“We should support women and girls, encourage them into this crucial dialogue about beauty ideals, and keep them from shrinking away from life," Dr. Nancy Etcoff, a Harvard University professor says on the topic of women’s self-esteem.
Undeniably so, teenage girls, especially in the 14-18 range, are presented with beauty and body standards that are so unrealistic that they are near impossible. It is proven that the results of these paragons are what generate self-hate for one’s body and makes one want to change themselves.
Young girls are constantly subjected to body standards that can lower their self-esteem and make them feel as if they aren’t good enough, which can be shown through an ad campaign gone terribly wrong. Victoria’s Secret released an ad for their new ‘Body’ lingerie line mid-October 2014. It featured the slogan ‘The Perfect “Body”’. The campaign immediately received backlash for the controversial tagline. Tweets, messages and posts were shared online regarding the ad. Some even went as far as to write articles about it that were shared globally, an example being, “There is a line between aspiration and thinspiration, and this campaign clearly oversteps the mark,” columnist Sarah Vine writes in The Daily Mail. “As for their use of the word ‘perfect’, it’s not only offensive to the 99.9% of the female population who don’t share the models’ ‘perfect’ proportions, it’s also deeply irresponsible.”
But what is the cause for these body standards? How did they form? A group of students, both boys and girls, aged 13-14 were surveyed about today’s beauty standards and how they felt about it. One of the questions asked was; what do you think causes these beauty standards to form? The majority of the students responded with answers generally pointing to influence from social media, society and, shockingly, their peers.
62.5% of the children said that they had been told that their body needed to be a certain way and/or that they have experience being uncomfortable with their bodies. Even worryingly so, nearly 40% of the students admitted that they were not satisfied with the way they looked. It is definite that beauty standards exist and are caused by multiple sources but you may be surprised at what sort of impact they have on young girls’ lives.
According to an article by Daily Mail UK, 2,000 teen girls of various ages were interviewed for research purposes in England and over a quarter of 14-year-olds revealed that they had once considered plastic surgery or taking diet/weight loss pills in order to slim down. Almost a fifth said they were going through an eating disorder, including very dangerous ones such as anorexia and bulimia. The effects of these sorts of eating disorders can cause rifts in young girls’ relationships and sometimes go to such an extent that they can prove to be fatal.
However, experts have been delving into how to avoid a corrupt body image and what prevents it from happening. One of the biggest influences on a girl’s body image is her mother, as said by Dr. Leslie Sim, clinical director of Mayo Clinic’s eating disorders program. "Moms are probably the most important influence on a daughter's body image. Even if a mom says to the daughter, 'You look so beautiful, but I'm so fat,' it can be detrimental." Typically, mothers are told to avoid talking about weight or anything related to their children, and exposing them to a healthy lifestyle and realistic body image at a young age can prove to decrease their chances of wanting to go on diets, have eating disorders, and dislike their bodies. Dr. Nancy Etcoff’s take on this notion isn’t much different, "We know that women are longing for affirmation of their unique, individual beauty, both for themselves and for younger generations. The mother-daughter bond has great potential for empowering girls and making a real difference for future generations."
Still, with a number of negative influences and unrealistic standards, it is unsurprising that such a large amount of young adults are affected by them. The middle school survey mentioned before also tried to collate a handful of tips that could potentially help people out of a phase of self-hate. They include shielding yourself from what others say about you and forgetting about it. Though these things may not seem easy, they can be done with the help of a community that supports you and your body. Massilia, one of the students surveyed, was quick to agree. “We need to stop validating our beauty based on people's unrealistic and frankly, unimportant, criticisms about our bodies.” she says. “We need to be taught to say to those people, my body is mine and I don't need your approval or your consent to find myself beautiful.”
"Women around the world have sent us a clear message about their wishes. We now need to help them find a way to talk about it.” said Dr. Etcoff on the topic of how young women should view themselves.
Ultimately, our goal should be to make every woman, every man, everyone feel comfortable with how they look. Popular belief shows that the message that should be spread by modelling companies, society and families is: you don’t need to change yourself to become beautiful unless it is for health purposes and hasn’t been posed on you by anyone other than yourself. With the help of your community, friends and family, you can shape a better body image for yourself, and for generations to come.
"Negative Feelings About Their Looks Cause Majority of Girls to Disengage From Life." Negative Feelings About Their Looks Cause Majority of Girls to Disengage From... N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015
Peterson, Hayley. "Victoria’s Secret Sparks Outrage With ‘Perfect Body’ Campaign." Business Insider. Business Insider, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
"90% of Teens Unhappy with Body Shape." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
- Noshin Saiyaara
This is very interesting. Thank you.
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