Kashner1

Sophie Kashner
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
14 April 2016
Service Research Paper
Pressure on women or young girls to have a perfect thin idealized body from media,
influences them in a negative way and can lead them to living an unhealthy lifestyle. Support
groups or support from others can have a positive influence on women with body dissatisfaction
by making them feel good about themselves.
Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller, and thinner.
Throughout history, the ideal of beauty has been difficult to achieve and has been shaped by all
forms of media. Current mass media is enormous and powerful, leading to increased body
dissatisfaction among women everywhere. Tv actresses or models are not the only people
pressuring young woman to want to have that thin idealized body. Now thanks to social media
that is centered around people posting pictures, people are now exposed to a constant comparison
of that perfect hair, or perfect body they want to have so bad. This constant comparison will
make some girls desire to look like that so bad, they start to live an unhealthy lifestyle.
According to Ballaro and Wagner, The combination of two trends, the technology-enabled
media saturation of the American public and the promotion by this media of highly unattainable
body types, is largely responsible for an epidemic of body image pathologies afflicting
American girls and women. Clearly the pictures young woman see of famous actresses, models,
or even just friends on social media apps is obviously a major factor when it comes to
insecurities and body dissatisfaction. This could make woman want to get cosmetic surgery done

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or higher the chances of more people wanting things done to themselves to try and have that
perfect look they see all over media. According to Ballaro and Wagner, In the United States and
other western cultures, standards of beauty are being imposed especially on women, the majority
of whom are naturally larger and more mature than any of the models viewed in magazines,
films, or TV. Young girls are looking at these models they see advertised all over media and
comparing themselves constantly and wondering how to look like the models. This may lead to
eating disorders at a young age.
The media promotes an unhealthy image of beauty, in particular, of women, that is
damaging to society. The changing perspectives on body image since the late-twentieth century
have ultimately developed into an obsession with super thinness. If those women that we see all
over media are what beauty is then how do they expect for young women to not want to be just
like them. Some of those older women young girls see on t.v or in magazines are their idols.
This obsession has contributed to an increase in eating disorders, low self-esteem, and
depression among women in the United States. No girl should feel the need to have an
unhealthy lifestyle or low self-esteem just because of what they see that is defined as beauty all
over media.
Young teenage girls have pressure in life from all sorts of factors. The pressure girls have
can cause teenage girls into believing negative things about themselves. These negative things
can cause them to have low self esteem and may self harm. However, support groups or support
from others can have a positive influence on women with body dissatisfaction by making them
feel good about themselves.

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Works Cited
Ballaro, Beverly, and Geraldine Wagner. "Body Image & The Media: An Overview." Points Of
View: Body Image & The Media (2016): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 14Apr.
2016.
Chittom, Lynn-nore, and Laura Finley. "Point: Body Image In The Media Is An Unhealthy
Picture." Points Of View: Body Image & The Media (2016): 2. Points of View Reference
Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.