Negative Body Image In America

Studies show that at the age of thirteen 53% of girls in America are “unhappy with their bodies, this percent grows to 78% before the girls are even seventeen.” This research was found by Brown Education. Image has negatively affected the way teenagers see themselves. The 3 main things that image has effected in America is the focus of appearance, the way American’s dress, and has had a severe impact on mental health. Movies, television shows, commercials, and the magazines you see at the store all focus on appearance. According to Cosmo magazine “58% of female characters in movies had comments made about their looks.” And let’s be honest here, looks do matter to majority of people. Think of a time you’ve seen someone and started judging them …show more content…
Encouragement to focus on appearance is at an all-time high in our American culture, and with it comes the potential for an important increase in negative body image. According to the authors of The Adonis Complex, “There’s often a vicious circle here: the more a person focuses on his body, the worse he tends to feel about how he looks – obsession breeds discontent.” Society’s high standards have affected almost every teenager. These standards that society has set such as being tall, skinny, pretty, and tan are almost impossible to reach and teens spend more time worrying about the way they look then they do on actual living their life. I feel this is because being thin and/or muscular has become associated with being “hard-working, successful, popular, beautiful, strong, and self-disciplined.” Where as being “fat” is associated with being “lazy, ignorant, hated, ugly, weak, and lacking in …show more content…
High school is often a fashion show. So many teens feel like their self-worth is based off of what brand of clothing they wear. Coinstar did a poll on teenagers that reported their spending habits to include using “ 33 percent of their weekly income on clothing.” Brands like Nike, under armor, PINK, and UGGS, are all very popular brands, but are also very expensive, in my opinion at least. Teens are spending their money and having their parents spend their money on these clothes. They feel they have to go buy a $40 t-shirt at PINK rather than going and buying a $10 shirt (of the same quality, if not better) at Walmart. This is because of the pressure that society puts on teens to wear these brands.
The thing I feel image has affected the most in teens is their mental health state. Most teens that have a mental disorder have it because of a body image issue. Poor body image has been linked to diminished mental performance, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, dieting and eating disorders. When teens see models in these magazines and online they instantly compare