Self Image

Over the past week, class discussion has been about advertising and self perception. The focus has been on how girls are objectified in the media. According to the media, women are supposed to be thin, fragile, weak, nameless, objects. Men on the other hand, are constantly told they need to be strong, clever, and powerful. The class watched multiple videos in class about the digital modifications that editors do on models. These modifications include to make them look thinner, taller, have better hair, larger eyes, longer neck, whiter teeth and prettier skin. The women that every girl tries to look like doesn't exist. After seeing all of the modifications that people put into women's pictures, I wonder if they do the same for men. In one of the videos that we watched, the director seemed to be making a much stronger case for the effect that media has on women instead of men. Do the media images really not have the same effect on men as it does on women? I find that hard to believe. Girls are CONSTANTLY thinking about the way they look. They compare themselves to the girl next to them in class. And most likely, a girl will think (at least once) that the reason that guy is now with that girl, is because shes thinner and prettier. It doesn't matter if its true or not, because we make it true to ourselves. Which in my opinion is the last step to ruining yourself. When you convince yourself of something, you rarely change your mind. It doesn't matter who tells you otherwise. If you think your too fat, too ugly, too this, too that, then that's what you are. Period. I think we need to start getting to girls younger with this image of a beautiful person (regardless of looks), earlier in their lives. High school, is simply too late.