Argument Essay: The Impact Of Media On Teen Girls Body Image

11/03/2013
Argument Essay
The impact of the Media on Teen Girls Body Image “Cosmetic makers have always sold (hope in a jar)- creams and potions that promise youth, beauty, sex appeal, and even love for the women who use them” (Postrel 125). Magazines are filled with digitally transformed images of models with amazing bodies, flawless skin and perfectly styled hair. Television advertisers push their products using the most attractive people with the perfect bodies. Television shows such as October Road and movies like Men or Shoes portray images of sexy, gorgeous woman who have it all; the handsome boyfriend or husband, the great job and amazing friends, while the chubby, not so attractive friend is usually there simply for comic relief.
Unrealistic images of beauty and perfection bombard these girls through television, magazines and movies. A study was performed to examine the effects of exposure of the media ideals of body image on women, and to determine if it would affect their self-esteem, body satisfaction, start eating disorder symptoms, and maybe change the level of internalization of the thin ideal. “Women in the experimental group reported lower self-esteem after being exposed to the thin-ideal images compared to the women who viewed neutral images” (Hawkins, Granley, Richards, and Stein 44). “Moreover, in some cases, feelings of body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem may lead adolescents seeking self-improvement to increase their media consumption—resulting in a vicious circle of media exposure, internalization of sociocultural ideals, social comparison with unrealistic images, and further erosion of body satisfaction and self-esteem. Indeed one 13 year old girl in the current study commented that “magazines are going to exploit the fact that teenagers are often unhappy with themselves” (Clay, Vignoles and Dittmar 473). The media dictates what is considered fashionable, the popular hair styles or trends. Images of thin, leggy models in short skirts, shorts and tiny swimsuits having fun, flirting and getting attention from men visually show what is considered to be beautiful. If a girl does not fit into the mold, she may begin to
It is evident in the number of women choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery in the attempt to attain the perfect body, nose, figure and smile. “We found that girls who engage in more appearance-related discussions and imitation of others had lower appearance satisfaction” (Dohnt and Tiggean 9). “We found that girls who watched television shows with an appearance emphasis, such as Friends or Rage, we less satisfied with their appearance. Shows such as soap operas and music television slips that present women as thing attractive, and sometimes provocatively dressed, have also been correlated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adolescents” (Dohnt and Tiggean 10). Advertisement Agencies have been questioned about why they only advertise their products with a certain types of models. The answer from each agency was usually almost always the same each time. “Sexy sells and everyone wants to be beautiful, so we sell our products to the world using beautiful people. This shows the population that beauty is within their grasp and that they too can obtain it” (Monroe 160). Janice Dickinson who is also in the media has stated that “she says no to plus size models in her agency” (Rotchford 72). “We live in America, aren’t we allowed to do what we want with our own businesses? I own this agency; if I don’t want fat ugly models representing it then that’s my right” (Rotchford 70). Miss Dickinson has a point, but she fails to realize what