The Influence of Media on Teenage Girls

THE INFLUENCE OF POPULAR CULTURE ON THE FEMININE GENDER

Right now, your thesis statement is a run-on sentence. Simple fix: make it two sentences. Good outline.

In a continuous changing world, where modern technology has a huge impact in everyone’s life, the popular culture’s power to shape teenage girls perception of what it means to be female and feminine could present various concerns, electronic and written media-be it television, computers, magazines, publicity banners or music-are playing a major role in the lives of adolescent females.

I. The popular culture is a pervasive and omnipresent entity in the lives of young people. II. Adolescence is a confusing and insecure time for young adults. III. Teenagers strive to feel like they are part of, and that they are accepted by, a community. IV. The media presents, enforces and maintain the perception that ultra thin, non-average body forms should be the desired goal of all women. V. Sexual content on television has increased in the past decade considerably, depicting women as sexual objects. VI. Parents and teachers need to take an active role in helping adolescents understand and interpret the messages portrayed in the media.

The popular culture is a pervasive and omnipresent entity in the lives of young people. It is not a secret that the media has become one of the most important aspects in the lives of America’s teenagers. Teens from all over United States use the media on daily basis. Whether it’s using a computer, watching TV, reading a newspaper, talking on the phone or listening to the radio, media is a way to communicate.
A study conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation shows that daily media usage among children and teens rises dramatically from five years ago. The big increase in mobile media (laptops, tablets and smartphones) drive increased consumption. In our days, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). The same study mentioned above reveals that girls spend more time than boys using social networking, reading and listening to music as apposed to boys who spend more time playing console video games, computer games and going to video websites like You-Tube.
The media can influence adolescent health in a variety of ways. Media images frequently have an impact on body image, alcohol, and drug use, and potential violent behavior.
During adolescence, many teenage girls desire an ideal weight, which relates to their image, something that is very important to them. The media and advertisers reinforce unrealistic body weights as they convey to women and young girls that 10 percent of body fat is the ideal, when 22 percent body fat is considered healthier (Heilman 1998). This could be the reason why 95 percent of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25 (Screening for Mental Health, 2005).

Magazines are another form of media that influences attitudes about body image, as they illustrate numerous photos of models and teenage idols. Frequently adolescents want to look like these models and teen idols and may try to replicate them in unhealthy ways. The images seen in magazines are often unrealistic as most are airbrushed and enhanced by the computer. Pictures that are authentic may be of models that meet the clinical diagnosis threshold for eating disorders (Richardson, 2003). As a result, media can influence unhealthy eating habits among adolescents.

Adolescence is a confusing and insecure time for young persons. Changes that occur to their bodies, their interests, and their social interaction bring them to wonder who they are and where do they belong in the eclectic and confusing world around them.
During this stage, adolescents go through many important developmental tasks including developing a personal and social identity, making decisions about higher education, and making sense of physical changes. Today all these important milestones are set within the context of social media – a source of information that has altered how we relate with one another (Weigel, par. 1)

During adolescence, teenagers’ ability to think moves from a concrete level to an abstract level, allowing them to question rules, values and beliefs. Teens will passionately argue their points because they want the freedom to make their own choices and to be seen as mature enough to do so. Adolescence is defined as the period of physical and psychological development that begins with the onset of puberty and ends with maturity. In general, puberty begins around the age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys. The time period defined as adolescence is longer today than it was a few generations ago, stretching beyond the teenage years.

Teenagers strive to feel like they are part of and, they are accepted by, a community. One of the first changes noticed in the young females behavior is that they begin to spend an ever-increasing amount of time away from their families, choosing instead to spend time with their peers. The desire to be liked and to belong to a group is human nature. They will seek out friends to whom they feel they are similar and who enjoy their favorite activities. Meanwhile young males are trying to build their own sense of individuality, and find their place in the hierarchy of the word around them, adolescent females are looking for relationships and try to create strong networks. This is why the teen girls look to the pop culture to blend in the society and help them create interpersonal skills.

It is almost impossible for girls to escape the pervasive influence of the media. For many, television has become like a surrogate parent. It socializes them, entertains them, comforts them, disciplines them and tells them what they can and cannot do. They constantly take in copious amounts of images and messages, but because they lack the cognitive skills and life experience to question for themselves what they see and hear and read, it is difficult for them to evaluate the credibility of the information.