The Media

Wherever we go, media will be there right by us. From magazines to television, to billboards, and the Internet, there is always something closing in on us, making us want to take a certain action. Whichever way we look at it, the media can have a lasting impact on our lives, our thinking process, and, most importantly, how we look at ourselves. According to Mary Gavin, “Kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games.” With all these outside influences, it’s no wonder why everyone is so “in to” what the television says. Big-name TV shows portray the “average” teenage life, where every single girl wears size 0 and has the perfect skin and hair; not to mention all the dashing adolescent boys who are constantly muscular and strapping. Other outside sources also impact impressionable minds. Brightly-lit billboards litter highways, sponsoring the nearest fast-food chain restaurant. Magazines with bright and colorful images crowd grocery store racks at every neighborhood market imaginable. The Internet alone is host to millions and millions of images, whether they are good or bad. No one can doubt that America’s culture is shaped mostly by the media. The media has a tremendous impact on everyone, no matter where one happens to come across it. Pictures, television, movies, and other ways of communicating are all giving the same message to the public. Advertisers across America portray their everyday product with flashy images and pictures of airbrushed, bony, unrealistically thin models. Through these images, marketing gets their money from the buyers, but the rest of the general public suffers from low self-esteem because they compare themselves to the “ideal” body weight and size. Marketers rely on these negative emotions stirring in the public. Their product screams “Buy me, and you can look as good and happy as the girl in this picture!” However, this is not the case. The advertisers need these pictures and feelings so that the viewers deem themselves inadequate. With these certain circumstances and the “ideal” being publicized to the general public, the people feel imperfect, and they subconsciously believe that the only way to attain the happiness that is shown in the billboard or poster is to indulge and buy that product. It’s a vicious, win-lose cycle, where the companies keep winning, and the people keep losing. As a result, thousands of teens across America suffer from poor body image, low self esteem, and psychological disorders.
Whatever you see in that picture or on that television; that’s not what you need to be. What we think is “If I’m skinny, I’ll be happy.” However, we shouldn’t let our physical appearance determine whether or not we can be happy. Comparing ourselves to what the media has to offer isn’t getting us any closer to what we need to be. Don’t try to measure up to the unattainable and the unhealthy. You need to be happy for yourself, no matter what any magazine or television show says.

Best wishes,
Julia