Body Image

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Everyone who brings home a bad report card knows that with a little effort they can better their grades. Yet there are some things in life that you cant change and the way you look is one of them. In today’s society teenage girls face an ongoing battle to attain the perfect body image. The following paper discusses the definition of perfect, why we strive to attain this impossible ideal, why we don’t fight to change the image, and the consequences that can result from this battle to please.

A dictionary definition of perfect is: 1. complete, having all its essential qualities 2. faultless, excellent 3. exact, precise 4. entire, total(1). Now does this seem like a reasonable goal to strive for? Absolutely not, it is impossible, yet so many teenage girls feel that perfection is within their reach. Society plays a massive role in influencing our lives and our judgment. The emphasis placed on looking good in our society clouds our vision of what is truly important.
Western culture portrays certain morals and ideals that girls feel they must live up to. Society’s ideals themselves are largely influenced by those of the media, which in return puts added stress on the image problems that teenage girls face. Every time they look around themselves. "[They] loose [their] sense of self, individuality and fall victim to narrow definitions of beauty defined by the media. The media acts as a propaganda machine determined to shake our confidence, remind us we aren’t good enough, we haven’t made it, that we just simply don’t measure up."(2) All we see in the media these days are tall, thin, beautiful girls with great skin and even better figures. The media sends out the message that the ideal body should resemble that of a Barbie doll. Girls are supposed to try and look like this, so they will "fit in." Girls feel that with an "ideal" body comes power in society, and they are shown this starting at a very young age; She will be a woman like all the women in the thousand of ads and movies and television programs she has seen since she was very little.(3) The media is sending out negative messages to millions of vulnerable teenage girls striving to be accepted in today’s society and this is causing extreme problems. The media image is only going to become more and more destructive because, while the media ideal female is getting smaller, the ...

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...ns when this battle for the impossible goes too far. These girls need to start fighting for change. Women need to be committed to changing the present body image ideal to a new one that is tolerant of varied size and weight. They must form a new social group whose rules and codes for a body image ideal allow all women to be beautiful in her own way. (22) These women need to learn to accept who they are inside and out. If they can’t do this on their own, then they need to seek professional help in order to get to the root of the problem.
The most important thing is that they realize that they need help, and seek it as soon as possible. They should see someone who can help them make a healthy eating and work out plan to follow. And if they don’t feel comfortable talking to a professional, than they can talk to someone they trust. Another option that can help one get their life back on track is becoming involved in sports. Sports can help you make new friends and get into better physical shape, which will in turn brighten your mood and increase your self esteem. With increased self- esteem comes increased confidence, and that is key to accepting yourself mirror reflection included.

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