The
controversy I will be discussing in my term paper has to do with how body image
in the media affects young females in negative ways. At some point in a female’s
life she becomes overwhelmed with the way the media portrays women and how
they’re looks are depicted as the norm of how one should look. In magazines and
ads you consistently see women who are tall, skinny, and flawless; and this is
mostly due to the fact that sex sells. What the industry fails to take into
account is that many young girls see these women daily and look up to them and
aspire to look just like them. The media is constantly shaping the way a
perfect woman should look and it is manipulating the reality of what beautiful
body image really should be.
Although
these glossy magazines and ads aren’t actually aimed at girls under 16, they
can still read them. Girls like Rachel Johnson let the media be the fuel to
eating disorders such as anorexia. Starting at the age of 13 she idolized all super
slim celebrities in magazines and had an eating disorder for 4 years. She stuck
magazine cut outs in her school locker and made motivational scrapbooks. She
made an e-petition which calls for the Government to ‘ban airbrushing images’.
It states that such images give a false representation of beauty and subject
children to completely unattainable images. Although she became known there are
many many other girls who are in silence fighting this battle. As of Jan 2013 56% of teens
feel that the media's advertisements are the main cause of low self-esteem and 44%
of teens skip meals as a tactic to losing or controlling weight.
There are
several examples of public advocacy related to this issue. There are several
advocate groups that address this epidemic and there are some campaigns trying
to aid this issue. A non-profit organization I found, About-face, equips women
and girls with tools to understand and resist media messages that may affect
their self-esteem and body image. There was also a protest in San Francisco
where a group of people stripped down to their underwears in front of Victoria
Secret to promote diverse and realistic body images.
The best
thing to do to lessen body image issues in young girls is to educate them and
raise awareness about the media that degrades and/or insults females. Also one
can write an email, letter or even start a e-petition to these companies and
tell them you refuse to buy their product until they change their advertising.
Sources:
http://www.about-face.org/take-action/get-action-ideas/
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