It is not easy being a girl. Any female would agree with this statement. There are many societal standards and expectations that women feel they must achieve in order to gain satisfaction or attention, especially from the opposite sex. The media has a massive influence on what is “hot” and what is not. It is disappointing that the media is creating a fraudulent image of what the ideal female should resemble, ultimately affecting society as a whole.It is a constant competition between girls to “out-look” one another. It is all about each individuals self esteem and consciousness. Girls often feel there is an image that each guy wants and will take many desperate measures to reach this goal. Whether it causes girls to become anorexic, or possibly start working out at the gym; just to form their body into the perfect skinny and fit figure. Teens have two major options in terms of weight loss. Girls tend to lean towards anorexia because they feel that it is a fast and easy way for them to just stop eating or dispose of their food through throwing up or laxatives. Boys on the other hand, generally, resort to working out; the healthier option. It is a major health risk and is considered to be a mental disorder. It is terrifying the life threatening risks girls will take.
Teenage girls endure numerous hours of pain as well, in order to become ‘beautified’. If you think about the amount of time every girl spends preparing themselves; it is ridiculous. They go through a lengthy process of getting their hair, makeup and nails done. Also, even though body hair is natural, many girls are self conscious about the amount of hair they have on their body. They have resorted to measures such as waxing, receiving electrolysis and laser hair removal treatments. It is extremely costly. Girls can easily spend hundreds of dollars on beautifying themselves each week or month. The cost of hair dressers can range between sixty to two hundred dollars; depending on the salon, length of hair, and style or dye used. In terms of hair removal, electrolysis and laser treatments range between hundreds to thousands of dollars and waxing (the non-permanent form of hair removal) can cost up to twenty dollars every two weeks. Girls can also spend hundreds of dollars on makeup and creams; foundation, eye shadow, bronzer, cover up, mascara, lipstick, acne treatments, etc. The modern images of beautiful women are often tanned. Teenage girls hate the thought of being “pasty” and white; they will attend indoor tanning salons to gain a darker, natural-looking tan. Tanning beds are known to be extremely crucial to people’s lives because it increases the chances of developing skin cancer. Knowing this, girls STILL often go tanning; they live for the moment and not the rest of their lives. This could, in the long term, be dangerous to their health, but those are the risks teenage girls will take to feel confident with themselves.
Mostly, teenage girls understand that their goal of perfection is unrealistic, unhealthy and pointless… BUT it seems no individual will ever be truly happy with their appearance. Every person displays flaws, but that is what makes us human beings; it is the natural way of life. We live in a world run by societal norms and teenage girls need to understand that no one else will accept them if they cannot simply accept themselves for who they are.
Links to similar articles:
http://http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7701260/#storyContinued
http://http//kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/problems/body_image.html
http://http//www.wikihow.com/Category:Beauty-and-Grooming-for-Girls
I totally agree with you about the pressures that teenage girls face with their physical appearance. Many girls do have to deal with a lot of pressure from the Media telling them who they should be and what they should look like. Once these girls realize they don't fit this 'norm' then they freak out and do things that could potentially be harmful to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog a lot. I think it is a good topic to write about :)