Creative Writing: Beach Vacation

1250 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A essay on life goals

Lou Anne, the mother of a bright and beautiful nine year old girl, was happily planning a weekend vacation to the beach. She and her daughter, Leslie, always loved their annual trip to the southern beaches of California. They would pack as much of their lives as they could into their van and drive up and down the coast, stopping at every beautiful beach they could see for miles. This was an event looked upon for months in their household, but for some reason this year, Leslie’s face didn’t express the joy it had nearly every year before. Soon the day had come. They packed up and hit the road for what was supposed to be a weekend of fun. When they arrived at the beach, Leslie asked for some help putting sunblock on her back. Her mother lifted up her shirt, and what stared back at her was not …show more content…

They had been so busy all summer going from soccer practice, to swimming lessons, to play dates, she hadn’t even noticed the fifteen pounds her daughter had lost. Leslie would often ask her questions like “Are my thighs too big?” or “Do I have to have dinner? I’m already full”. Lou Anne rushed to the nearest children’s hospital where Leslie was diagnosed with malnutrition and Anorexia Nervosa. When Lou Anne finally had the chance to ask her daughter why she felt the need to change her body, the nine year old girl responded by saying this “I just want to look like the pretty ladies on the TV mommy, they’re all so small and beautiful.” As much as we may neglect to see the harmful affects of social media on our children and young adults, the harm is real and present. Social media skews the image of what the “ideal” man or woman is supposed to look like. There is a big misconception that children are not affected by the things they see on the television or hear on the radio. There is also the misconception that low self esteem and body image is something only females deal with. The victims to social media are of wide

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of TED Talk

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meaghan Ramsey believes in business growth that stems from real social change. She has origins in nutritional science and has worked across FMCG and multiple organizations dealing with media, charities, and pharmaceuticals. Ramsey was also the Global Director of the Dove Self-Esteem Project at Unilever in London. Her TED Talk, “Why Thinking You’re Ugly Is Bad For You” occurred in September of 2014 at TED@Unilever in London. The audience that Ramsey is trying to target is the parents of young men and women who are struggling or may begin to struggle with body image/low self-esteem. She speaks to the parents directly about what can be done to minimize the use of the internet and social media at such a young age. Ramsey’s talk is affected by the audience in the sense that she uses

    Read More

  • Essay On Body Image

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    The media has a crucial influence on adolescents. Golan, Hagay and Tamir (2013) stated that “Since puberty, by its very nature, is associated with weight gain, adolescents frequently experience frequently experience dissatisfaction with their changing bodies” (p. 1). Young boys grow up with the expectation of having to become a strong, muscular, masculine man. Young girls see skinny models and movie stars and grow up thinking that it is only socially acceptable and attractive if they are also skinny, or very thin. “In a culture that glorifies thinness some adolescents, mostly girls, become excessively preoccupied with their physical appearance and begin to diet obsessively in an effort to achieve or maintain a thin body (Golan, Hagay & Tamir, 2013, 1). Little girls play with dolls that have narrow waists, full busts, lots of makeup and their hair done a certain way. Advertisers and manufacturers are portraying a particular body image with the dolls, and this makes little girls form an opinion on how they should look. “Young girls may engage in conversations...

    Read More

  • How Does Social Media Affect Body Image

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today's society, social media is directly affecting how the modern teenager perceives their body image. The struggle with not being able to prevent this issue is most teens are all about social media and all of its wonders. Teens spend most of their time on social media. Social media alternates these images body images and it becomes unhealthy for teens. These unhealthy stereotypes harass young adults in their daily lives. Teens struggle with the stereotypes causing them to do unhealthy things to their bodies. Social media's views on body image is causing people to form eating disorders and body image anxieties or concerns. Social media and body images affect teens´ self confidence which can lead teen to look at themselves differently and

    Read More

  • Media And Social Media, Adolescents, And The Media

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Research shows “that regular readers of fashion and beauty magazines in early adolescence are more likely to suffer from a distorted body image during their teenage years” (“Children, Adolescents and the Media”), when they read beauty magazines they read articles and tips of how to look better and they try to them all to look and feel better about themselves. Research shows that “more than three-quarters of girls repot that television influenced their body image” (Mascarelli). Social media influences how we act and what we do Amanda Swartz once stated “Social media and mass media influence the way we react and interact with our world and potentially influence the perception of our own body image” (Mulliniks). In today’s worlds there are more ways to access websites to promote body image as a positive thing, “On the internet, there are now more than 100 pro anorexia websites that not only encourage disordered eating but offer specific advice on purging, severely restricting calories intake, and exercising excessively” (“Children, Adolescents and the Media”). It’s not a bad thing to eat healthy and work out to be fit and healthy but it’s another thing to eat less and work out excessively. Teens always compare themselves to others, either their peers, models and celebrities, “People are on Facebook or Instagram and they’re constantly comparing themselves to other people” (Mulliniks). Also reality television shows, show only the glamorous about what is happening, like “when teen moms become celebrities, the message to avoid teen pregnancy is lost” (Kroll). When teens watch shows like Teen Mom they don’t see the entire negative about becoming pregnant as a teen they see that the teen mom got famous and is on the show. Social media, media, magazines, and TV give teen’s unrealistical facts about body image, pregnancy and

    Read More

  • Media's Negative Influence On Women

    2560 Words  | 6 Pages

    One major issue that continues to arise from the influence of media on children in our society is issues with eating disorders. According to National Eating Disorders, 80% of Americans watch television for over three hours daily (Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders). Being exposed to this much media daily exposes young kids and adolescents to skewed ideas of beauty and skewed standards of body image. Children and Adolescents are also constantly exposed to these images through advertising online, on billboards, in magazines, on transportation, etc. The images we see in the media are not even physically possible without the help of photo-shopping. Because of this, many kids and adolescents try to achieve the same appearance and end up developing eating disorders. An ongoing study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood institute shows that 40% of girls 9 and 10 years old have tried to lose weight (Teen Health and Media). Girls ages 9 and 10 years old should not even be remotely worried about their weight, yet being exposed to constant media in today’s society has led to severe body image issues. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated disorders, 8 million people in the US have an eating disorder, 90% of those are women, and they usually begin in teens but may begin as early as 8 years old. (Teen Health and Media). These

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: Virginia Beach Vacation

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first thing I heard was Virginia Beach vacation, and then in excitement I ran and got my stuff and started to pack. The part I was most excited about was that the hotel is a beachfront hotel room.I was so excited because I love the beach and I really wanted to go back to the beachfront hotel and stay there. I went there when I was in second grade. I have gotten to go there a few times since second grade, but I did not get to stay there overnight.

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders: The Skinny on Skinny

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since 1960 the amount of cases of eating disorders has risen drastically. Since 1960 technology has increased as well. With this new technology social media has become increasingly popular leading to overstimulation of pictures portraying emaciated young women as “perfection” (Salter). Eating disorders are especially prominent in young females; and young minds are often easily influenced by what is normalized to them (Park). When a young brain is opened up to ideas and words that idolize “skinny”, it will undoubtedly become similarly obsessed with “skinny”. Harvard Medical school recently did a study on media’s effects on eating disorders: “Scientists…studying the social influences contributing to eating disorders focuse...

    Read More

  • Tyra Banks: America's Next Top Model

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    “According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, about 70 percent of girls grades five through 12 said magazine images influence their ideals of a perfect body, a fact that’s plain to see in the online world of teenage ‘thinspiration’” (Krupnick 1). This quote explains that girls in grades five to 12 are more likely to have a lower self esteem because of the idea of a perfect body beinging spread through social media. Models enjoy sharing their work with their fans their instagram and twitter accounts, which isn’t wrong. However, sometimes the pictures they post are exposed subtly, this causes for the pictures to get under someone's skin before they notice. These models, like Kylie and Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, are idealized but billions of people and have millions of followers on social media but all they do is post pictures of them living the luxury life that everyone watches. These posts could either help influence teens to work harder or cause them to try to achieve what they want in a harmful way. Having weight and height limits will lower the self esteem of others because they put out an image that most people think they must look

    Read More

  • Effects of Media on Body Image

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marika Tiggemann and Amy Slater, the authors of “NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and Body Image Concern in Adolescent Girls” and authors Beth Teresa Bell and Helga Dittmar of “Does Media Type Matter? The Role of Identification in Adolescent Girls’ Media Consumption and the Impact of Different Thin-Ideal Media on Body Image” discuss the detrimental affects the media has on the body image in adolescent girls. On one hand, Bell and Dittmar studied whether the type of media adolescent girls pay attention to affects their body image while Tiggemann and Slater on the other hand, studied how the media specifically social media and the internet affects the body image of adolescent girls. Due to the fact that one article studied how social network specifically affected negative body image in adolescent girls and the other article studied how the media in general affected how adolescent girls perceived themselves, they complement each other when read together. They prove to me more effective when read together through their strong introduction of their topic, usage of visuals such as graphs and charts, and positive use of tone.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Social Media And Body Image

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social media can cause many physical damages to both men and women in today’s society. Body image is how people picture and view their bodies, as well as how someone else sees them. “The health of our nation 's adolescents is at risk from eating disorders” (CDC, 2016). Starting at a young age we are exposed to what our society and media have defined as desirable. People have been exposed to how the “ideal” body should look like since the time of adolescence. For example, as a

    Read More

  • Media and its Affect on the Teenage Body Image

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ongoing battle we face with our bodies can be brutal, but with teenagers growing into their new bodies they are more susceptible to a negative body image. With technology booming, and internet being easily accessible the youth is very much involved in social media such as Facebook to be in interaction with their friends and classmates. “The findings also showed that more time spent on Facebook was associated with more negative feelings and more comparisons to the bodies of friends. They also found that for women who want to lose weight, more time on Facebook led to more attention being paid to physical appearance. This included attention to one's body and clothing.” (Increased time on Facebook…body images). Although it might see...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Media And Body Image

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social media is the reason why kids and adults are feeling unsure about appearances and even personalities.”Experimental studies have linked exposure to the thin ideal in mass media to body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and disordered eating among women.”(Media-Saturated).

    Read More

  • Social Media Has a Negative Effect on Body Image and Self Esteem

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social media has become one of the most popular sources of communication for the upcoming generation. For young people growing up in today’s society, social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have provided pictures and news that have become the first thing that their eyes see in the morning and the last thing that they see before bed. These pictures have provided unrealistic standards as to what is considered beautiful in today’s society. As young people refer to these images as a form of comparison, it has created harmful circumstances. These influences on the lives of young people have forced them to take extreme measures and in some cases, has been the cause of death. Social media in today’s society has proven to have a negative impact on the way young people, specifically females, view their bodies. Unrealistic beauty standards, dangerous comparisons and disorders have all been a result to the increase in social media and the impact that it has on the lives of young people.

    Read More

  • Media Promoting Unhealthy Body Type Essay

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since these men and women do not see their current body type presented in the media, they may seek methods to copy what they see. While this is not entirely the media’s fault, the media does have a huge impact on how people view themselves. People who spend too much time on social media are at risk of developing eating disorders (Clark 2). Seeing other people sharing photos of their body will make those viewing it feel inadequate and self-conscious about their own body.

    Read More

  • Descriptive Essay On The Beach

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    I use any excuse to walk along the ocean, especially alone and without my phone. The wind blew cold air, but the sun’s warm rays kept my body at a perfect temperature. It was three in the afternoon and I was calm.

    Read More

More about Creative Writing: Beach Vacation

Open Document