The 5 year old girls stared at the moving screen with wonder. Mouths open and eyes glued as Ashley Tisdale strutted up and down the stage singing ‘Bop to the top’ from High School Musical. “She’s so pretty,” one of the girls managed to say, her heart beating fast, as the excitement grew within her. “When I grow up, I want to be just like her!” another one exclaimed. The girls were packed tightly together sitting on a black futon in the living room. They had closed the curtains to make it seem more like a movie theatre and were fidgeting in their seats, like any other 5 years olds would. “Don’t forget, shes so popular too,” said the third little girl. And just like that, Sharpay Evans became these girl’s role model, not because of her acting skills or the fact that she could sing well, but purely for the fact that she was popular and pretty.
It turns out this was not an isolated incident. These days media tends to corrupt young girls minds and snatch away their childhood by shaping them to believe that the only way to be happy, is to be perfect. Sadly they are not just being told this by TV shows and movies but also by their best friends, their dolls. To girls, dolls are everything. Girls have to take care them, yet the doll is still their role model. Girls spend countless hours playing with their dolls and it is known that the more time you spend with something the more influence it has on you. But what happens when that influence the dolls give are negative?
Bratz dolls come with high fashion clothes and accessories, that include, high heels, purses, makeup and even fashion magazines. The slogans that come with the dolls are definitely worse. They say things like “passion for fashion”, “above all else be beautiful” and even their sportz bratz says “It’s not about how you play the game, its about how good you look when you win”. There is even a Bratz boyz line of dolls which are supposedly the Bratz boyfriends. And even the Baby Bratz comes with studded earrings, manicured nails and designer diapers. Do we really want young girls wearing thick makeup, high heels and having boyfriends? I don’t think so.
Now lets not forget the worlds favourite doll, barbie. You're probably remembering all those times that barbie helped you get through those rough primary school years, but did you know all the harmful effects barbie was leaving on you? The average girls, aged 3-11 owns around 10 barbies and as mentioned before the more time you spend with something the more impact it leaves on you. Barbie has had a countless number of jobs in the past years including, teachers, doctors and even a army officer but yet what is her most famous and advertised look? A skinny teenage fashion designer. In 1965 Mattel came out with a ‘slumber party barbie’. This barbie came with a weighing scale set to 110 lbs as well as a book on how to lose weight, which said things like ‘Don’t eat’.
In the US there are approximately 5 million females under the age of 20 who have eating disorders. Out of that most people said they became conscious about their weight between the ages 4 and 6 and that their dolls had some impact on them. Little girls spend hours putting on makeup, ruining their hair with dyes and curling irons and even pleading their parents to buy them the trendiest clothes. In a survey of 9 - 10 year olds, 40% said that they had tried to lose weight. Of course this doesn’t just end there.
It is known that kids minds are more open and can be easily molded into acting or thinking a certain way. It is also known that the things you learn when you are younger stick to you forever, especially when you see them throughout your life. This is exactly what is happening to young girls now. It just moves from the perfect barbie dolls to the to the perfect models on posters and magazines.
Blayke Roberts a model for the ‘healthy is the new skinny’ campaign said, “People kept saying, ‘oh you won’t fit into that, i’ll just find someone else’ and hearing that everyday and seeing all these other perfect models every day really gets to you. I used to think maybe I am too ugly and fat for this. I went to extreme measures, like eating 700 calories a day, running over three miles a day and I eventually became so sick.” This is just one out of many examples of girls who have been harshly affected by the media around her. And all of this implicitly began with those perfect little dolls and perfect girls on TV.
Another woman in the UK, named Sarah Burge spent over 1 million dollars to achieve the barbie look and currently spends over 10,000 thousands dollars a year to maintain that look. As you can tell this all started by her playing with her little barbie dolls.
Adding to that, another negative impact caused by the media is the expectations. According to Akanksha Shukla, a grade 8 student, “In a lot of shows, the actors choose to play younger roles than they actually are. So even now when I’m older, when I look at TV shows and someone’s playing a 14 year old, they are not going to look 14, they look 16. And then I look at myself and say, I’m 14 but compared to them I look about 4. I don’t dress the way they do but I feel, should I be dressing they way they are? The idea that they paint is that you have to pretty, popular and somehow manage to stay smart and when I was younger I felt like I had to have that one best friend and I had to have a boyfriend and I had to have all these things and if I didn’t I wasn't a real teenager. It’s not always true, just the media makes it seem like that.”
Akanksha’s comments reminds us on how many mind games the media can play on a young girl's mind. It can make you doubt yourself, want to change yourself and creates expectations that are beyond reachable for the average person. Do we really want this to be what is going on in little girls heads?
Do you remember at the start of this article there were three little girls watching high school musical and wishing they were Sharpay. Well one of those girls was this reporter. Young girls don’t realize what is happening to them while it is happening to them. That is why we need to make everyone aware of the negative impacts media is leaving on little girls. I was lucky enough to have heard a talk from Dannielle Miller who inspired me to take a stand. Dannielle Miller is feminist, counselor and presenter of self esteem workshops for girls. According to her, here are some solutions to this horrifying problem.
The first thing you should do is deconstruct the media. This means that you should look at it from a critical angle and start a conversation with your friends or family about what it really means. Another thing you can do is reassure young girls. Go out and let them know what the media is actually doing and make them aware. If we can stop this problem right at the source, it could actually save many girls from disaster. The third thing you could do is connect with other like- minded girls. I’m pretty sure you would be able to find a couple girls that care about this issue and then don’t forget to speak up. Your voice is a powerful tool and if everyone was aware about what was going on, I could assure you that there would be change, and there needs to be.
Written by Aditi
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
October 28, 2014
October 8, 2014
#STOPTHETWERKTEAM
After I paid the driver and jumped out of the cab, and walked down the steps into ‘The Cathay’. I was early for dance so I didn’t have to do my usual speed walk to the escalator that lead down to the basement.
As I was walking past the oh so popular Starbucks, I happened to notice a very young girl, by the looks of it a 9 year old. But what shocked me was that she had an unnecessarily large amount of makeup that was spread across her still undeveloped face. It was quite a sight. However her bright green crop top, and short shorts just added insult to injury. I was shocked, but I soon realised that she was pretty brought up on people dressing in revealing clothes and wearing a ton of makeup. One of which is a new song ‘Anaconda’.
You may think that Nicki Minaj’s latest hit ‘Anaconda’ is about her in a bakery asking for food for her pet snake, but no. Just like many other songs nowadays, it is promoting the idea of sex, drugs, alcohol and many other things not suitable for the targeted age group. You may wonder why songs like ‘Anaconda’ are targeted at children and young adults. Well, anyone around the age of 40 and above are probably too busy listening to Bob Dylan and Billy Joel on their cassettes. Anyone in their 20’s-30’s probably think its just more modern-day garbage full of autotune and meaningless lyrics. That leaves the pre-teens and the teenagers, still impressionable and raised up on the tragic evolution of Hannah Montana, and a time where technology rules the world. They are constantly under the influence of photoshopped models and profligate behaviour.
Almost every month a new trend is created. Whether its taking drugs or forcing yourself to throw up so you can be called ‘pretty’. “I think this trend of having a “perfect body” that is often referred to in recent pop culture gives young girls the impression that they need to look a certain way to be accepted.” Akanksha explains. “I think its gross!” spat Kiana, disgraced at the behavior of children nowadays.
Is beauty really a necessity to the world? How come all those ‘cheesy’ sayings like “dont judge a book by its cover” and “its what in the inside that counts” are not actually put into use?! I want to promote the idea that modern day music has become auto tune, and a catchy beat. Everything is all about being top on the charts and having money and fame.
If celebrities want to behave like role-models (given that they realise most of their views and likes on youtube are from kids) then they should behave more like ones.
As lady Gaga once said “Baby, you were born this way.”
Written by Patrick.
As I was walking past the oh so popular Starbucks, I happened to notice a very young girl, by the looks of it a 9 year old. But what shocked me was that she had an unnecessarily large amount of makeup that was spread across her still undeveloped face. It was quite a sight. However her bright green crop top, and short shorts just added insult to injury. I was shocked, but I soon realised that she was pretty brought up on people dressing in revealing clothes and wearing a ton of makeup. One of which is a new song ‘Anaconda’.
You may think that Nicki Minaj’s latest hit ‘Anaconda’ is about her in a bakery asking for food for her pet snake, but no. Just like many other songs nowadays, it is promoting the idea of sex, drugs, alcohol and many other things not suitable for the targeted age group. You may wonder why songs like ‘Anaconda’ are targeted at children and young adults. Well, anyone around the age of 40 and above are probably too busy listening to Bob Dylan and Billy Joel on their cassettes. Anyone in their 20’s-30’s probably think its just more modern-day garbage full of autotune and meaningless lyrics. That leaves the pre-teens and the teenagers, still impressionable and raised up on the tragic evolution of Hannah Montana, and a time where technology rules the world. They are constantly under the influence of photoshopped models and profligate behaviour.
Almost every month a new trend is created. Whether its taking drugs or forcing yourself to throw up so you can be called ‘pretty’. “I think this trend of having a “perfect body” that is often referred to in recent pop culture gives young girls the impression that they need to look a certain way to be accepted.” Akanksha explains. “I think its gross!” spat Kiana, disgraced at the behavior of children nowadays.
Is beauty really a necessity to the world? How come all those ‘cheesy’ sayings like “dont judge a book by its cover” and “its what in the inside that counts” are not actually put into use?! I want to promote the idea that modern day music has become auto tune, and a catchy beat. Everything is all about being top on the charts and having money and fame.
If celebrities want to behave like role-models (given that they realise most of their views and likes on youtube are from kids) then they should behave more like ones.
As lady Gaga once said “Baby, you were born this way.”
Written by Patrick.
Body Image and Teengers
The flush of the toilet and the running of the taps being turned on and off filled the air, as girls amble into the bathroom stalls. Girls gather around the mirror fixing their hair, clothes and makeup. As more and more girls walk in, some of them exchange glances. Some will even cast their eyes up and down over the girls next to them, giving them the once over, judging them. For some girls, in trying to fix their hair, you could tell by the frown upon their faces that they are unhappy by what they see. “Do I look fat?” “Why am I so ugly?” “If only I was skinnier/taller/darker!” I wish I had clear skin!” Sound familiar? Well, these are things that many teenagers say to themselves. For some girls how they look and how they feel about themselves can impact them greatly. Many will lose confidence if they are not happy about their appearances especially for those that really see having the perfect body is of great importance. Their self-esteem suddenly becomes tied to how they look.
Indeed, as teenagers grow they tend to care about more on how they look, which all too often become their main focus.
Girl’s self-esteem begins to decline as early as at 5th grade. In one survey it was found that 59% of 5-12th grade girls were dissatisfied with their body shape and 47% of the same girls, said they wanted to lose weight because of photos they saw in magazines. There have been many studies on the effects of pop culture and social media exposure on body image and self esteem. Many of these studies suggest that they set unrealistic expectations about how they should look through the use of perfect looking models.
Most average teenagers get more than two hours of media exposure daily. Being exposed to so much media makes a huge impact on girls nowadays. Glamorised advertising of the perfect girl/women undermines a teenager’s confidence in and comfort with her own body, leading to anxiety, shame, and difficulty in developing a healthy body image and can impact on their self-esteem. Akanksha Shukla, a grade 8 student, makes a comment about the effects of social media, she says, “It makes girls feel like they aren’t enough and makes them feel like they have to aspire towards being like the female icons in films and magazines, which discourages us and gives us a false idea about what we should look like”. Images of tall, skinny beautiful girls and women are everywhere giving us a mental image of what an “ideal” girl/women should look like. When young teenagers look at these so called ‘role models’ they question why they don’t always look perfect and that leads to low self-esteem.
Teenagers with good self-esteem are often confident about themselves and are positive towards life. Teenagers with low self-esteem may not always feel confidant and like what they look like. They may have a poor sense of self worth and would find it hard to see that they are an important and a capable person. Body image is a major factor in self-esteem. Body image is how you see and feel about your body. Poor body image comes from negative thoughts and feelings about your appearance. Where as a healthy body image is made up of thoughts and feelings that are positive. Body image and self-esteem reflect each other. If you don’t like your body, it’s not easy to feel good about yourself.
It is hard for parents to know how to guide their children in the right direction so that they grow to be confident and secure of who they are and what they look like. Glamorised media exposure has been linked to eating disorders, low self-esteem and major depression or depressed mood, which is the most common mental health problem in girls and women. So what can parents do to ensure that this does not happen?
Parents can help their teenagers develop a positive attitude in a number of ways.
They should limit the amount of social media exposure and time spent looking at the TV and online. They should discuss body image issues and ensure that their children are aware that the images on TV and social media sites are glamorised and not realistic and encourage their child to be healthy by being positive in things that they do well in. Although the media, peers, and pop culture have a big influence on teens, parents are still more important when it comes to having an impact on their child’s developing self-esteem.
Other ways that they can help is not to talk about themselves and complain about their own appearance in front of the children, as they can pick up on these negative comments and subconsciously see them as being important, that having the perfect figure is something to strive towards because parents without knowing, are over emphasising the importance of looking good. Another thing is that parents should not be judgmental on their own children’s appearance as again it sends the wrong message. Instead of focusing on appearances, parents could focus on their efforts and what they have done either in school or in a sporting activity etc.
Although pop culture does glamorise people, teenagers need to be aware that it is very unrealistic and that they should work on developing a healthy attitude in their own life through their hobbies and things they enjoy doing in school and out. Girls need to realise that they are all unique individuals, and don’t have to be like everyone else. What matters is on the inside and not on the outside.'
Written by Elizabeth
Indeed, as teenagers grow they tend to care about more on how they look, which all too often become their main focus.
Girl’s self-esteem begins to decline as early as at 5th grade. In one survey it was found that 59% of 5-12th grade girls were dissatisfied with their body shape and 47% of the same girls, said they wanted to lose weight because of photos they saw in magazines. There have been many studies on the effects of pop culture and social media exposure on body image and self esteem. Many of these studies suggest that they set unrealistic expectations about how they should look through the use of perfect looking models.
Most average teenagers get more than two hours of media exposure daily. Being exposed to so much media makes a huge impact on girls nowadays. Glamorised advertising of the perfect girl/women undermines a teenager’s confidence in and comfort with her own body, leading to anxiety, shame, and difficulty in developing a healthy body image and can impact on their self-esteem. Akanksha Shukla, a grade 8 student, makes a comment about the effects of social media, she says, “It makes girls feel like they aren’t enough and makes them feel like they have to aspire towards being like the female icons in films and magazines, which discourages us and gives us a false idea about what we should look like”. Images of tall, skinny beautiful girls and women are everywhere giving us a mental image of what an “ideal” girl/women should look like. When young teenagers look at these so called ‘role models’ they question why they don’t always look perfect and that leads to low self-esteem.
Teenagers with good self-esteem are often confident about themselves and are positive towards life. Teenagers with low self-esteem may not always feel confidant and like what they look like. They may have a poor sense of self worth and would find it hard to see that they are an important and a capable person. Body image is a major factor in self-esteem. Body image is how you see and feel about your body. Poor body image comes from negative thoughts and feelings about your appearance. Where as a healthy body image is made up of thoughts and feelings that are positive. Body image and self-esteem reflect each other. If you don’t like your body, it’s not easy to feel good about yourself.
It is hard for parents to know how to guide their children in the right direction so that they grow to be confident and secure of who they are and what they look like. Glamorised media exposure has been linked to eating disorders, low self-esteem and major depression or depressed mood, which is the most common mental health problem in girls and women. So what can parents do to ensure that this does not happen?
Parents can help their teenagers develop a positive attitude in a number of ways.
They should limit the amount of social media exposure and time spent looking at the TV and online. They should discuss body image issues and ensure that their children are aware that the images on TV and social media sites are glamorised and not realistic and encourage their child to be healthy by being positive in things that they do well in. Although the media, peers, and pop culture have a big influence on teens, parents are still more important when it comes to having an impact on their child’s developing self-esteem.
Other ways that they can help is not to talk about themselves and complain about their own appearance in front of the children, as they can pick up on these negative comments and subconsciously see them as being important, that having the perfect figure is something to strive towards because parents without knowing, are over emphasising the importance of looking good. Another thing is that parents should not be judgmental on their own children’s appearance as again it sends the wrong message. Instead of focusing on appearances, parents could focus on their efforts and what they have done either in school or in a sporting activity etc.
Although pop culture does glamorise people, teenagers need to be aware that it is very unrealistic and that they should work on developing a healthy attitude in their own life through their hobbies and things they enjoy doing in school and out. Girls need to realise that they are all unique individuals, and don’t have to be like everyone else. What matters is on the inside and not on the outside.'
Written by Elizabeth
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