Are Celebrities Good Role Models

The author of this article begins her analysis of the rise in eating disorders by acknowledging America’s obsession with being the ideal weight. From an extremely young age, American children are being taught that women in movies and on the covers of magazines possess the ideal figure. The author states “Children are being taught…being fat is the worst thing one can be” (Bordo 1). This is disturbing to say the least. There many attributes worse than being overweight: dishonest, cruel, and murderous to name a few. Bordo also uses an example in the first paragraph of her essay that is appalling. Alicia Silverstone, the lead role in Clueless, was completely bombarded with insults about her weight, though she had only gained a few pounds since her starring role. The advertisers did

In a recent survey done by the National institute on Media and the Family, fifth graders, ten year old boys and girls told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show “Friends.”(4) If this isn’t shocking enough, the research group reported that at the age of thirteen, fifty-three percent of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to seventy-eight percent by the time the girls reach seventeen. Also, eating disorders are beginning to start at an alarming young age. Statistics show that girls are developing eating disorders at the age of six.(1) Young girls that are exposed to appearance focused television programs, and magazine shows feel that they need to look like the models that they see. Most of these girls are not even have fully developed bodies yet and are already trying to perfect themselves. One girl had even shared how one of her best friends discovered that her fifth grade cousin was bulimic. Girls at that age should not even be concerned with their bodies yet and eating disorders being developed is a harsh wake up call as to how young girls everywhere are being effected by the media each and everyday.

One may believe that slim celebrity pictures make people avoid being that weight, while it is also believed that these celebrities may be causing a weight drop in people around the world. Kelly Cutrone, owner of People’s Revolution, states that models are born with the characteristics needed to model, and these models are not unhealthy. Also, Psychologist Douglas Bunnell states that stars simply show the horrors of eating disorders, and how people should avoid disorders of this kind. However, it seems as though the models are underweight as many have passed out because of dehydration. In refutation to Bunnell, it seems, through studies, that smaller celebrities inspire young people to become the

The media plays a huge part in the lives of teenage girls, from cheesy teen fashion magazines to model runway fashion shows, teens are constantly put under stress to look, dress, act, and even feel a certain way about themselves, but how can this actually affect them in the short term and the long term? Studies by Dr Nadia Micali, of the Institute of Child Health, University College, London show that up to one in ten girls from age 12-19 had an eating disorder, the pressures of modern day vain have almost consumed the mental health of a whole generation. "I know this is going to sound weird," Cassie confesses, "but when I eat too much junk food, I'm so guilty I actually hate myself. I'm the kind of person who has plenty

When Victoria’s Secret is allowed to have models prance around on screen but Lane Bryant Ads (lingerie for plus size women) is banned then there’s a problem. The media is portraying these models who are thin to the point where it is unhealthy. And the media is feeding society lies. A perfect example is of Gerran Tyler. Tyler was a 12 year old supermodel. She walks the run way for clients like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Betsey Johnson. She’s tall, thin, the perfect model because she hasn’t hit puberty yet. She walked during New York Fashion Week and posed for these designer brands advertisements. This body type is unachievable for almost all adult women (Roberts). Somebody in their twenties or thirties doesn’t have the ability to look like a twelve year old girl, but this is how these designers are telling us to look. Tyler had an amazing career and high expectations but the fame didn’t last long. As she got older and hit puberty she began to develop boobs, hips, and curves. She began getting less and less bookings. Her supermodel career was virtually over. “Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls say they have been on a diet” and the, “Number one magic wish for young girls 11-17 is to be thinner” (Missrepresentation). This self-esteem problem with young girls is a result of these unobtainable ideas of beauty. Jennifer Siebel, creator of the documentary Missrepresentation, says

From the mid nineteen hundreds to present times the media has greatly influenced society's acceptance on body image. Even today, women are still mocked for being obese. Heavier women are a continued target in today's society by magazines containing headlines such as "How to lose weight." and "How to be skinner". The number of dieting and exercise articles in popular women's magazine increase every year. (Wykes & Gunter pg.67) These magazine articles may be helpful to some people but to an adolescent it leaves them

Teens have these high standards to live by because of social media, and all the young celebrities of today. Showing them how they have to look, how to style themselves to fit in. They think it’s cool to look older, but it's a lot more pressure on themselves and causes

During the teenage years, pop culture becomes very important and has a major influence on a teen’s daily life. Pop culture begins to have negative effect on teens when they begin to change themselves to fit into the social standards created by modern TV stars, fashion icons, and musical artists. It is fine to be interested in wealthy and famous people, because they are without a doubt, interesting and it is their job to keep normal people entertained. Unfortunately, due to this obsession with these public figures, people change their haired facial features, clothing style, and bodies to meet the social standards of pop culture and that is a problem.

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

Social media has a huge impact on a teen’s impressionable minds, since teens are bombarded with the pressures of buying the newest devices and apps; But not only does social media pressure teen’s to buy these items, it also pressures them to have the “Perfect Body”. In today’s society we have been influenced by celebrities and the media’s ideas of what the “Perfect Body” is. Whenever we go on our favorite apps, you are bound to find an ad featuring a popular celebrity (or model), posing with a waist shapers (or FitTea) (and/or photoshopped to a point where they are unrecognizable); (When teens see this, this makes teens think differently about

1. Most girls will do whatever it takes to be skinny and look like the stars that weigh 100 pounds "...the media influence on the cultural phenomenon of dieting and the perfect body. “Commercials and reality TV shows make you feel bad about yourself so you buy into the fad," Cohn said. The diet industry earns $50 billion each year on diet pills, and $8.4 billion is spent every year on cosmetic surgery. Women -- and men, Cohn stressed -- want to be thin, because large men and women are ridiculed" (Demmel). Eating disorders continues to be problem among young girls because of their role models. Girls on reality TV shows have that 'perfect' body and girls what to be everything like them.

Most people would say that in order to be considered a good role model, you first need to be considered a good person. A good person is typically a person who has empathy for others, tries their best to make good decisions, and follows the law. After reading this description, of what a good person is, celebrities would not typically be the first group of people that would pop into your head because of their bad reputations, but that doesn't mean that all public figures are known for their bad choices. Celebrities should be famous for their talents and skills in some sort of field, or they could just have a great life story and have done great things in their life which inspired people to do the same. After all, everyday people run red lights all the time and no one would ever know, but the moment a celebrity gets one traffic ticket, it will be instantly posted all over every single magazine and news station. Public figures should be considered role models because, many public figures can serve as inspiration to do great things and a great example of what can happen if you make bad decisions.

The problem I am addressing is how to help teenage girls resist pressure from advertisers to look thin. I will be proposing ways to change people’s specific attitudes and behaviors that will potentially close a gap between what is happening and what should be happening. The goal is not to educate or increase awareness about this issue because it is a very widely talked about topic. The ‘problem’ is that teenage girls (who) should not be peer pressured to look thin (what) in today’s (when) society (where). What is happening today is that teenage girls have this societal pressure to look thin. This is mostly due to companies and advertisers putting out campaigns with smaller, thinner models and celebrities. With the rise of technology, people are becoming more and more influenced by what they see on television, the Internet, and social media. Teenage girls see these beautiful, thin celebrities and aspire to look like that. Girls are more vulnerable than ever today and some will do just about anything to give in to the pressure and try to look like someone else. What should be happening is that companies and advertisers should use a more diverse group of woman when putting out campaigns. Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. They should be embracing the diversity throughout the world and show that off when advertising. This is impacting mostly teenage girls as their bodies are changing and as they are trying to figure out who they are. However, this pressure is not just

Media such as the internet, broadcasting, and publishing is a way to express opinions and keep up to date with the latest fashion trends. While these trends continue to go on, new trends are thought of, the trends may be a little tricky to keep up with even for celebrities. While the thought of being perfect for society, cause many adolescents to breakdown for following the false beliefs of society. Some people may use the media to be updated on important news. On the other hand, others believe the media is a horrible setting, resulting in adolescent to do whatever it takes to become just like them, poisoning their minds to become something they are not. The media produces bad influences for body image and messes with adolescents’ minds.

Women are obsessive with losing weight even if they are not being fat or obese.   This is due to the influence of the media in portraying that successful women are always thin.  Many teenagers, especially girls were greatly influenced with the slim figure of their favorite celebrity. As a results, some of these teenage fans were so deep into the dieting and slimming concerns which lead them to severe health issues and fatal death in serious situation.