Some might argue that the movies and television depicting African-American and white adolescent girls reinforces stereotypes and can only negatively affect body image. This argument is supported by the fact that the vast majority of media and film sexualizes young women, African-American or white (Baker 13-15). It is true that women are held to a higher ideal because of advertising and media. However, the difference in the advertising of African-American and white women is the submissive sexiness of white women opposed to the independent sexiness of African-American women (Baker 13-15). It is true that both back and white girls feel compelled to emulate sexiness. However, African-American girls are also given an ideal that includes the tools for self-acceptance. That is, the independence and assertiveness found in the advertising depicting African-American women helps girls to feel confident and self-assured.

Close family relationships may be another factor in positive body image in young African-American girls. No matter how many differing opinions and views of women they see in the media, a girl who has a strong role model who encourages healthy behavior is more likely to feel good about herself ("Girls' Body" 51). Healthy behavior might include good personal habits, self-assuredness, and not responding to peer pressure. It also might involve eating right and being healthy in general, something that is rarely portrayed as "sexy" in the media.

Rosenthal, Smith, and de Visser point out that girls often become sexually active to make themselves feel like they are good looking or confirm that they are "okay" (319). This need for self-assuredness is more likely where girls feel bad about themselves. Logically, this would make it seem like girls with poor self body image and low self-esteem are more likely to have sex to reassure themselves that they are good and attractive to others. That may explain why girls who have strong family support, specifically a strong female relative, are less likely to have sex at an early age (Rosenthal, Smith, and de Visser (319). Other factors listed by Rosenthal, Smith, and de Visser are friendship/support networks and religious ties (319). Both of these home-life factors may stem from family relationships,...

This is likely the result of other factors in the individual's life. For example, an absent mother, abuse in the home, and socioeconomic factors may all affect how a young woman feels about herself or her body. The issue is not that all adolescent African-American girls have positive body images; instead, the argument is being made that adolescent African-American girls are more likely to have positive body images than are their white counterparts.
While a full-scale study of body image would be necessary to find the exact links, it is likely that adolescent African-American girls have better body images than adolescent white girls for reasons relating to media portrayal and family. African-American adolescent girls may be positively affected by close female family members. They may also be positively responsive to the portrayal of black women in the media as strong, assertive, and independent. While it is clear that these media portrayals may be stereotypes, the link to a positive body image in adolescent African-American girls may nevertheless exist. The issues of body image portrayal in the media and better familial relations would explain why African-American adolescent girls are more likely to have a positive body image than white adolescent girls of the same socioeconomic status.

Works Cited

Baker, Christina N. "Images of Women's Sexuality in Advertisements: A Content analysis of African-American- and White-Oriented Women's and Men's Magazines." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 52.1-2 (2005): 13-15.

Girls' Body Images Depend on Moms." Family Practice News 36.2 (2006): 51.

Hylmo, Annika. "Girls on Film: An Examination of Gendered Vocational Socialization Messages Found in Montion Pictures Targeting Teenage Girls." Western Journal of Communication 70.3 (2006): 167-85.

Rosenthal, Doreen a., Anthony M.A. Smith, and Richard de Visser. "Personal and Social Factors Influencing Age at First Sexual Intercourse."…