Does the media influence girls’ body image? According to kissmyassets. wordpress. com, in the article, One Girl’s Reaction to Teen Celeb. Over Exposure, celebrities are wearing skimpier outfits everyday. There is less of them to cover now that skinny is the new “ normal” trend. Song lyrics from kissmyassets. wordpress. com in the More Beautiful You and Other Positive Body Image Songs More Beautiful You Lyrics (By Jonny Diaz) Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake And she’s always felt overweight In Ezine Articles in the Media and influence on women body image article states the the simple trend in the media industry is to promote slim, skinny and possibly unnatural looking women. Companies want woman looking like this to sell their products because they believe that “ skinny sells. ” According Body Wars: Making Peace with Women’s Bodies by Margo Maine, Ph. D. , 53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies, 8% of 18 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies, and the #1 wish of girls 11-17 years old is to lose weight. The other side of the story: (the star’s opinion) In the Stars who love their bodies on usmagazine. com Jennifer Lopez states: “ In every movie, they want you to look as thin as you can look,” she has said. “ In Selena, it was the other way around. ‘ How can we shoot her butt so it looks like Selena’s? ‘” I feel that yes, the media does influence girls’ body image more than people realize.
Girls look up to the celebrities in the media and looking up to them includes wanting to look like them; body and all. Some (if not a lot) of celebrities look like they’re all skin and bones and way underweight and this is what girls of all ages see in magazines all over their community (in grocery stores and more! ) On the other side of the story, the celebrities in the media most likely change their bodies to get parts for movies, plays, television shows, or commercials. Jennifer Lopez even said that in movies they want you to look as thin as possible.
So is it truly the celebrities faults? Or is it the faults of creative directors or costume designers? The celebrities know that people look up to them, so why wouldn’t they try to set a good example? I don’t think that anybody will ever be able to answer that question. My guess is that they try to set a good example, but it backfires when they try to get jobs or parts. The media does influence girls body image because if all the celebs. were fat then that’s probably what more people would look like, and that’s the harsh reality of the situation.
