Body
image is how you view your physical self, including whether you feel you are attractive and whether you believe that others like your looks. For many people, especially people in their early teens, body image can be closely linked to self-esteem, and the importance of positive self-esteem on mental health is of huge consequence.
Young girls in today’s society can be under tremendous pressure to fulfil the ideals of a media-induced perception of what beauty is. Despite a myriad of campaigns to shift that perception, young girls suffer from very low self-esteem, anxiety and depression when the stresses of being unable to meet, or struggling to maintain these often unrealistic and unhealthy bodies, become overwhelming.
These impressionable females are bombarded with countless media images of thin female models and actresses who look beautiful by many modern-day standards and they view them as role models, believing them to be happy and their lives to be perfect. When such an overwhelming percentage of girls’ clothing features body-hugging, midriff-baring styles most comfortably worn by the ultra-thin, it encourages girls to diet in order to be able to wear current fashion trends and fit in with their peers.
Attempts to emulate the countless media images they view can lead girls to employ drastic, unhealthy measures leading to mental health issues at least and these can become life-threatening at worst, with the onset of serious eating disorders. Most worrying is the age at which these perceptions are being formed: as young as five years old and by the time most girls reach their teens, they’ve consumed years’ worth of idealistic messages about what a female body should look like, unfortunately not just from the media.
Mothers are unwittingly supporting the unrealistic images and adding to the pressures by often openly obsessing about their own weight, introducing vocabulary into the home about diets and getting fat, and talking of avoiding eating.
Girls absorb what their mothers say about bodies: their own, their daughters, those of celebrities and strangers. They notice when their mothers diet constantly or exercise fanatically. If they make derogatory comments about their own appearance, this can affect their daughters’ own perceptions. Even though it is fairly common knowledge, little attention is paid to the fact the images are so often enhanced and airbrushed. Girls can get caught up in an impossible effort to achieve and maintain an unhealthy body shape, hairstyles and made-up faces, at great financial and emotional cost.
When high-profile celebrities take up the mantle to change the ideals, the effects can be really powerful. Alicia Keys’ “no make-up” campaign is an extremely inspiring movement in that she has been thoughtful and brave enough to be the kind of role model young girls need right now. Her statement is that it is not necessary to cover up your true self with make-up and that you should not feel pressurised to conform to fit the unrealistic standards that have been set for young girls and women. The message includes being more concerned with what is on the inside of a person and highlights the need to shift focus from body image.
Closer to home, there is much parents can do to encourage a healthier sense of self for our young females. Parents’ energy can be best spent getting their daughters to look at and think critically about the unrealistic way the media portrays girls and women. When parents can help their daughters recognise how unrealistic these images are – airbrushed to slim stomachs and thighs and hide blemishes – girls may begin to feel better about the way they look. Plastic surgery, implants, fake hair, copious amounts of make-up are all a women’s prerogative, but we should be ensuring that a strong sense of self-worth does not rely upon these things.
We need to be teaching our daughters that a healthy body, one that has regular, safe exercise and consumes all types of food for a healthy balanced diet, is the only type of body image they need concern themselves with. They need to know that they are free to wear make-up if they choose, but they should not feel so pressured, they are afraid to leave the house without it.
The media no doubt will continue its portrayal of the perfect body image, but at some point, intelligent young ladies everywhere will begin to realise that those bodies being portrayed are very rarely real and that we all come in different shapes and sizes and our worth has absolutely nothing to do with that shape or size. We have to work on dispelling the myths that are causing our young people such anxiety and support building a society that places value on the important things in life.
