Look Like Me Analysis

In her article “Never Just Pictures,” author Susan Bordo analyzes how deeply teenage girls of today are effectively told how to look by mass media. Girls of the 21st century are constantly struggling with their own confidence and overall happiness simply due to the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines. Today, women are subconsciously told what the ‘perfect body’ is and anything less than that means that they are unwanted and fat. Bordo specifically described the experience of the 19 year-old Clueless actress, Alicia Silverstone, whom the tabloids consistently referred to as ‘fatgirl’ and ‘buttgirl.’ Bordo described that once a young woman is told that she is not worthy or that she is fat, countless psychological issues arise and begin

Denver Moore and Ron Hall, both the authors and the main characters of this novel, provided a delightfully captivating story about how the two became one through the help of Hall’s wife, Deborah, also known as Miss Debbie. Coming from completely different lifestyles, Denver Hall grew up a slave in Louisiana. On the opposite end of society, there’s Ron Hall, the rich, successful art dealer. Their worlds collided when Miss Debbie convinced her husband Ron to help out at one of the missions for the homeless she was involved in. There, he met Denver, and with the help of God, their lives were unexpectedly changed for the better.

In the article “Distorted Images: Western Cultures are Exporting Their Dangerous Obsession with Thinness,” author Susan McClelland’s mainly focuses on how many young women idolize the women they see on T.V. The media is making many women feel as if they need to look a certain way to fit in with the world. Also the fact the western culture is spreading to other countries is a big issue because sicknesses, like bulimia, were not an issue before. Many women in other countries are starting to look at the women in the United States and want to be just like them. In this article, the author says that television, magazines, and media show

“Society tells girls how to look and how to act and that’s not good at all” “On late night talk shows people are more likely to hear about how thin Nicole Richie is then a fat joke abouthow heavy Queen Latifah is.” “Ideals of beauty change some what over time, but the simple fact is that proponents of plus-size preference have failed to convince America that fat is beautiful.”

Malcolm X, a civil rights activist, stated that “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have to power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent and that’s power. Because they control the minds of masses.” Unfortunately, some people lose their lives trying to get an “ideal body.” From the article “NYC Girls Project - Media and Girls,” this organization conducted a study in 2010 that stated that “63 percent of girls think the body image represented by the fashion industry is unrealistic and 47% think it’s unhealthy. Due to these reasons and others, the media influences individuals in a negative way because of how it reinforces racial/gender stereotypes.

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

81) These standards are clearly represented in social media. From accounts on Instagram that encourage things such as thigh gaps, unhealthy fitness standards and sexual encounters, it’s engrained in the brains of young people that they must look like this in order to be successful and desired. This article also discusses the way negative standards are represented through things such as Barbie Dolls, which surrounds young females with unrealistic expectations and creates and idealized standard that is in fact, not ideal. (Carniero, 2013, p. 82) From the standards that are created through today’s social media, it has created it a new subculture and for some people, a new way of life.

For example, the boys are getting in trouble for sagging their pants, wrestling, and having on their hoods. In the media, the guys they see on tv, social media and in their neighborhoods look that way. same with the girls, they get in trouble for the tight clothes, short skirts, and cut-off shirts. But that is the way that the media says they should look.

I really enjoyed this text because I liked the way that it was formatted, it honestly made it a lot easier for me to read and understand. And I liked how she used personal experiences to start off her passage, it gives you a feel for the author, and honestly it kind of made me feel like I was reading someone’s diary but the diary didn’t belong to just some regular kid, it belonged to someone who had the ability to think critically and look at everything in more than black and white, if that makes any sense. She explains leaving pennies around for people to find hoping they wouldn’t overlook it, and compares it to how we see things. We overlook so many things and take so much stuff for granted, and the crazy thing about it is that we never realize

As a teenager, I know the pressure put on females to look a certain way. I attended a public high school in a rather wealthy area. So, while other girls could afford the “in” clothes, I spent my shopping days at the sales rack. My Christmas lists were full of basic jeans and shoes, because it was the

Mass media is effective in teaching us what we “should” look like. Women should be thin. Men should be muscular. The skinny and muscular ideals portrayed in advertising encourage men and women to look a certain way. The depiction of the female ideal has helped shaped society’s perspectives about beauty. The media pushes you to “improve your body” by buying their products but soon the road to a skinny and toned body leads to a self destructive path of self hatred. The powerful ideas that the media transmits through words, images, and movement can have lasting impacts on the human brain, affecting how we think and

Media has a major influence in shaping our identity. It brain washes us by telling us what to do and because we are constantly surrounded by it, we allow it to create stereotypes, and change the way we act and think. Popular TV shows such as the Simpsons are constantly making us use and believe stereotypes. Mainstream media create images of perfect girls on magazines, to brainwash young girls into believing that they have to be as thin and perfect, as the ‘Photoshoped’ images of the girls in magazines to be accepted and to fit in groups and be happy and loved. The pressure to fit in and to be perfect leaves a psychological effect on young girls which influences and changes their original identity. Half of our identities today are completely based on what we see in the media. Although our names, cultures and religions determine otherwise, Mainstream media determines our dress, behaviour, hobbies and interests. What we see in magazines and on television dictate the way we run our

One reason mass media is so effective at portraying unrealistic body types as normal is because the mass media helps to set what is perceived as normal. In an article about the mass media’s role in body image disturbance and eating disorders, J. Kevin Thompson and Leslie Heinberg state, “A sociocultural model emphasizes that the current societal standard for thinness, as well as other difficult-to-achieve standards of beauty

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.

Our society is filled to the brim with visual images. Some more noticeable than others, yet they all impact our minds and thoughts differently even if the ideal is not visible on the surface. Gender, race, age, social class, etc., they all come into factor when affected by images of society. Although they are just images, current day society has learned to take pictures and warp them into anything they want to create. Some see these new advances of Photoshop and editing as a form of art, signifying a voice in the direction of the image. The conflicting issue is some images are altered to make you believe it is real, therefor making it difficult to know what was altered and what was not. With current day technology and social media, there is a constant push on what you should look like, dress like, be like and most of the time they aren’t even real images due to all its alterations on the original picture. Advertisements and social media of our generation are the true reasonings behind many young women’s insecurities and down falls due to the larger institutional powers at play all within a single picture. American Apparel displays a beautiful, tall and skinny model in the windows of their store front to portray to the young females of our generation the ideal image and style one should portray in order to fulfill this “American” style.