Essay on Medias Portrayal Of Beauty Affects Socieites Youth

Beauty is an omnipresent characteristic that plagues societies’ youth today because mainstream media has them convinced that inner beauty is less important than physical beauty. Unfortunately the media’s warped sense of what true beauty is has been advertised in such a way that it has become an unhealthy observation for today’s youth. The expectations of beauty are unacceptably stereotyped, which creates unrealistic idealistic goals for our young people to try to achieve. It is crucial to mention that as a society we need to strive toward teaching the proper balance between both aspects of beauty to offset the portrayal of what true beauty is by the media. The media has created an obsession with perfection through the use of†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"While more common among girls, eating disorders also affect boys† (New, 2011, pg 1). Part of this problem is because of pressures from the media, peer pressure and the lack of education about the changes their bodies will inevitably go through during puberty and why. Teenagers are more vulnerable to social and peer pressure, which may explain the rates of eating disorders in societies youth (Tree, 2012). This is the reason that our society must work to educate our youth to help ensure that they become proud of whom they are, no matter what size or shape they are. â€Å"Adolescence is a time of sexual identity and the need for independence that conflicts with the rules and expectations set by others† (New, 2012, pg 2). Though there are a large amount of contributors toward the rising rates of teen self-injury and suicides, it is clear that the media pressures to perfection are one contributor. Preteens and adolescents ages 12 to 19 are engaging in self injury in record numbers then in previous years (Pavlishina, 2012) and â€Å"suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after accidents and homicides† (New, 2012, pg 1). Each day our youth is exposed to commercialized images of what the male and female body should look like and these extremely serious issues are not helped by the impossible portrayals of perfection by