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Negative Influence the Media has on Teens and Body Image

Remember as a kid, when you didnt care about how you looked? As a child you dont

know how social media can affect you, but once you hit puberty, it all of the sudden changes.

Trying to fit in, not feeling like an outcast. Youre just trying to survive in this cruel world that

the media has created. According to Teen health and Wellness, For most people, early childhood

was a time in their lives when they played and ran and experienced lifewithout concern for

what they looked like or what they ate (Teirney). This proves that the media can transform an

innocent mind into someone without self-confidence. Teenagers spend at least 180 minutes on

social media (Teirney), so of course they can be easily influenced. Taryn T states in an article,

When people look in the mirror they have a tendency to criticize specific parts of their body

extensive research and dissatisfaction with our bodies are directly related to mass media, which

shows the effect the media has created is that people, specifically teenagers, criticize themselves

and try to alter their body because they sometimes arent or dont have what the media says they

should have, physically. The media has made this unrealistic beauty standard that teenagers have

the need to live up to, because they want to fit in. Even though some people believe that the

beauty industry is becoming more diverse and social media is making more people become

well known because of their confidence and self love, doesnt mean that teenagers arent

insecure. The media has created this stereotype of what a perfect body looks like, which

affects teens physically, mentally, and emotionally because they try to fit into this

unrealistic beauty standard the media has created. Many teens deal with this issue, males,

females, etc., but what really causes teens to feel like they dont fit in is the lack of diversity

there is in the beauty industry, we mainly see a typical type of model in our day to day

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basis and this is what causes teens to feel like they have to look a certain way in order to be

accepted by society.

The media has set up this unrealistic beauty standard that teens are so desperately

trying to fulfill just so they can fit in and not feel like an outcast. This beauty standard is

unrealistic for a reason, not everyone can fit into it. According to Mario Palmer, who wrote the

article Be your own beautiful, Approximately 91 percent of women are unhappy with their

bodies and resort to dieting to achieve their ideal body shape. Unfortunately, only 5 percent of

women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media. As you can

see displayed in figure 1 you can see the difference in the amount of people that start dieting in

the United States. The way social media has an effect of dieting is that people try to achieve the

ideal body by dieting, and only 8.08% either do it the right way or naturally possess the ideal

body, 91.92% resort to unhealthy and risky diets just to look better externally, but internally

their health is declining. This proves that not everyone can successfully get what people think an

ideal body would look like. Most of the people who try to get and ideal body dont do it

naturally. Proving how the media, family members, and friends can negatively influence a person

into doing something that isnt really worth doing. A unrealistic beauty standard isnt the only

reason teens think they have to look a certain way in order to fit in.

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 There are many different body types at are perceived as perfect. In an article on

Huffington post, What the ideal woman's body looks like in 18 different countries,

Alanna Vagianos states that, " A widely held perceptions of beauty and perfection can have a

deep and lasting cultural impact on both women and men." This statement proves that based on

your culture or where you live you have a different perspective of how an ideal body is supposed

to look like. Not everyone has the same culture or beliefs so not everyone thinks of the same

thing when they hear or see the words ideal body image. Not everyone has the same beliefs,

but one thing that people should agree on is that every should understand what self-love feels

like.

Everyone should be able to feel comfortable in their own skin and not feel like they have

to look a certain way in order to fit in with the rest of society, we are each an individual person

with individual beliefs and personalities, but we should all have an idea of what it feels to be

confident. On NC Live Login, Isabelle Tierney talks about the negative influence social media

has on body image, she states Adolescence is one of the most stressful times of life, when you

deal with countless physical changes as well as social pressures. its a time when fitting into a

group can feel very important. Teens always know what is in and out, so it becomes

important to adhere to the societal ideal. You may even think that if you reach the ideal, youll be

accepted and liked by everyone. As teenagers we tend to be very stressed because of school

work and all of the extracurriculars you maybe do, on top of all of that we are trying to find

ourselves, and our fast and easy source is the media. We try so hard to fit in and be something we

probably arent just for acceptance from someone or something so you can be perceived as

someone normal. This issue affects everyone in a lifetime, there is always that one point in time

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when you dont like what you see, but everyone goes through it, how you deal with it is what

truly matters.

The media mainly focuses on how females are affected and how they portray their body

image, but males also are put into a standard that they feel the need to fulfill. It isnt unusual for

males to be insecure, but it isnt really heard of on social media, what you mainly hear is how

females are more insecure. In this article that I read in New york times, Kathryn Shattuck talks

about a teenager named mike, Mike would seem every teenager's dream: blond and handsome

with a well-honed physique. It's hard to imagine there was a time when this 15-year-old's sunny

disposition was clouded with self-doubt. This proves that growing up and going through

puberty causes a lot of changes in teenagers, their bodies change physically and some dont get

what others do, and because of that they sometimes go to the extreme to get what they want.

They want to look like every other teens and sometimes they dont do it in a healthy way. Even

though it might seem like guys careless about how they look they still try to look like those

famous movie stars that gets all of the girls because that is what they want.

Males also have a non-existing standard they try to live up to, and it is influenced by male

actors, or male models. Jamie Santa Cruz wrote an article on Atlantic media company called:

Body-image Pressure Increasingly Affects Boys. He states, They are also at increased risk for

a variety of negative outcomes: Boys in the study who were extremely concerned about weight

were more likely to be depressed, and more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as binge

drinking and drug use. This shows that males also go through the same thing females go

through, its just not as harsh on them as it is on females. It also isnt pointed out as much but it

certainly does happen, teenage males tend to feel like they have to look a certain way or do

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certain things in order to fit in and look cool. With the effort males use to get a perfect body

it can also lead to eating disorders and low self-esteem.

Males can also suffer from Anorexia, Bulimia, and Depression because they are

unhappy with how they look, just because they have more testosterone than women doesnt mean

that they are immune to the disorder. In the article Confidence comes in all shapes and sizes

written by Kathryn Shattuck, she states His quest for perfection evolved into anorexia, and

Mike spent the next three years shuttling in and out of the hospital as his body, and his self-

image, wasted away. By stating this Shattuck proves that males also suffer from these disorders

even though the media perceives them as strong, emotionally and physically, just because they

are males, but they also have emotions and can feel depressed and also feel the need to change

their bodies in order to fit into the stereotype of being a macho man. All of these stereotypes

can lead to the lack of diversity society has.

The lack of diversity the beauty industry has can negatively affect a teen because

everywhere they go, they see the same image over and over again, there is no type of diversity.

The beauty industry mainly uses one type of model, the typical you know, tall, thin, and fit. In

the article the causes of negative body image, by Isabelle Tierney, states that Society is filled

with images of perfection because the beauty ideal sells. Advertisers promote the beauty ideal as

if it were the real thing because they believe you will spend and spend to try to reach the ideal.

This has a big impact on teens because the beauty industry uses skinny, fit, tall models because

they try to advertise what they are selling and because of the big influence the media has on

everyone, they use typical models because they know that you most likely want the products

to look how the models look. The lack of diversity in looks can also lead to the lack of racial

diversity.

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 The beauty industry has a lack of racial diversity when it comes to modeling.

Recently in the article written by Allison McGevna calledH&M Apologizes for implying that

white models convey a more positive image states that, The retail giant had just launched in

the country when customers voiced concerns over the lack of diversity in their campaigns. The

article is mainly about how recently H&M, a very popular retail industry, stated that in order to

convey a positive image and be inspiring they strictly use white models. The lack of

diversity created an outcry from the public about them not having enough diversity. They later on

apologized. Just for their benefit obviously. This proves once again how the lack of diversity in

the beauty industry can cause a negative influence in teens, even though they apologized they

cant take back what they said, cause now everything you say and do on social media stays there.

Beauty industries dont only have racial restrictions they also have restrictions on how youre

supposed to look in order to be in the modeling industry.

In order to be a model you have to look a certain way, have a certain height,

weight, and be a certain size, just another way that proves that the beauty industry has no type of

diversity. In the article written by Isabelle Tierney called the causes of negative body image,

she states You see them everywhereperfect, beautiful women and men. Anywhere you look

magazines, television, movies, even video gamesyou cant get away from seeing females and

males who either look like or actually are fashion models, staring you down and making you feel

less than perfect. This shows how the typical model is usually tall, thin, and fit. They are

everywhere, you dont really see plus size models in popular magazines, you see the same type

of people, with the same body types, they dont really look any different. We are all distinct in

our own way, and the beauty industry is dulling that spark that everyone has, they arent putting

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enough diversity into what they do, not everyone looks the same, or thinks the same, we arent

all somehow agreeing on what the media does, but we also dont do much to change it.

Many other sources however, argue that the beauty industry is creating more diversity

and are starting to us plus size models instead of the typical model. For example Dove has

created commercials that show the diversity that is now becoming popluar in the beauty industry.

There was an article on Visiblemeasures.com called How Doves Campaign for Real Beauty

Ushered in New Age of Female Empowerment that stated only 2% of women around the world

described themselves as beautiful. To address this issue, the brand created a campaign that was

groundbreaking in its definition of beauty. Basically all Dove did was create a campaign that

helped women all over the world. This view seems convincing at first, but why didnt they

decide to do this earlier, before technology got so advanced and the media convinced teens that

that was the only reliable source to figure out all the questions they have in this confusing and

stressful point in their lives.

As opposed to thinking the media is negatively influencing teens, some people believe

that it is changing for the better and is helping them become more confident and be comfortable

with their body type. For example Victorias secret has created plus size under garments and they

are starting to use plus size models. According to an article,Plus-Sized Model Denise Bidot on

Why Victoria's Secret Needs A Curvy Angel, Accepting Her Stretch Marks, Victorias secret is

embracing all sorts of sizes and diversity. This shows that now more plus size models are

coming into the beauty industry and making it big. There is definitely more diversity now then

there was back then. What this article fails to consider is the fact that it took some upcoming plus

size model to speak out in order for Victorias secret to start embracing more plus size models

and create more diversity.

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 Some might not believe that there isnt enough diversity in the beauty industry, and they

arent wrong, there is more diversity in the beauty industry than before. According to an article in

ELLE magazine, Model diversity: where the industry is now., Prabal Gurung believes that

Beauty is beauty and I honestly can say I do not see color when making those decisions." He

basically states that in making a decision of who will be the face of his campaign or show, color

doesnt really intervene with his decision. While this position is popular it is not logical because

not many industries have the same thought process, some may think that caucasians convey a

more positive image than any other race, but some people agree with what Prabal Gurung states.

In conclusion, The media has a negative effect on teenagers and how they view body

image, they influence them into thinking that looking a specific way will help you fit in. This

stereotype can affect teenagers emotionally, mentally, and physically. This issue is worldwide

and can affect not just females, but also males, and there isnt a specific age, but it affects

teenagers in a much harder way. We all get influenced by the media regardless because we see

advertisements of these perfect models on a day to day basis. Im hopeful that soon enough the

beauty industries will become more diverse and help teenagers who are struggling with self-

confidence, and make them realize that they are just fine the way they are, and that your body

image doesnt really affect what you achieve in life.

Works Cited

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Cruz, Jamie Santa. "Body-Image Pressure Increasingly Affects Boys." The Atlantic.

Atlantic Media Company, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Fishman, Elana. "10 Plus-Size Models Who Are Changing The Fashion Industry For The

Better." Theoutfit. The Outfit, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Heubeck, Elizabeth. "Girls and Body Image: Media's Effect, How Parents Can Help."

WebMD. WebMD, 18 Oct. 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Huff, Victoria Dawson. "Model Diversity: Where the Fashion Industry Is Now." ELLE.

ELLE, 04 Feb. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Knorr, Caroline. "Is Social Media Giving Your Teen a Negative Body Image?" Is Social

Media Giving Your Teen a Negative Body Image? Common Sense Media, 28 Apr. 2014.

Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

McGevna, Allison. "H&M Apologizes For Implying White Models Convey A More

"Positive Image"" News One RSS. Hellobeautiful.com, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Palmer, Mario. "BYOB - Be Your Own Beautiful - Amplify." Amplify A Project of

Advocates for Youth. Amplify, 20 May 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Russell, Mallory. "How Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Ushered in New Age of

Female Empowerment." Visiblemeasures.com. Blog, 9 July 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

"Self-Esteem." Self-esteem. Ed. Nancy Brown. Sutter Health, Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Nov.

2015.

Serdar, Kasey L. "Contact Us." The Myriad: Westminster's Interactive Academic Journal.

Westminister, Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Shattuck, Kathryn. "Confidence Comes In All Shapes and Sizes." The New York Times.

The New York Times, 27 July 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

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T, Tarynt. "The Role of Social Media on Body Image & Body Stereotypes (with Images,

Tweets) Tarynt." Storify. Browser, June 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Tierney, Isabelle. "NC Live Login." NC Live Login. Teen Health & Wellness, June 2015.

Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Vagianos, Alanna. "What The Ideal Womans Body Looks Like In 18 Countries."

Huffington Post. Huffpost Women, 14 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

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