The video we saw in class today on the effect of media on young girls was interesting but the points were made were sadly pretty familiar to any girl who has grown up in the past three decades. The comments made by the girls really reflected the mixed messages of the media; the girls were able to see through the images of women on TV and in magazines, but they still tried to follow what they were being told, such as “be pretty,” “wear make-up,” “be thin,” and “be sexy.”
I don’t think that anyone intends for young girls to feel as though they should be thinking about sex or trying to fit the thin, beautiful ideal of actresses and models. But it’s an inevitable side effect when you market these ideas to older women; young girls try to emulate women who they respect and admire, and this can lead to some pretty damaging things, like anorexia and sex at too early of an age.
What would help most is to stop perpetuating these unrealistic stereotypes in the media, whether they’re marketed to older women or pre-teens. Education also plays a big role, and we should be teaching how to have a positive body image in schools. Too often schools focus on the negatives of health – they measure the body fat of their students to determine which ones are overweight or obese, they force tests of athletic skill, and they talk about sex as something forbidden. I think schools could play a huge role in improving both physical and mental health if they changed their tactics. Unfortunately, girls do face huge issues today related to body image and sex, and we can’t rely on the media changing anytime soon.
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