Body Image Media Influence

Media Influence on Adolescent Body Image

There is no question that media plays a large role in how adolescents perceive themselves, particularly in terms of physical attractiveness. Magazines, television, music, billboard ads and social media sites all influence adolescents and their perception of themselves. Everywhere you look young beautiful people are staring back at you. Although most adolescents believe that the images are not typical of the general population or of the people they know, they still want to have the perfect body; more muscle,(without muscles you won’t get the girls), bigger breasts, smaller waist, firmer butt, whiter smile and don’t forget, no pimples. The constant barrage of media’s perfect body reinforces the type
These images effectively manipulate their sense of self, especially in regard to physical appearance. Since these images are airbrushed or “photo-shopped”, and there is no way that anyone can naturally look like these images, a negative self-image is fostered in adolescents that strive but never attain the “perfect body”. This anxiety about body image is one reason for poor nutrition among teenagers (The Developing Person pg. 390). In addition, young people think intensely about themselves and about what others think about them (adolescent egocentrism) (The Developing Person pg. 408) which makes them think they are noticed by everyone and in turn more
The message started with young adults acting silly and telling one of their friends “no”. When you realized that the friend is smoking, the adolescents acting silly take the edge off of saying “no” to smoking and show you that it isn’t hard to say no. The very subtle message is that you have control over your decisions and your body. Since the first use of tobacco usually occurs with friends, this media helps to overcome the fear of saying no to their friends. In theory it should work, but in actuality most media like this have the opposite effect from that intended (The Developing Person pg.