Lindsy+L.

__**The Media's Effects on Teen Body Image**__

In a study of 3,200 young women carried out in February this year, over half of 16- to 25- year olds said the media made them feel that "being pretty and thin" was the "most important thing". Nearly 30 percent of 11-year old girls expressed dissatisfaction with their body image. One in ten were on diets. By age 15, 46 per cent of girls will be unhappy with their weight, and a quarter of them will be dieting (Bawdon). How did this image come to be? Who decides what is attractive and what isn't? The media's effect on teen body image brings up so many questions; but perhaps the most important questions of all, why do we care? //**
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In society today, people who are "more attractive" are in a way put on a pedestal for doing absolutely nothing. Particularly for women, I think that it is pretty safe to say that the image of looking thin and basically like a Barbie doll has been drilled into their heads. Whether we like it or not, we all compare ourselves to this standard from time to time, but why and for what? What's the point in trying so hard to mirror an image that society has created for us and label as beauty? Would we still feel attractive about looking a certain way if everyday images portrayed from the media didn’t exist? Since when did being beautiful have anything to do with what we see in a magazine or see on TV?
 * //__Think About It... __//**

Some facts you should know....
 * 4 is the UK dress size equivalent to the notorious US "size zero"
 * 23inches is the size of Victoria Beckham's waist
 * 34 inches is the waist size of the averade British woman
 * 40% of teenage girls consider cosmetic surgery



//**“The idealization of thinness doesn’t make sense…from an evolutionary prospective; we should find heavier people more attractive. They are the ones more likely to survive because they lay down fat more easily, and our genetic forbears lived in times of shortage and famine” (Stern).**//

**__The Problem__** The problem with this teen issue is that we let things like the media control are lives. We listen to them, and some people base their entire way of living off of it. The media may portray and display these images of what they think the American people should look and be, but we as society are the ones foolish enough to care enough to listen. Personally as a woman, I think that the whole situation is futile. Who gave the media the right to tell us what to like and not to like? What to look like and what not to look like? When did we all become zombies? We are intelligent people who all have individual opinions and ideas and different views and outlooks. We should be able to share and express them without anyone comparing them to anything else. This is an ongoing problem and unless we stop it, future genterations of pre-teens, teens and even adult women will go through life thinking that they are not //"good enough//". No one should have to live with that kind of pressure. It may seem like something isn't a big deal, considering that we don't even know the people who are putting this picture in our heads, but the truth is, are enviornment really will impact are lives.



**//“…the media should take responsibility for representing men and women of all sizes” (Hellmich).//**

“As a culture, we are on a first-name basis with women like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie…the most celebrated; recognizable women today are famous primarily for being thin and pretty, while women who are actually changing the world remain comparatively invisible. Most of us have a harder time naming women of other accomplishments. The idolizing of models, stars, and other celebrities is not going to change “until pop culture changes the women it celebrates and focuses on” (Hellmich). What a lot of people don’t realize is that we as a united group of people have the power to change this image. Some industries are already starting this movement. “The Madrid [Spain] fashion show…banned overly thin models, saying it wanted to project beauty and health. Organizers said models had to be healthy” (Hellmich). Along with the fashion industry, some celebraties such as Tyra Banks, are trying to overcome this image. I think that her taking a stand is great. Shes throwing the media back in its own face. Shes saying, "the media has no power over me!"
 * __The Solution __**





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 * For more information on this problem, visit...**

**Work Cited** Bawdon, Fiona. “Celebrities Should Not Be Role Models For Women.” //At Issue: Can Celebrities// // Change The World? // . Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center//. Gale. MAINE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL. 29 Jan. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com>

Hellmich, Nanci. “The Fashion Industry May Be Linked To Poor Body Image and Eating Disorders.” // Opposing Viewpoints: The Culture of Beauty //. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. //Opposing Viewpoints resource Center.// Gale. MAINE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL. 29 Jan. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do>

Stern, Leonard. “Society’s Unhealthy Obsession with Thinness.” //Contemporary Issues Companion:// // Eating Disorders //. Ed. Shasta Gaughen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.// Gale. MAINE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH. 29 Jan. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/orvc/infomark.do>

Vancura, Diana. “The Media Focus Too Much On Looks.” //Teen Decisions: Body Image.// Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.// Gale. MAINE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH. 27 Jan 2010 []