What Do You See When You Her?

How many different words and ways do we describe a woman’s body? Today social media and the Internet try to show the body “ideal” of a woman. Yes, these publications make money for the pretty women they display around the world, but do they know the harm it has on today’s female population. It has to do with the way women are portrayed to whether its their looks in makeup or its their body in clothes inly their size can wear. It is not clear as to why these images affect women’s satisfaction, but theories include social comparison, cultivation, and self-esteem.

Since early thirties, society has looked for the skinny and thinner women to be on the big screens, magazines, and ads. I found that girls between the ages of nine and ten, at least 40% have tried to lose weight to match the “ideal” image. Stars like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift have music videos that are considered to be “hot” and “sexy.” Young girls were dissatisfied and upset with their bodies because of what the pop stars looked like and wore. The younger the girl is, the more she is going to be more influenced by seeing the “ideal” image. By the time girls are about seventeen years old, 78% of them are unhappy with their body.

About 30% of publications with leading teen girl magazines mostly focus on appearance. Most of the publications also used to appeal and attract beauty to sell their products. Victoria Secret airs commercials during fashion seasons to promote their new lines. These commercials always catch criticism because they use models that a very low percentage of girls can relate to. Critics find it rude and inconsiderate that Victoria Secret does not have a line for bigger women, making them feel more aggressive to lose weight and be happy looking like a VS model.

Girls want to lose weight to be happy with their body and to match the girls on the covers. However, girls do more than workout to change their shape. More than 5 million American girls have eating disorders to lose weight. This includes bulimia and anorexia, which involves throwing up after every meal and starving themselves today. These diseases affect many young girls, but it also occurs with women in college and the workforce.

Images in the media today portray an unrealistic and even limiting standard of feminine beauty that can have a greater influence on the way women view themselves. Women today want and desire to be thinner and feel attracted by not only males, but their friends too. The Internet and social media portray women to be tall, white and thin with an hourglass body look. Women’s bodies and looks are not the only thing that impacts women, but clothing, makeup, and accessories. Stores sell their clothes for the thinner and smaller body sizes and those clothes are usually more accepted by society. If society could accept the girl and not the clothes, then we would have happier little girls.

Displaying the “ideal” body image on the Internet and social media has a huge impact on the younger population than the companies think. Younger girls want the body and looks of the girl on the cover of magazines. They are unhappy with their bodies and began finding ways to lose weight like eating disorders. I want to encourage these little girls to be proud of who they are and be happy with their body. They can dream and one day be on the cover of the magazine with the body and looks they have. “A smile is the most beautiful curve on a woman’s body.”