Lookism Influences Adolescent Girls

Girls are beginning to see a deep gender bias from very young ages. The media perpetuates this bias by editing women to be inhumanly perfect. Advertising is set around people’s insecurities. This is giving girls the idea that the only thing that matters about them is the way they look and how men perceive them. Women are said to spend more money on beauty than they do on their own education (Netflix).

From the 1970’s much has changed in how media would typically portray women as housewives who wanted to please their husbands by catering for them and looking after the children and home. Since then various legislations have been enforced which changed how media could portray women, now in modern media women are represented as beautiful stereotypes who every woman would want to be like. Their body image is still important in how they are viewed by the public and the media are very strong to bring this forward for the given audience. Here is where gender and identity come into account. Women’s magazines formulate images of femininity which are diverse in how women look aesthetically and their lifestyle; once this has been accomplished they

Statistics show that more than 90 percent of girls, aged 15-17, want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance, and nearly a quarter of these girls would consider undergoing plastic surgery. According to a report by the child advocacy group “Common Sense Media”, they revealed that more than half of girls as young as 6 to 8 think their ideal weight is thinner than their current size. In a study done by black activist Kenneth Clark, he put two identical dolls in front of black children, one dark-skinned and the other white-skinned and when asked which they preferred, almost all chose the white doll. These results capture the negative effects society’s narrowly defined beauty ideals are having on women and girls. Along with body

In other words, it is easy to aim at those young girls who participate in pageants and label them as being sexualized because of the time they are dolled up with makeup, fancy dresses, and big hairs. For that reason, we do not often think of all the other young girls. In fact, they are sexualizing themselves as well. Needless to say, today, the media is one of the largest contribution to a kid’s life as they grow up. For that reason, what they see in the media will essentially have an impact on their

Beauty Pageants deprive children of their confidence and childhoods because they lower girls self esteem. In today 's society, many magazines, movies, and runways pressure women to look a certain way, and to act a certain way. Young girls, even girls as young as one years old, can be affected by today’s obsession with fitness and perfection. These girls can take drastic measures to change what they look like, even going as far as starving themselves (Freymark 29). Beauty pageants are notorious for highlighting outward looks,and to many girls who believe that they are not beautiful enough, being judged on one 's appearance can cause a devastating blow to a girl’s confidence.

Across the world, little girls and little boys are being raised on gendered norms that determine how they will behave for the rest of their lives. Exposure to various types of media during their formative years instruct children on how they should look, feel, and behave. Consequently, adult women strive to emulate the fantasies they were exposed to through the Disney Princess films they were raised on. Disney Princesses offer a mold for what a successful woman looks like in terms of size, color, and physical sexuality. In modern society, countless marginalized groups are seeking equal representation in the media to accurately reflect how diverse the world truly is.

Over time women have faced and overcome multiple obstacles. In this day and age, women have gained the right to vote, receive an education, and make their own decisions about their life. However, women are still faced with the struggle of fitting into societal norms, and this is becoming increasingly dangerous in our mass media society. For centuries, society has made females feel as if they must fit into the barbie doll image created by a patriarchal society. Some women face eating disorders, plastic surgeries, an abundance of makeup, or even the idea of suicide to elude thoughts of being less than ideal in other people's eyes.

Society 's Beauty Standards Hawkins (2017) stated that the definition of beauty has been shaped by society 's standards instead of what people actually look like. It signifies that the society sets up expectations of how we define beauty by manipulating beliefs of people to recognize that body shape, skin color, race, ethnicity, or anglicized features are what makes a person distinguish their beauty instead of what people actually look like in reality. This makes people believe that the beauty that they see, especially in films, is something that they need to attain in order to be considered as attractive. Unrealistic beauty standards affects physical and mental health Vitelli (2013) stated that content analysis of female characters

Most Americans today either have a smartphone or tablet or even a laptop where they can easily access whatever information they like. Google has been best for that and when a young girl has that access they can see anything and everything they want, the latest trends in fashion and make-up tutorials so they can keep up with the now. Common theme with all of these is how beautiful these people look and how thin they are. They follow their favorite celebrity on Instagram and see how great they look and know that it look good they have to look like them. There are now set beauty goals that girls look up too, whether the parents approve or not, and are comparing themselves too.

The topic of self confidence is a subject that is heavily discussed when it comes to girls of all ages. Journalist, Stephanie Hanes, examines the current trend of sexualization amongst young girls. In the article “Little Girls or Little Women: The Disney Princess Effect”, Hanes examines the current trend of sexualization amongst girls. She addresses the issue of desiring to become a women too soon. Hanes develops her article by using the literary techniques of pathos and logos to describe the emotions young girls feel when they see images of women with unattainable features.

Young girls are expected to be perfectly presented, in their pretty pink dress, neatly done hair, be reserved, with their doll in tow. Society grooms girls for a domestic life. In early years girls are taught that their true purpose is to be a blushing bride, maintain the home, and produce babies. We don’t allow girls to aspire to the same level as

A girl can be seen as beautiful and attractive, but continued to be shunned - all because they don’t wear the latest trends in fashion (but what if they like wearing solid colors or nerdy shirts from Walmart?). They may have a great personality that would attract many suitors in the nineteenth century, but if it is not up to the status of some people, they’re deemed unworthy. It is honestly one of the saddest things I have witnessed and experienced. Through The Body Project, Brumberg explains how American girls have shifted from judging a girl through her personality and internal character to judging through her appearance.

Through social media, messages, which cause many young women to question their bodies and overall self-image, are delivered daily. Media sells the idea that; “girls’ and women’s value lies in their youth, beauty, and sexuality and not in their capacity as leaders” (Miss Representation). Through advertisements,

I believe this relates to my thesis because society judges more from the looks of people, than on how the person acts or behaves towards other

This self-view can lead teenage girls to begin extreme dieting, exorcising or develop a full-blown eating disorder, such as anorexia (Berger 2014). Therefore, it is important for society to encourage young girls to know that they are beautiful just the way they