The media, magazines, television programs, movies, portray what good looking and beautiful IS!! But they are wrong. As beautiful as they might seem, the real fixation is that they are Photoshopped. I’m not saying all, however most of them. In such cases teens believe “OH IF I’M NOT SKINNY I’M NOT BEAUTIFUL”. Don’t get me wrong either. There are many skinny and beautiful; however they are naturally that way. They have always been that way, so don’t confuse yourself. If you accept who you are, you have that CONFIDENCE that you are beautiful in any way. You have to LOVE yourself and people will accept and love you as well.
If teens continue being followers they can end up ruining their lives; it can also lead them to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, which are the most common image disorders amongst teens.
Anorexia: obsessive fear of gaining weight. Anorexia can cause menstruation to stop and often leads to bone loss, loss of skin integrity, etc. It greatly stresses the heart, increasing the risk of heart attacks and related heart problems. The risk of death is greatly.
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as purging (self-induced vomiting, excessive use of excessive exercise). It can also lead them to so many other things that it’s unbelievable, like depression and low self esteem.
Eating disorders have ALWAYS been a problem; it’s not something that has just been exposed. This is a problem not only here but ALL around the world. Particularly teens are concerned about how they look and can feel self-conscious about their bodies. This can be especially true when they are going through puberty and undergo dramatic physical changes and face new social pressures.
I took the time to ask the teens if they believe those ridiculous magazine and television shows. Is the media perfectly right in depicting what is BEAUTY? Here is what they had to say:
Merci: No they are not! Although I doubt myself at times with the things I read.
Ali: I don’t think so. I think that beauty comes in all forms and those magazines show otherwise. Also I believe that beauty doesn’t necessarily have to be on the outside but on the inside which matters most.
Mar: I believe us boys don’t have much of a problem worrying what those books have to say.
Carly Ann: Hmm certainly NOT. I think that everyone has their own definition of what is true beauty. Magazines and TV shows more than likely chose the skinniest, tallest girls with big boobs, long pretty hair, etc. In that industry there’s a certain standard. So a girl with a full figure would have the slight chance of being on any front page of a magazine. What they try to do is depict what is beauty in order to sell products.
Ivani: Well magazines kind of help with beauty tips, but don’t take advantage of it. These tips can motivate you towards your goal, not in the bad way – but helps you to keep on working out until you reach for what you were striving for.
Georginia: Nope, cuz beauty comes in all shapes and sizes…Magazines and TV shows only show what they think is beauty, not what it actually is.
Jasmine: No, because those Magazines and TV shows only show what is convenient for them so they can sell their product.
James: I don’t care what those magazines show; I mean I accept myself for whom and what I do.
Kadizha: Personally, I believe beauty is what you want it to be. If you find beauty in the most horrid of images then that is your perception of what beauty means to you. Magazines and ads give what they personify beauty to be, however they fail to realize that not everyone is a size 1 with long beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. I believe that they paint this image that they percept beauty to be and this just turns us human morsels into followers of what the world deems to be beautiful instead of what we should believe beauty to be. Beauty is an inner feeling that is shown from the inside out. It is not an image but a feeling; a pure feeling of happiness and satisfaction of your inner self stating that you are a satisfied with whom you are and not wanting to be what others portray you to be.
Gabriela: I think it’s important for a girl to be inspired, picking up beauty tips and style but they should not take it to the extreme in over doing it and causing a fake appearance. Also, outer beauty is not as important as inner beauty. A great character and personality is my definition of beauty.
Kel: I once had to face this because I was an average weight person and I would see this tips and the ridiculous diets I tried, but they never worked. Then I stopped eating, but that is not healthy so I said the best way and the healthiest way to solve this is to go to the gym eat right.
Everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. Stay healthy my friends!
Check out the Dove campaign ad for real beauty
