How media advertising affects girls psychologically

Psychological Effect the Media Has on Girls

Young children and young girls in particular are extremely impressionable. They worry about their body image and appearance much more than young boys do. This trait usually carries over into adulthood if not addressed early on. The media plays a large role in the way that these young girls feel about themselves. On a daily basis they are bombarded with images on television or in magazines of women who appear to be flawless. When they see these images they feel that this is how they are supposed to look and they begin to judge their own appearance based on what they see in the media. They usually find that they cannot live up to these images and it causes problems that they carry with them throughout their lives. The clinical issues that this study addresses are depression and low self-esteem.

Literature Review

There was a fair amount of literature to be found on this topic. The basic hypothesis is that the media plays a large psychological role in how young girls feel about themselves. The main assumption with this hypothesis is that the role that the media plays is a negative one causing unnecessary depression because the girls feel they can never measure up to the images they see on television or in magazines. The other assumption is that this feeling of never measuring up causes low self-esteem which could lead to unacceptable social behaviors.

Worell, J., & Goodheart, C.D. (2006). Body Image. Handbook of Girls' and Women's Psychological Health (pp. 68-75). New York: Oxford University Press.

The chapter on body image was chosen as a reference for this study because it digs deep into all of the issues which can affect how young girls feel about themselves and their bodies. The authors cover such issues as how the media influences how girls feel about themselves at very young ages and how this issue is not a biological issue but more of a psychological and social issue. Young girls are taught at a young age that in order to be successful, they must be thin and beautiful. The media also perpetuates the myth that if a woman tries hard enough, she can become thin and beautiful. The authors attribute these messages sent to girls by the media as the reason why the beauty industry is a billion-dollar industry. They say that these companies sell women products using false claims because the products rarely do what they are supposed to. Yet, girls and women continue to by them holding onto false hope that they will work.

Bell, B.T., Lawton R., and Dittmar, H. (2007). The impact of thin models in music videos on adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 4(2), 137-145.

Many youth and some adults watch music videos. In these videos the women appear to have bodies which are thin and perfect looking and their faces are usually flawless. As young men watch these videos, they are fed the stereotype that this is what women are supposed to look like. As young girls watch these videos, they feel that they must look like these women in order for the boys to like them. The authors did a study on young girls ages 16 to 19. They had them some of them watch music videos and list th3 words that stood out. The second group listened to the same videos and was asked to list the words that stood out for them also. Next, all of the girls were given a test on body image. The girls who actually viewed the music videos demonstrated a low opinion of their bodies, while the girls who listened to the videos had a healthier body image.

Dohnt, H.K. And Tiggemann, M. (2006). Body image concerns in young girls: The role of peers and media prior to adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(2), 141-151.

This article also focuses on the media's effect on the body image of young girls. The authors did a study of very young girls (age five to eight) to gauge their perceptions on their body images. What they found was that even at such a young age, these girls had issues with their body and were also very aware of dieting and how it is designed to make people thinner.

They also discovered that even at such a young age, these girls' body image is heavily influence by their peers.

Ata, R.N., Ludden, AB. And Lally, M.M. (2007). The effects of gender and family, friend, and media influences on eating behaviors and body image during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(8), 1024-1037.

Young girls are not only influence by the media, their family, friend and boys also weigh heavily on how they view their body image. The authors state that for the most part, when young girls see other women on television or in magazines they are fine until they are teased or scolded by family and friends about not having the perfect body. It is then that they feel like they have to measure up to what they see on television and in magazines.

Expectations of Study

Although this study is straightforward, the topic still needs to be explored with solutions suggested because the image that our young girls have of themselves create serious social problems later on in life. These issues should be addressed early on in life. It may seem like a frivolous issue, but the beauty industry is a billion dollar industry which helps to perpetuate the myth that women must look a certain way in order to feel good about themselves and attract love and be successful. Most every commercial on television and every ad in magazines are targeted toward females. They tell us we must use a certain brand of make-up, have a particular shade of hair color, or that women must lose a certain amount of weight because thin is in and curves are out.

What these young girls need to be taught is that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and colors and that they can be successful and loved without being thin, have blonde hair or wear a particular brand of makeup. What is common is that it is rare that men suffer from such things as a poor body image. This could be because the media does not focus on these issues with men as they do with women. There are so many television shows geared towards women even though they may not be advertised as such. Shows like America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girls all feature young, thin women who are striving for this idea of perfection that doesn't exist.

Discussion

Since the beginning of the existence of television and fashion magazines, women have been targeted and made to feel that they must live up to the images presented to them. This has caused many females to have poor images of themselves because they feel they do not measure up to what society considers beautiful. To make themselves look better, many women have resorted to extreme dieting, excess makeup and even cosmetic surgery. Unfortunately, the way that adult women feel about themselves has been passed on to their daughters and other young girls.

We now live in an age where images of beautiful woman are everywhere. It is difficult to turn on the television or open up a magazine and see a woman who is considered extremely attractive. Rarely are average, everyday women seen in the media because it is perceived that they do not draw the attention that the thinner, younger more beautiful woman does. Worell and Goodheart state that a woman's body dissatisfaction can be a problem because it causes women to buy expensive products that really don't to what they claim to do (p. 69).

Women are made to feel that they must be thin and young in order to be considered beautiful. This causes problems in the long run because young girls who have poor images of their bodies and looks often grow up to be adult women with the same issues. The problem with the images of women that the media feeds to us is that it is largely unrealistic to look this way. The average dress size for women in the United States is a size 12. There are some women who wear much smaller dress sizes, but they are generally in the minority.

The bottom line is that young girls need to know that it doesn't take a dress size in the double digits or a bra size that is at least a 36C in order for them to feel good about themselves. The main reason that many of these girls feel the way that they do about their bodies is because of what they are viewing in the media. However, the media cannot be the sole blame for this problem. Young girls are heavily influenced by what other young boys view as beautiful. They also sometimes are subject to the pressure from their peers, friends and family. but, the interesting thing is that their peers, family, friends and young boys are basing their opinion of what these girls should look like from what they see in the media.

Main Cause of Poor Body Images in Young Girls

The media has been with us for years and it is here to stay. There are good aspects of this industry because it serves to keep us informed and aware of what is happening in the world around us. The media can also be viewed negatively because of some of the television programs that are out there today. Technology is so advanced that we can now watch our favorite television shows and read our favorite fashion magazines right from our cell phones. We can assume that as the years go by, technology will get more advanced and the role of the media will become even more prominent.

Such outlets as music videos and certain television shows are aimed at the younger generation. They portray images of young women that are flawless and their looked becomes the desired look of young girls all over. Many parents may not even be aware that their young daughters suffer from such a poor body image because they more than likely had the same issues while growing up. Furthermore, their mothers probably still suffer from a poor body image to a certain extent because the media does not stop at young girls. It generally makes women of all ages feel that they do not measure up to the images they see on television and in magazines. This causes issues such as depression and low self-esteem. If conditions such as this are not properly diagnosed and left untreated, they can snowball into even bigger issues.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Since the media isn't going anywhere and will continue to present images to young girls to make them feel inferior, diagnosis and treatment is important. Depression and low self-esteem may not appear to be serious health issues, but they are because they can be debilitating and make it difficult for the young girls to function and behave normally in society. In order to diagnose depression and low self-esteem, young girls should be given a battery of questions and possibly participate in small focus groups to get feedback on how the media affects how they view themselves. Studies much like the one done by Bell, Lawton and Dittmar are a good place to start because it reveal that the visual effects of the music videos were instrumental in how the young girls view their own bodies (2007).

Focus groups are also a good idea because it will give the young ladies an opportunity to share their feelings about their body image and realize that they are not alone in how they feel. While it may not be easy to do, the young girls' parents should also play a role in the study because the messages that they relay to their daughters about how they should look are important. Parents should know that they are capable of thwarting the negative messages their young girls see in the media. While they cannot block every television show or shield their daughter from every aspect of what is considered beautiful, they can strengthen their daughters body images and self-esteem by constantly feeding them positive affirmations.

Young girls are prone to suffer from depression if they begin to feel they are not fulfilling the images portrayed in the media on how they should look. Depression is not always easy to treat and medication should not be sought as a first choice in treatment. There are so many drugs on the market manufactured to treat depression and while some are generally good, medication is not always the best option. If the depression is mild and not severe, counseling and self-help may be the best remedies. In order to combat depression, the young girls must be willing to follow the treatment plan prescribed.

Cutting back on watching so much television is necessary. For instance, if the girls say they watch an average of twenty hours of television per week they may need to cut back to perhaps ten hours per week. Also, the quality of the programs they watch should be changed. They should focus more on educational or history shows instead of what is popular in the age group. If they are athletically inclined, playing sports will be helpful since studies show that young women who play sports generally have a better body image (Worell and Goodheart, p. 72). Young girls also have to be selective with their choice of friends and surround themselves only with those friends who are non-judgemental of their looks.

The treatment for low self-esteem is much the same as the treatment for depression. However, parents do play a large role in shaping their children. Whether children, especially teenagers want to admit it or not, they value the opinion of their parents are care what their parents think of them. It is especially important that the young girls' mother has a healthy body image and is not affected by images of other women in the media. This could be one of the first steps to the young girls' recovery. If the mother is confident in who she is, she can pass these values down to her daughters and boost their self-confidence also.

Fathers also play an important role in boosting their young girls' self-esteem. They can show their daughter that they value them by the way that they treat their wives. If a young girl comes from a positive environment where there is genuine love and deep affection on the part of her parents, she is more than likely to be self-confident instead of having low self-esteem. Fathers should be mindful to compliment their wives, even when she may not be at her best. Young girls need to see these images for themselves to know that they do not have to look like a supermodel in order for someone else to see them as beautiful individuals.