Persuasive Essay On Unrealistic Expectations For Young Women

Outline
I. Introduction
a. Thesis: Women have unrealistic appearance expectations to live up to.
b. Intro strategy: Ask a provocative or disturbing question.
II. Beauty advertisements
a. Magazines and television are filled with advertisements for beauty supplies.
b. Iowa State Professor Example
c. Celebrities
III. The pressure to be skinny.
a. Weight loss programs
b. Tumblr pictures
c. Eating disorder example
IV. Mental illness
a. Comparing yourself to others and believing you are unworthy
b. Anxiety
c. Singer example
V. Conclusion
a. Conclusion strategy: Recommendation or call to action

Fortune, Abigail
ENG 111 20
Illustration Essay
17 Oct. 2013
The Pressure Is On. Young women have unrealistic appearance
expectations to live up to. Do you realize that the pressure for young women can lead them to have eating disorders and other mental illnesses? Are we not told to accept one another for our flaws? Today too many young girls are experiencing the pressure to be perfect. With advertisements on television, the media promoting flawless celebrities, and weight loss programs no wonder young girls are taking it upon themselves to want to change and getting so stressed because it, that it leads to mental illnesses. When you are watching TV, have you ever noticed how many commercials are targeted toward young girls to change their appearance? In magazines there are always ads to promote new beauty supplies. Girls are being shown different ways to perfect their selves with the unlimited amount of blemish creams, foundations, and other various make-up products. A professor at Iowa State University said,
“There are some studies done which show if women watch a half hour of what 's considered normal television, and show a few advertisement with exceedingly skinny women, afterwards women feel worse about their body and worse about themselves. I ask my students all the time, 'Do you feel better after looking at Glamour magazine? ' They all say no. Well, of course not. Advertisers, they 're whole mission is to make you feel bad to buy stuff” (Young 1).
Girls are also being exposed to celebrities who seem to look perfectly beautiful wherever they go. From the red carpet to an afternoon out with their friends, celebrities never seem to have one hair out of place. This causes young girls to strive to be more beautiful than they already are. Wanting to be more beautiful also comes with wanting to change your body image for most girls.
The pressure to be a size 2 or 4 is unbelievable. There are countless numbers of weight loss programs and diets anyone can be on. Girls can go to Wal-Mart and buy weight loss supplements right off the shelf. There are health risks they are not thinking about when they do this. All they are thinking about is the possibility to reach their ideal pant size. Being on Tumblr is a scary thing for a young girl. It is quite disheartening seeing blogs dedicated to a girl’s ideal view of herself. All over Tumblr are pictures of half-naked skinny girls. This is not by any means a confident boost. Seeing these pictures can lead to eating disorders. Pictures with skinny girls in them have such a negative effect on young girls today. These girls are taking it upon themselves to look like the girls in the pictures because that is what they see and aspire to be. Even girls as young as 11 and 13, “But concerns about body image and adopting unhealthy weight-management strategies are common even among students who are at their normal, healthy weight. It is estimated that half of girls between ages 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight, and 80 percent of 13-year-olds have tried to lose weight” (“Eating Disorders and Your Teen” 1). Being a young girl in this decade is not fun. They are constantly comparing themselves to other women who are much older and do not look like they do in real life compared
to how they do in magazines. Along with the eating disorders, mental illnesses are common with among young girls who are feeling society’s’ pressure to be perfect.
When young girls are compared to other girls, they pick out every little detail about themselves and decide they do not like it. They want to improve their image to mirror how other girls look. They stress about their appearance until it becomes a daily routine for them. After a couple weeks of this, they start to feel less worthy as other girls. This leads to anxiety. Constantly worrying about how they look towards other people and fixing every flaw they think they have just to be accepted by society. For example a young woman had her own battle, “As the pressure cooker of her life began to boil over…She felt constant anxiety about looking thin, pretty and poised every time she stepped outside. It got so intense that she blew up and punched on [sic] of her dancers on tour” (“The Pressure to be Perfect” 1). Anxiety and other illness related to the pressure of a perfect appearance are not only harmful to ourselves, but they can also have an effect on those around
us. Something can be done about this. Parents should teach their girls at a young age to love themselves and to know that they are naturally beautiful. We should take action in lessening the amount of beauty supplies girls are exposed to at young ages. Ad campaigns need to use natural-looking women instead of stick skinny models. Once that is done, young girls will feel less pressure to alter their appearance. We as a society need to reassure young girls that they are beautiful no matter how they look. We need to accept everyone for who they are and then girls will grow up loving themselves.

Works Cited
“Eating Disorders and Your Teen.” N.P. 7 Oct. 2013 . Web.
“The Pressure to be Perfect.” N.P. 7 Oct. 2013. . Web.
Young, Emily. “Pop Culture Setting Unrealistic Standards for Young Women?” 15 July 2005. 6 Oct. 2013. . Web.