North American Culture Research Paper

The North American Culture:
Does it affect your children’s body image? Teenagers’ value and their body image and their personal appearance due to the “perfect” body image Hollywood portrays. Many young girls in the North American culture have been highly affected by the image Hollywood is showing off. Many of these girls are considering cosmetic surgery, makeovers, and diets to change how they define themselves. In this generation, teenagers and even adults worry about the beauty that comes from your appearance and completely forget about the beauty from within. The North American culture has affected the way teenagers and young girls see themselves because of the pressure to be perfect. Has Hollywood gone too far with using
actresses and models that are extremely thin? Hollywood has gone below their standards with having too many actresses that are so thin they look sick (“Shrinking Hollywood Starlets” 1). Many of the actresses in Hollywood today have a very deteriorating look. An actresses body is like a status symbol, the thinner and taller they are the more they are worth (“Shrinking Hollywood Starlets” 1). Many girls don’t understand that Hollywood is represented as a warped view of the ordinary life, so they look up to the actresses (“Looking Good” 2). As children are growing up they see the movies and TV shows made for little kids and they always say “I want to be just like her when I grow up!” or “She’s my role model!” Actresses today are setting bad examples on children and teenagers without even knowing it, being persuaded by Hollywood. In the American culture people spend too much money on beauty enhancing products. The most common and effective beauty interventions are exercise, diets, and makeup which can be very costly (McDonnel 27). On average, North Americans spend more than $40 billion on body and self-products every year (McDonnel 32). Companies in North America spend billions of dollars promoting beauty products and advertising weight loss pills. All in all it’s too much money to waste on something that shouldn’t be that important. Fashion companies in America are using tall and skinny models to shape our countries “perfect girl.” Models are usually 5’11, 117 pounds, wear a size 4 and are thinner than 95% of average women in America.
The average woman is 5’4 and weighs 142 pounds (McDonnel 35). Many teenagers are aiming for that “model look.” Little do they know that the look that many models show off is unrealistic. Most of the time it’s photo shopped and put through a special design process (McDonnel 35). “The unnatural thinness is a terrible message to send out. The people watching the fashion shows are young impressionable woman “ explained van der Wal, a former Victoria’s Secret Model (Hellmich 1). Even former models are noticing how bad the present models have become. Many teenage girls are insecure because they think they need to be super thin to be beautiful. Images of tall, skinny, long-haired women are affecting ages as young as 9. There are “sexy” clothes being sold in children’s store as small as a size 6 (Hellmich 2). As sick as it sounds, many young girls actually receive support when they try to alter their appearance (“Looking Good” 1). 20 years ago in America the ideal size was a 6 and the were a size 4, present day the ideal size is a 2 and many girls strive for a 0 (“Shrinking Hollywood Starlets”
1). Does the North American Culture affect the health of young girls and teenagers? Yes. Since models and actresses are so thin, it makes girls think a body like that is healthy (Hellmich 1). It could even affect the health of anorexia and bulimia patients, they could start to believe that their famished bodies are normal. Everyday, many girls are starving themselves to become one step closer to that “perfect body.” Is it really worth it? Even psychologists think the fashion industry went too far in promoting a thin image that many people try to achieve (Hellmich 1). The North American culture has affected the way teenagers and young girls see themselves because of the pressure to be perfect. Hollywood has gone way too far with using extremely thin actresses which gives off a bad example to children. In America, we spend way too much money on beauty products when we could be using the money on more important and valuable things. The health of the teenagers is also a big part of this situation. Many girls are becoming sick because of the pressure to be perfect. The fashion industry has put out an image of a tall, skinny, long-haired woman as the ideal girl, which gives people an idea that they’re not beautiful how they are. In the real world, there are more important things than being skinny that people should focus on. It’s not about the way a person looks, it’s more about the way that they act.