Aesthetic Effects On Self-Esteem Research Paper

In general, we live in a world where aesthetics is important and that impacts how society begins to view each individual. As people develop and become more mature, people realize that a person’s importance and their capabilities isn’t hindered upon on their physical appearance, but rather their intelligence and character. In this paper, I will explore how one’s weight, more specifically how being overweight, in middle childhood to early adolescence impacts a person’s self-esteem. This is an important issue that should be addressed, for in the current world we are living in where our children are primarily exposed to thin, Photoshop images of women and athletic, strong and hyper-masculine representation of men, what values are we instilling into our youth about how they should value themselves. In western society, people are getting bigger, but the image of what a woman or man should look like has not changed. I do believe that it is through the media, peers and family that they develop their standards of beauty and I acknowledge that it is important for children to practice a healthy …show more content…
For in the previous years it was about being accepted by my peers and making friendships, but now dating is an additional factor in how I view my body and my self-esteem. I remember gossiping with my friends about which boy we thought was the cutest, when Michael would ask Jasmine out on a date and who would be the first to have a boyfriend. Discussing these issues with my friends were comforting for each other, but there was one issue that I thought my friends didn’t have to be concerned with when it came to dating that I would have to be: physical attraction. While yes, everyone wants to be attracted to their partner, I had to worry more so about attracting the opposite sex with me being heavier, while my friends just had to be concerned with finding the perfect