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Challenges teenage problems face
Challenges teenage problems face
Importance of self image
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Everyone, no matter who they are, has worried about their appearance in a negative way. I am among those in society who have struggled with appearance and took it to a point where it was terribly unhealthy. The following story is about my journey where throughout my life I struggle with my own self image.
My story starts at the beginning, in this case, my childhood. In my youth, I was a free spirit with no care in the world. I didn’t think much of what others thought about me, I just acted like myself and that is what mattered. I did not live in fear. I wasn’t afraid to pursue new experiences. I often wore all sorts of clothes because I loved to be someone who I wasn’t just for my enjoyment. Sometimes I even dressed up in girls clothing and
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One stemmed from my doctor when I was fifteen saying I won’t grow anymore and I’ll remain around five feet and four inches. This is unquestionably short for a guy at the age of 15 and even for an adult man since I wouldn’t grow anymore. I knew I could not modify my height, but still hated how tiny I was and I was lowering my self-esteem to unhealthy levels.
My height wasn’t the only flaw. Two more prominent flaws began to stick out to me my glasses and my muscle mass. I had been wearing glasses since I was eleven, but at that instant I felt they made me ugly and different than everyone else. For muscle mass, I was also unusually thin for a fifteen-year-old boy (about one hundred and eight pounds) and had barely any muscle compared to a majority of boys. These two problems combined with my height and many more flaws took a heavy toll on me; making me feel that I was doomed to be ugly forever.
The damage I was doing to myself was unhealthy, but I still continued to feel so ugly. There was a point where I felt I was going crazy. Feeling unloved by anyone based on my repulsive appearance. Not only did this affect my opinion about myself but started to bleed through my own skills. I told myself, “I will never be good at anything. I am untalented, unskilled and never will be
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I was slightly afraid of what others would think even though it’s not uncommon to see men with pierced ears. I wanted to pierce them for me and me only and since then I have loved them ever since.
I discovered what I liked about my body and what I put on it through the trial and error process. I painted my nails and I still do on occasion, but it isn’t my kind of style. Fashion, on the other hand, I started getting back into. I tried stepping up my apparel from careless and sloppy to well attired and presentable. I began to eat healthier to help my mind and body. I even changed my hairstyle and was so happy with the way it was cut and it probably became one of my best physical features.
Through experimentation, people often gave me compliments which I highly appreciated, but I have experienced judgement which was what I was afraid of from the
When we feel the need to change outward appearance we need to be concerned and aware of how those changes effect the person we are within as we are about appearance. External beauty is not as attractive if the person inside is not the type of person we would want to be with. Appearance can be initially blinding and deceptive. When you being to look beyond the outer layers of appearance and into the character of the person you are relating to you can quickly find the beauty alone is not enough to sustain a meaningful relationship. Beauty can fade and appearance change as we grow older but who we are at the core should remain constant or improve with age and wisdom. Kit Reed’s story shows the high cost of how focusing only on your outer appearance to the detriment of the person you are can
When you look in the mirror you see your imperfections. You see your perceived flaws; things that nobody else recognizes about you and you think that there has to be some way to change it. In today’s world, society places impossible standards on the way you’re supposed to look and recently young American males in their teen age years have become increasingly self-conscious about their physical appearance. In the article “The Troubled Life of Boys; The Bully in the Mirror” author Stephen Hall investigates the changes and causes of the increase in males becoming concerned with wanting to be more muscular.
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
I did not have the perfect body. I suddenly became aware of my appearance and made sure I wore makeup every day, especially on days I had Art I with Eric. Before every class I would brush my hair and put on lip gloss in order to try and fit in. To grab Eric’s attention I thought I had to wear clothes that made me appear slimmer and live up to society’s expectations of beauty. Pipher defines this as “lookism, which is the evaluation of a person solely on the basis of appearance” (346). Every time I talked to Eric I assumed he was judging me by the way I looked and not by my personality or values. I constantly felt like I was not good enough and that my body type was not the kind that guys found attractive. Pipher states that girls “sense the pressure to be someone they are not” (346). Every day I walked around acting in a play where I could not be myself. The more I put forth an act the more I felt that I did not fit in. Adolescent girls find themselves “vulnerable to the hurricane” (346) of judgement and predetermined expectations of women. After a while, Eric finally gave me the attention I longed for and we started to date. I had never been in a relationship before and I never knew how much tension it would cause between me and my
Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.
In society, appearance is an important entity on how we live our lives and how others perceive an individual. Appearance also can dictate how we perceive ourselves and it can also guide how our future can formulate, like occupation and personal endeavors. In three works of literature I will illustrate how appearance is an extensive focus, and how appearance is used in the works to display personality and to display how the story will proceed and conclude.
I perceive that attempting for physical beauty thru surgery and other medical processes can put you in deep psychological and emotional impediments. Evidently, people who pursue cosmetic surgery are unhappy with some part of themselves. But the discontent may go far deeper than body image. Some people who are going under the knife are going through a depression and alcohol abuse. Possibly this is for the psychological benefits of these procedures are temporary. It was so disappointing to think that after you've fixed everything you assumed was incorrect with you, and you find out you're still
Today, wearing a business-casual purple turtleneck, gray peacoat and glasses, this confident, capable woman points to the area under her chin. “I’ve just noticed this,” she said, running her fingers under her jaw, across a section of her neck that she believes is dangerously bordering on a double-chin. Like most people, she sees nothing unusual about her physical concerns. “Everyone worries about aspects of their appearance,” she said as she turns her attention away from the mirror and finishes getting dressed. Many people have concerns with the way they look, but some have obsessive, irrational concerns.
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart” (Kahlil). People focus more on the outward appearance instead of the inward appearance. One’s inward appearance is comprised of their character, values, morals, and the true nature of their heart. On the other hand, the outward appearance is composed of one’s dress and grooming. The inward and outward appearance determines whether or not a person is ugly or beautiful. The choices that we make also define whether or not one is ugly or beautiful; choices made in the past can sometimes be repeated in the future.
Being beautiful, being perfect, is what most of society cares about in this day and age. For example, people value getting rid of any to all imperfections, like having a bit of baby fat, or getting rid of scars. People are put down by the comments of strangers, and more so the comments made from people of their inner circle. People feel ugly and hate themselves for things that they have no control over. Some do radical things to get rid of these imperfections by getting surgery or taking pills. Even though not all people judge minor blemishes the view of one’s self is the most important view a person could have, and if that identity is under attack it could ruin a person 's self confidence. The story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne also has aspects of self-confidence and identity that are relevant to the current times.
In our society, appearance and its importance might not look like a problem because of how much it is present in our lives and how it has been presented to us but it is important because we face problems like bullying at every level from child to adult and lower self-esteem that are highly correlated to suicide. The problems that we face today related to appearances are important so this topic deserve attention. Because it affects children, parents, models, teenagers and everybody, we s...
I strongly believe that the class, HD341 Communication for Empowerment fulfill my goals in taking this class because it is giving me many opportunities to make connection with other classmates. I usually check in by sharing my stories at school, at work, and any issues that I am still concerned. Therefore, verbal communication is an area I frequently use in class to communicate with my peers as well as my professor. I also have active listening my classmate’s stories and have critical thinking to giving feedbacks to them.
Today, the idea of beauty has been turned into unattainable forms by media, trends, and marketing. To reach the social’s standard of beauty, many people have gone anorexic, bulimic, or have been addicted to plastic surgery. Many people are wasting money on beauty products to make themselves prettier, but they forget that their inner beauty is more important. Inner beauty is an essential key to the overall appearance of someone. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and is the combination of inner and outer attractiveness of one
In this essay, I will compare people that are obsessed with physical appearance and appearances. It is not strange for individuals to worry about physical appearance. In fact, we could argue that we are living in a culture that weighs the most up-to-date trends or newest fashions more heavily than more pressing issues that affects society. As a result, many people become obsessed with their physical appearance in order to keep up with trends and fashions.
Image is extremely important in society, where as much emphasis has been placed on the physical appearance as it is the easiest way to form an opinion about something or someone. Judgments and opinions are often placed on people based on how they look, act, dress, behave, or simply how someone presents themselves. Popular arenas where image has and continues to be influential, are in the schools, politics, and the media as well as many others. Putting forward a good image can be quite challenging for those people who are dominant public figures. Nevertheless, maintaining a good image for many people have been worthwhile as it provides them with opportunities, create relationships, business ventures etc.