‘They’ say life is a marathon. ‘They’, are wrong. Life is one, giant social competition. Well for this generation’s teenagers certainly it is.
Teens are constantly competing with and comparing themselves against, one other. They want to be the one on top; to be the ‘it’ person.
There’s only one rule in their competition: follow the trend. But look better and be better than anyone else to win over the ‘judges’ and become the ‘it’ person.
You know the judges. They’re the people around you, online and offline. The trendsetters on the other hand, are a lot harder to contact, even though we watch, hear and see them everywhere we go. The trendsetters are the media.
All forms of media have a huge impact on teenagers by promoting what body…show more content… Teens will feel pressured to keep up with trends. So they post photos of themselves in seductive clothing and pose at social events, like parties, doing illegal activities to gain ‘likes’, comments and popularity.
Where in the media though does it encourage this negative behaviours for teenagers. For once its not in advertising. It is in fact promoted in books, television shows and movies.
‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ both a popular movie and book, set in an American High School. The three main characters are a depressed freshman and two carefree seniors who encourage the freshman to partake in illegal activities to cheer him up.
This movie includes sexual intercourse, minors consuming drugs and alcohol, violence, attempted suicide, out of control parties with no adult supervision and reckless driving. However in spite of that long list ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ is only rated PG!
It’s not surprising teenagers are continuing to participate in inappropriate and dangerous activities. They are allowed to watch and read about it at a young age. These sorts of behaviours are all around them. They have become…show more content… It’s also well known to define the perfect body image for girls and boys through all kinds of media.
Every type of media sends us messages about what society views as the ‘perfect’ body for both genders.
Research shows that the top two types of media that females and males become most insecure while viewing it, are magazines and fashion advertisements.
Women’s magazines constantly use headlines like “Slim & Happy” and “Get Skinny Fast” in eye grabbing font placed next to that already skinny model who has been photoshopped to appear even thinner and flawless.
The covers of these magazines puts pressure on girls to follow the trend by following the steps on how to “Slim down for Swim Season” and achieve the perfect body.
Concerns about promoting the ‘must have’ body image has traditionally focused on the negative effect for girls. Health professionals and researchers are starting to turn their attention to boys and the negative effect for them.
Magazines for men like Men’s Health, focus on muscularity, muscle gain and are increasingly starting to include weight loss articles as well. Informing the readers that an attractive body would be; bulging biceps and chiseled