Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Social media has a negative impact on young people’s body image.
negative body image and the media
effect of media industry on our youth
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Entertainment Industry's Standards of Beauty and Impact on Youth
“Man, I am hungry. But if I eat, I will never be able to look like that celebrity.” These words could come out of a typical teenager’s mouth. If a teenager sees someone on TV, in a movie, or in a magazine that he or she wishes to look like, he or she may try anything necessary to accomplish it. The standards of beauty set by the entertainment industry today are having a negative effect on today’s youth.
Have you ever heard of Calista Flockhart, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jennifer Aniston, or Antonio Sabato Jr.? They are all celebrities that the typical teenager idolizes, but these idolizations are not necessarily a good thing. Unfortunately, they are all setting standards of beauty that are not only unrealistic but could prove to be dangerous when trying to be attained. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of eating disorders, steroid use, and plastic surgery among teenagers. The main reason for this trend is that “the beauty ideal has shifted towards an increasing emphasis on thinness” (Brown).
In the article “Body Obsessed”, Rebecca Barry says that the world is sending out many mixed messages about being a girl (Barry 112). Today, women in the entertainment industry are put into many different roles, but all of the roles have one thing in common. They all tend to be very beautiful and very thin. In fact, while the average body weight of women has increased, the majority of women on TV and in magazines have remained thin (Brown). This makes many people believe that actresses will try anything to lose weight. The most common ways are by either exercising or by trying one of many different kind...
... middle of paper ...
... in any way, shape, or form define who they are as a person. Our main message to our youth should be: “Self-esteem and confidence must start from within not from our outward appearance” (Brown).
Works Cited
Barry, Rebecca. “Body Obsessed.” Seventeen. July 1995: 112. Infotrac. Online. 24 Oct. 1999
Brown, Crystal C. “Modern Beauty Standards Unrealistic.” The Capitol Times. Vol. 2 No. 21. Online. 03 Nov. 1999. Available: http://www.capitoltimes.com.
McClelland, Susan. “The Lure of the Body Image: In Their Quest for the Beefcake Look, Some Men Try Extreme Measures.” Maclean’s. 22 Feb. 1999: 38. Infotrac. Online. 18 Oct. 1999.
Stevens, Liz. “Today’s Teen Magazines May be Sending Mixed Messages to Girls.” Knight- Ridder/Tribune News Service. 14 July 1999. Infotrac. Online. 2 Nov. 1999.
... play. The story follows all of Aristotle’s guidelines and therefore must be viewed as a true Aristotelean tragedy: “for there never was a story of more woe/ then this of Juliet and her Romeo” (V, iii, 309-310).
A tragedy imitates the emotional events of life by showing instead of telling. It does not have to be an exact replication of life, but instead have some realistic aspects to it. This type of play is special because an event in the plot is caused by a preceding choice or action performed by the character. Therefore, unlike a story where occurrences are caused by coincidences, a tragedy must have events that inescapably connect to one another as a result of the characters’ choices. Consequently, this idea of cause and effect must direct the plot of the play until the protagonists have an unfortunate end. Thus, the audience watching the tragedy will experience fear and pity for the characters since their actions will lead to their dramatic downfall. Similarily, William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, conveys these fundamental ideas, but it mainly emphasizes on certain tragic concepts. These components, explained by Aristotle, certainly make this play a quintessence of tragedy. They support the chain of events in Romeo and Juliet by using character traits and majors events to connect the plot and illustrate how the characters create their own ending. For this reason, Romeo and Juliet is a genuine tragedy because of its use of significant, tragic elements; tragically-flawed protagonists; and inevitable fate.
It is considered that fate is what unites and separates Romeo and Juliet, however, Shakespeare suggests it is also partially due to the excessive emotions displayed by the “lovers” that evokes the denouement of the play. As the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is “too rash, too unadvised and too sudden”, their love is terminated in their calamitous deaths.
Serder, Kasey. (2005). Female body image and the Mass Media. Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard. Retrieved from https://www.westminstercollege.edu/myriad/index.cfm?parent=2514&detail=4475&content=4795
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, still-waking sleep, that is not what this is” (Shakespeare 1.1. 179-180). A string of contradictions explain the love story of Romeo and Juliet, a contradiction. Some critics consider this story a tragedy because Shakespeare once wrote; “the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves”. While others say it does not follow the standard Aristotelian form of tragedy (Krims 1). Romeo and Juliet can not be a tragedy because no flaw causes them to fall, the lovers, could not have controlled fate, and family and friends assisted them to their deaths.
When Romeo meets Juliet, he claimed to be immediately in love. Although he has been sulking over Rosaline, when he met Juliet, he states, “Did my heart love till now? forswear it sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Act 1.5 Lines 51-52). The entire time as he envisions love with Rosaline, it was all incoherent. Romeo’s impulsive attitude causes him to fall head over heels with Juliet, which begins the drama in this play.
The play Romeo and Juliet is a widely known tragedy written by Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet features two rival families and their children. When a daughter of Capulet and son of Montague meet at a party, sparks immediately fly. However, because of their families rivalry, they marry in secret, and were happy. That is until things took a turn for the worst. After an unexpected accident, Romeo is forced to leave the city, and he may never return. Juliet’s not sure she’ll ever see him again and tries to plan a way to be with Romeo, but ends up making things worse. It is an extremely tragic story. Or that’s what everyone is led to believe. However, the play Romeo and Juliet is in actuality a comedy. Between the overabundance of hyperbole, Paris’
If teens are constantly being exposed to television displaying images of beautiful and skinny people, they might think that they must sculpt themselves into fitting that image. According to author K Harrison exposure to fat character television produced dissatisfaction in the bodies of young teens (Harrison, 119-143). When teens become unsatisfied with their looks they may try to resort to unhealthy eating habits to meet their needs. The more exposure a child gets through television media the more vulnerable they are to eating disorders as a result of the weight related topics displayed. The National Institution on Media and Family states that “the commercials aimed at female viewers that ran during the television shows most often watched by icon girls also frequently used beautify as a product appeal (56 percent)”(National Institute on Media and Family,” Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders”). Examples of these are Revlon makeup and spray tan commercials. Both of these are examples of unnatural beauty promotions which lead to teens striving to look like someone of the ideal image.
...Romeo and Juliet’s “intention” was to live a happy life of love, but things take a dramatic turn when Romeo kills a prominent member of his lover’s family and is banished. The lovers ultimately both die. This change of tides in the play make the drama an Aristotelian tragedy.
Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet become embodiments of impulsiveness. Through their rash words and actions in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare sets forth that both are too hasty in their decisions, leading them into unfortunate events. As the plot unfolds, Romeo and Juliet’s futile love is torn apart by their family’s hate and animosity towards each other. Despite their constant struggle to let their love survive, it is doomed from the beginning of the tragedy. It is plain that lack of foresight and wisdom leads to disaster all around.
All in all, Romeo and Juliet is a true Aristotelian tragedy because of the characters, plot, and the fact that it triggers the emotions of pity and fear. All these concepts are outlined by Aristotle and need to be present in a tragedy. Because, all of the aspects of an Aristotelian tragedy are present the play is truly a tragedy. The tragedy has the perfect characters that experience an anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catastrophes. In short, Romeo and Juliet is a true Aristotelian tragedy.
Music and the relationships of music have changed drastically in our society. The course of studies and the evaluations of the applications of the technology of music, the making and the listening of music have changed in the way we listen to music, the styles of music in our society and in the media. The importance of the technology in music today, has, over the past century been charted through the study of musical examples and through viewing how human values are reflected in this century's timely music. There are very many different types of music that are listened to. There are readings, writings, lectures and discussions on all the different types of music.
Catharsis is shown throughout the play in many different ways, making it an Aristotelian tragedy. To begin, the audience feels the purging of catharsis directly after Romeo delivers his soliloquy in Act I, scene iv: “I fear, too early; for my mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/Shall bitterly begin his fearful date” (I, iv, 106-108). This soliloquy leaves the audience with fearful anticipation of coming events and how they will affect Romeo later on in the play. Another example of catharsis is exemplified when the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, meet for the first time. As Juliet says, “My only love, sprung from my only hate!” (I, v, 137) the audience feels extreme pity due to the fact that they know that these two people, who love each other, cannot be together because they are enemies. Yet, the reader wants them to be together, but know that it is impossible because of the blistering hatred of these two families. Aristotle explains that “tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to purge away their e...
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, is a well known play. That it is still performed in theaters and English classes to this day. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play about two star crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. They fall in love, despite of the feud between their families. They were forced to keep their love secret because of their families, and they also got married without their families figuring out. This story is still read now because of its strong usage of literary elements. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet endures time because of its expert use of literary elements including foreshadowing, metaphor, and simile.