The Media s Ideal Body - 1933 Words

The Media’s â€Å" Ideal Body† Todays media portrays a standard of beauty for women of an unrealistic weight and an overall appearance which leads people to believe they need to have an â€Å"ideal body†. In particular, girls, 91% of teen girls are unhappy with their bodies (Article: 11 facts about body image, Do something campaign). The teenage years are a time when people are naturally self conscious. Teens can be more vulnerable to media influences about body image and how they â€Å"should† look. In as single day we can be subjected by up to 500 advertisements. These ads portrayed perfectly airbrushed models that are unrealistically thin and have zero â€Å"flaws†. There are also numerous ads assuming we want and need to look like the models. They†¦show more content†¦She had the idle body image for that decade, tall with a wide bust and hips. In 1910-1920 when the flapper look was in, the ideal look was a skinny girl with a smaller bust. Around 1930-1940 during the war, big ger shoulder pads where the style with naturally curvy figures. In the 1950’s the big push to be curvy came as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly were huge influences. Everyone wanted an hourglass figure and being skinny was not in fashion. There were lots of ads about how to gain weight. Then in the 1960’s the media became interested in Twiggy, the skinny, boyish looking model. Their views changed to focus on the importance of being skinny. No matter the year or the â€Å"ideal body shape of the decade† the media has impacts on how we try to be and fix ourselves. We have recently seen more articles and public speeches on how the media is negatively influencing our society. People are beginning to realize how much of an influence the media is having on teens. There are many studies being conducted with middle and high school students proving information on the influence of advertising. Children are being influenced at such an early age that by the time they get into high school they already have low self esteem and want to change themselves to fit into the unrealistic standards of beauty they see advertised. There have been reports of anorexia starting as young as age 8( Article: Teen Anorexia Statistics, Newport Academy Teen Treatment Center). This problem