Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith

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Edited on 2005-11-20 02:30:37 by EschaTon

Additions:
[This looks good. I'm especially interested in the third point of your argument, but, overall, I think this project will be very doable.]
Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith

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Edited on 2005-11-15 23:25:49 by LaurenSmith

Additions:
Works Cited

A prevalent problem in society today is the negative influence the media has on how teenage girls view themselves. It shows and displays an ideal form of beauty that every girl strives to achieve, resulting in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. A study was done and posted in the Journal of Youth and Adolescense. The title of the article is The effect of "Thin Ideal" Television Commercials in body Dissatisfaction and Schema Activation During Early Adolescence. Adolescents ages 13-15 viewed 20 commercials containing idealized female, thin images or nonappearance television commercials. Body dissatisfaction was measured before, immediately following, and 15 minutes after commercial viewing. The results support the general hypothesis that televised images of attrectiveness lead to increased body dissatisfaction and is activated for girls as young as 13 years old. Therefore, thier body dissatisfaction, which is especially prevalent during adolescence, where a majority of girls report feeling overweight and express a desire to be thinner, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of restrictive eating, food preoccupation, and binge eating and bulimic tendencies (thin ideal). Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are two forms of unhealthy dieting that teenage girls think are the best ways to reach the ideal weight. These are diseases that involve either not eating at all or binge eating and purging which cause great damage to the body and could ultimately end in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness (eating disorders). The causes of these deaths are not only physical but psychological. Teenagers can become depressed because they feel that they will never achieve the ideal beauty therefore giving up and taking their own lives. Young, innocent and naive girls are suffering because society tells them to have a specific look. This is not the way they should view themselves. They should be convinced that they are beautiful no matter their size and all that matters is who they are on the inside. This should be the message sent out to all teenagers. The media has been filled with advertisements for product using very thin and tall women or, the ideal beauty, and is sending the wrong message the teenagers.

Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince them that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causing the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised. Real people buy the products companies advertise so my question is, why aren't real, averaged sized people playing the roles?
Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman, perceived as being the ideal beauty, for advertising products that are of a more male driven interest, is a good tactic. They got the males attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisements and think that if they are as thin as the actresses, they will receive the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products either other ways of perceiving the body image or without the use of body image at all.
One alternative that I will be discussing as a way to advertise products without the use of body image is to find other ways to attract the audience. An example would be when advertising a car, targeting a more male dominant audience, and incorporate other things that attract them. Such as, money, power, and strength. None of these require the use of thin models and therefore will not affect teenage girls negatively.
Another alternative could be to advertise a product to bring out the inner beauty in woman. For example if she uses a specific product her personality will benefit. It will make her more happy and enthusiastic. It will bring out the good person she is inside. It moves away from advertising the fact that it may make a woman's hair more shiny and attractive by using a thin beautiful woman. This way, any girl can feel they can use the product and not be influenced to look a certain way.
One last alternative would be to advertise in a way that embraced woman by trading fantasy images for realistic ones. For example a Nike commercial introduced a campaign that, “celebrates women’s big butts, thunder thighs and tomboy knees”(beauty’s new). There was also a Dove campaign expressing the beauty of a natural, curvy body. It shows woman of all different sizes, smiling and laughing, feeling comfortable in their skin. “There is a definite trend going on in society and the marketplace of self-acceptance and being comfortable in your own skin,” said Glamour VP-Publisher William Wackermann (beauty’s new).
I think that these solutions are fair because they still advertise a product and may even increase profit for the companies. This will cause a positive influence on teens, showing them that there are many woman out there that do not fit into that ideal form of beauty and feel comfortable in their own skin.
South Carolina Department of Mental Health. Eating Disorders.

Duane Hargreaves, Marika Tiggemann. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The Effect of “Thin Ideal” Television Commercials on Body Dissatisfaction and Schema Activation During Early Adolescence. New York: Oct. 2003. Vol. 32, Iss 5; pg 367

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Edited on 2005-11-10 14:36:42 by LaurenSmith

Additions:
I think that these solutions are fair because they still advertise a product and may even increase profit for the companies. This will cause a positive influence on teens, showing them that there are many woman out there that do not fit into that ideal form of beauty and feel comfortable in their own skin.

Deletions:
I think that these solutions are fair because they still advertise a product and may even increase profit for the companies. This will cause a positive influence on teens, showing them that there are many woman out there that do not fit into that ideal form of beauty.

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Edited on 2005-11-08 22:06:22 by LaurenSmith

Additions:
A prevalent problem in society today is the negative influence the media has on how teenage girls view themselves. It shows and displays an ideal form of beauty that every girl strives to achieve, resulting in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are two forms of unhealthy dieting that teenage girls think are the best ways to reach the ideal weight. These are diseases that involve either not eating at all or binge eating and purging which cause great damage to the body and could ultimately end in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness (eating disorders). The causes of these deaths are not only physical but psychological. Teenagers can become depressed because they feel that they will never achieve the ideal beauty therefore giving up and taking their own lives. Young, innocent and naive girls are suffering because society tells them to have a specific look. This is not the way they should view themselves. They should be convinced that they are beautiful no matter their size and all that matters is who they are on the inside. This should be the message sent out to all teenagers. The media has been filled with advertisements for product using very thin and tall women or, the ideal beauty, and is sending the wrong message the teenagers.
Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince them that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causing the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised. Real people buy the products companies advertise so my question is, why aren't real, averaged sized people playing the roles?
Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman, perceived as being the ideal beauty, for advertising products that are of a more male driven interest, is a good tactic. They got the males attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisements and think that if they are as thin as the actresses, they will receive the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products either other ways of perceiving the body image or without the use of body image at all.
One alternative that I will be discussing as a way to advertise products without the use of body image is to find other ways to attract the audience. An example would be when advertising a car, targeting a more male dominant audience, and incorporate other things that attract them. Such as, money, power, and strength. None of these require the use of thin models and therefore will not affect teenage girls negatively.
Another alternative could be to advertise a product to bring out the inner beauty in woman. For example if she uses a specific product her personality will benefit. It will make her more happy and enthusiastic. It will bring out the good person she is inside. It moves away from advertising the fact that it may make a woman's hair more shiny and attractive by using a thin beautiful woman. This way, any girl can feel they can use the product and not be influenced to look a certain way.
One last alternative would be to advertise in a way that embraced woman by trading fantasy images for realistic ones. For example a Nike commercial introduced a campaign that, “celebrates women’s big butts, thunder thighs and tomboy knees”(beauty’s new). There was also a Dove campaign expressing the beauty of a natural, curvy body. It shows woman of all different sizes, smiling and laughing, feeling comfortable in their skin. “There is a definite trend going on in society and the marketplace of self-acceptance and being comfortable in your own skin,” said Glamour VP-Publisher William Wackermann (beauty’s new).
I think that these solutions are fair because they still advertise a product and may even increase profit for the companies. This will cause a positive influence on teens, showing them that there are many woman out there that do not fit into that ideal form of beauty.

Works Cited

Rich Thomaselli. Advertising Age (midwest region edition). Beauty New , ER, Face. Chicago: Aug 15, 2005. Vol. 76, Iss 33; pg 1, 2 pgs.

South Carolina Department of Mental Health. Eating Disorders.

Patricia Morris. Patient Care. Media Pulse: Measuring the Media in Kid’s Lives. Mississauga. Jul 2004. Vol. 15, Iss. 7; pg 26, 3 pgs

Duane Hargreaves, Marika Tiggemann. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The Effect of “Thin Ideal” Television Commercials on Body Dissatisfaction and Schema Activation During Early Adolescence. New York: Oct. 2003. Vol. 32, Iss 5; pg 367

Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince then that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causing the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised and the way actors and actresses look in TV shows and movies. Real people buy the products companies advertise and real people go through the situations mocked in sitcoms and movies. So why aren't real averaged sized people playing these roles?
Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman perceived as being the ideal beauty for advertising products that are more male driven interests is a good tactic. They got the mans attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisements and think that if they are that thin they will receive the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products without the use of body image. What else are males very attracted to, for example? Money, power, and strength, to name a few. When advertising a car, instead of using a very thin young actress as the spokes person, develop the commercial in a way that shows that if one where to buy the strong, powerful car they would receive much attention and popularity. Another way of approaching it would be if a company os trying to sell a relatively inexpensive car. Their target audience is most likely middle class. In order to advertise this product would be to use an average person to be in the commercial. It shows that average people can too buy this car. If a thin model is seen with the car, their audience would immediacy think that it is expensive and way out of their league. This process can go even farther than car commercials. How about commercials that target teenage girls.

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Edited on 2005-11-07 09:22:36 by LaurenSmith

Additions:
A prevalent problem in society today is the negative influence the media has on how teenage girls view themselves. It shows and displays an ideal form of beauty that every girl strives to achieve, resulting in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia are two forms of unhealthy dieting that teenage girls think are the best ways to reach the ideal weight. There are diseases that involve either not eating at all or binge eating and purging. These cause great damage to the body and could ultimately end in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30-40% ever fully recover. The causes of these deaths are not only physical but psychological. Teenagers can become depressed because they feel they will never achieve the ideal beauty and give up, taking their own lives. Young, innocent and naive girls are suffering because society tells them to look a certain way. This is not the way they should view themselves. They should be convinced that they are beautiful no matter their size, all that matters is who they are on the inside. This should be the message sent out to all teenagers. In order to sell products or attract a big audience, the very thin and tall, the ideal beauty, is used sending the wrong message.
Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince then that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causing the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised and the way actors and actresses look in TV shows and movies. Real people buy the products companies advertise and real people go through the situations mocked in sitcoms and movies. So why aren't real averaged sized people playing these roles?
Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman perceived as being the ideal beauty for advertising products that are more male driven interests is a good tactic. They got the mans attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisements and think that if they are that thin they will receive the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products without the use of body image. What else are males very attracted to, for example? Money, power, and strength, to name a few. When advertising a car, instead of using a very thin young actress as the spokes person, develop the commercial in a way that shows that if one where to buy the strong, powerful car they would receive much attention and popularity. Another way of approaching it would be if a company os trying to sell a relatively inexpensive car. Their target audience is most likely middle class. In order to advertise this product would be to use an average person to be in the commercial. It shows that average people can too buy this car. If a thin model is seen with the car, their audience would immediacy think that it is expensive and way out of their league. This process can go even farther than car commercials. How about commercials that target teenage girls.

Deletions:
A prevelent problem in society today is the negative influence the media has on how teenage girls view themselves. It shows and displays an ideal form of beauty that every girl strives to achieve, resulting in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. Anorexia Nervosa and Bullemia are two forms of unhealthy dieting that teenage girls think are the best ways to reasch the ideal weight. There are diseases that involve either not eating at all or binge eating and purging. These cause great damage to the body and could ultimately end in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30-40% ever fully recover. The casues of these deaths are not only physical but psychological. Teenagers can become depressed because they feel they will never achieve the ideal beauty and give up, taking their own lives. Young, innocent and naive girls are suffering because society tells them to look a certain way. This is not the way they should view themsleves. They should be conviced that they are beautiful no matter their size, all that matters is who they are on the inside. This should be the message sent out to all teenagers. In order to sell products or attract a big audience, the very thin and tall, the ideal beauty, is used sending the wrong message.
Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince then that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causiong the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised and the way actors and actresses look in TV shows and movies. Real people buy the products companies advertise and real people go through the situations mocked in sitcoms and movies. So why arent real averaged sized people playing these roles?
Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman percieved as being the ideal beauty for advertising products that are more male driven interests is a good tactic. They got the mans attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisments and think that if they are that thin they will recieve the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products without the use of body image. What else are males very attrated to, for example? Money, power, and strength, to name a few. When advertising a car, instead of using a very thin young actress as the spokes person, develope the commercial in a way that shows that if one where to buy the strong, powerful car they would recieve much attention and popularity. Another way of approaching it would be if a company os trying to sell a relatively inxpensive car. Their target audience is most likely middle class. In order to advertise this product would be to use an average person to be in the commercial. It shows that average people can too buy this car. If a thin model is seen with the car, their audience would immedialy think that it is expensive and way out of their league. This process can go even farther than car commercials. How about commercials that target teenage girls.

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Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2005-11-06 21:06:16 by LaurenSmith []
Lauren Smith

A prevelent problem in society today is the negative influence the media has on how teenage girls view themselves. It shows and displays an ideal form of beauty that every girl strives to achieve, resulting in the unhealthy habits of eating and dieting. Anorexia Nervosa and Bullemia are two forms of unhealthy dieting that teenage girls think are the best ways to reasch the ideal weight. There are diseases that involve either not eating at all or binge eating and purging. These cause great damage to the body and could ultimately end in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30-40% ever fully recover. The casues of these deaths are not only physical but psychological. Teenagers can become depressed because they feel they will never achieve the ideal beauty and give up, taking their own lives. Young, innocent and naive girls are suffering because society tells them to look a certain way. This is not the way they should view themsleves. They should be conviced that they are beautiful no matter their size, all that matters is who they are on the inside. This should be the message sent out to all teenagers. In order to sell products or attract a big audience, the very thin and tall, the ideal beauty, is used sending the wrong message.

Something needs be done to prevent this or the problem will continue to exist. These teenagers are left to believe that they are not “beautiful” unless they are of a particular width or weight. If society continues to pressure and convince then that they should loose weight, the number of girls with eating disorders will increase and therefore directly causiong the mortality rate to increase. I am proposing that a significant change is done in the media industry. This can be done by altering the way products are advertised and the way actors and actresses look in TV shows and movies. Real people buy the products companies advertise and real people go through the situations mocked in sitcoms and movies. So why arent real averaged sized people playing these roles?

Reshaping some aspects of the media world is the most appropriate way to decrease the number of teenage girls on unhealthy diets. I agree that using very thin woman percieved as being the ideal beauty for advertising products that are more male driven interests is a good tactic. They got the mans attention and therefore selling them the product. By doing so though, there is also a negative effect. Young girls see the advertisments and think that if they are that thin they will recieve the equal amount of attention. But there are other ways to sell products without the use of body image. What else are males very attrated to, for example? Money, power, and strength, to name a few. When advertising a car, instead of using a very thin young actress as the spokes person, develope the commercial in a way that shows that if one where to buy the strong, powerful car they would recieve much attention and popularity. Another way of approaching it would be if a company os trying to sell a relatively inxpensive car. Their target audience is most likely middle class. In order to advertise this product would be to use an average person to be in the commercial. It shows that average people can too buy this car. If a thin model is seen with the car, their audience would immedialy think that it is expensive and way out of their league. This process can go even farther than car commercials. How about commercials that target teenage girls.