Marilyn Monroe is considered the most beautiful woman of her time. She was a very successful model and actress back in the 1950’s that, believe it or not, was not a size 00. Back then, society did not care about women’s body size and image as much as they do today. We live in a time where obsessing over our bodies is a daily routine. Today’s expectation for both boys’ and girls’ images are unattainably high. Media makes teenagers think that to be beautiful is not a measure of your personality, it is a measure of how thin/muscular you are, having perfect skin, long hair, and so much more. Media is influencing teenagers’ thoughts and ideas about body image in a very negative way making them think that to be perceived as beautiful, you need…show more content… Depending on the channel you are watching, you will most likely take note that all the women on the screen have their hair and makeup done, and they are perfectly skinny; while the men are all muscular. Take for example Victoria’s Secret commercials, every girl on those commercials are beautiful and incredibly skinny, almost at the point where it is unhealthy. Another example is the vapid yet alluring reality television show, Keeping up with the Kardashians. All the Kardashians have gone through a substantial amount of plastic surgery to make themselves ‘perfect’. The surgeries include lip, butt, and breast enhancement because that is what is ‘in’ or trending. There was a study conducted in Switzerland that looked at the relationship between body shame, body surveillance and perceived pressures from the media. The researchers asked boys and girls age 14-16 to answer questions, about their body’s. Some of the questions include: ‘Sometimes I wish I looked completely different’, ‘Women who appear in TV shows and movies have the type of appearance I set as my goal’, and ‘I wish I looked like a swimsuit model.’ The questions were answered on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). From the results, they concluded that girls internalize the media more than the boys; girls were more displeased with their
