P.Y Mahiri
I remember being a teenager and being so confused on how I am suppose to look, dress, and act. The media taught me so much at a young age. Girls were supposed to have barbies, while boys played with G.I Joe's. I don't know what caused me to act like a "girl", I just thought it was naturally ascribed in me to be this way. It turns out that the way that girls and boys are supposed to act is socially constructed. As a teenager woman and girls portrayed in the media as very thin and beautiful, and I thought that was the way I was supposed to be. It became important to me to be sexually attractive by any means necessary. I believed that was the value of a woman.
Social construction and the media is the main cause of eating disorders with young girls. Girls start to believe the image that is seen on the television is real when it is not. Females in the media are portrayed as sexual objects and dominated by men. Young girls start to believe that the only value they have is sexual. It is sad to know that girls will grow up with the insecurities the media is causing. Most women in ads and on television are 20 pounds smaller than the average woman. Girls believe that the women they see in the media is the ideal beauty, when most women do not look like that. The image that is shown in our culture is the definition of beauty to most young women.
The truth is the image in the media is not real and young girls need to know this. Women are worth more than their sexuality. The media is causing eating disorders, insecurities, and teen pregnancy.
I remember being a teenager and being so confused on how I am suppose to look, dress, and act. The media taught me so much at a young age. Girls were supposed to have barbies, while boys played with G.I Joe's. I don't know what caused me to act like a "girl", I just thought it was naturally ascribed in me to be this way. It turns out that the way that girls and boys are supposed to act is socially constructed. As a teenager woman and girls portrayed in the media as very thin and beautiful, and I thought that was the way I was supposed to be. It became important to me to be sexually attractive by any means necessary. I believed that was the value of a woman.
Social construction and the media is the main cause of eating disorders with young girls. Girls start to believe the image that is seen on the television is real when it is not. Females in the media are portrayed as sexual objects and dominated by men. Young girls start to believe that the only value they have is sexual. It is sad to know that girls will grow up with the insecurities the media is causing. Most women in ads and on television are 20 pounds smaller than the average woman. Girls believe that the women they see in the media is the ideal beauty, when most women do not look like that. The image that is shown in our culture is the definition of beauty to most young women.
The truth is the image in the media is not real and young girls need to know this. Women are worth more than their sexuality. The media is causing eating disorders, insecurities, and teen pregnancy.
I completely agree with you. As a younger brother to an older sister I completely endorse whatever you say. I think its unrealistic the media shows girls that they should be. I think that ultimately you can only pray that your daughter/sister turns out OK. I also think that parents should reinforce their children because nobody loves them more than their parents. If you leave an empty hole then you can be assured that the media will fill it up directly or indirectly through peers.
ReplyDeleteHowever I don't think that it is possible to control the media. Any ideas?
I agree with you, the media is destroying our young women. I have a beautiful 17 year old daughter, she could probably be a model, she actually talks about being a model often. The differnce between my daughter and a lot of these young women aspiring to be models is that she's very confident about herself and she loves herself.. She's not taken in by these advertisements that's telling her she has to be a size 0. She knows brains are as important if not more important than beauty. We always told her that looks and beauty fade away, brains are with you forever. I think that it is important to reach these young women early; in elementary school. We should teach them to love themselves, and not think that they have to starve themselves to be beautiful.
ReplyDelete