The "tween" stage. A lovely part in a person's development where they obtain more logical skills and curiosity. However, there are many downsides for this age group. "Tweens", as many like to call them, are gaining more social skills, and a sense of introspection that they did not have before. While this can be beneficial, it also leads them to long to fit in, and to care more and more about what others think of them. This quirk in their psychological maturity at this age makes them especially vulnerable to advertisements and the modern beauty standards that advertisements have created. These beauty standards negatively affect a tween's self-esteem and, in turn, encourages harmful behaviors.
To begin, today’s beauty standards are highly unachievable …show more content…
In Jessica Lovejoy’s article Body Image Issues are Not Just for Women, she notes that in today’s perfection-driven society, men are told to go to the gym, bulk up, and get bulging muscles. For women, society encourages them to lose weight and be skinny. For example, Lovejoy states, “we’re encouraged to lose the… weight because Kim Kardashian did so in record time; and we’re urged to get fit by Summer.” In order to achieve that standard of getting skinny by summer, losing weight fast, and bulking up muscles, everyday people must resort to unhealthy measures such as anorexia, and bulimia. Even worse, often times depression and other mental disorders accompany these unhealthy habits. While the effects are devastating to adults, these same destructive messages are told to tweens. They are perceiving these messages about weight and how their body looks before they understand the concept of health and fitness fully. As Lovejoy points out, these messages lead to self-esteem issues. Those who are not the ideal are perceived as being less than those who have the ideal body. I have seen many friends go down that path of unhealthy eating and exercise, and one friend even made herself infertile because she was so sick and unhealthy. Since these behaviors become habit in middle school, many tweens continue these habits into their teens and even adulthood. According to heatlhyteenproject.com, over half of all teen girls and a third of teen boys use unhealthy measures to lose weight such as not eating and purging among others. When these habits are introduced to tweens, they can affect the rest of their
To begin, today’s beauty standards are highly unachievable …show more content…
In Jessica Lovejoy’s article Body Image Issues are Not Just for Women, she notes that in today’s perfection-driven society, men are told to go to the gym, bulk up, and get bulging muscles. For women, society encourages them to lose weight and be skinny. For example, Lovejoy states, “we’re encouraged to lose the… weight because Kim Kardashian did so in record time; and we’re urged to get fit by Summer.” In order to achieve that standard of getting skinny by summer, losing weight fast, and bulking up muscles, everyday people must resort to unhealthy measures such as anorexia, and bulimia. Even worse, often times depression and other mental disorders accompany these unhealthy habits. While the effects are devastating to adults, these same destructive messages are told to tweens. They are perceiving these messages about weight and how their body looks before they understand the concept of health and fitness fully. As Lovejoy points out, these messages lead to self-esteem issues. Those who are not the ideal are perceived as being less than those who have the ideal body. I have seen many friends go down that path of unhealthy eating and exercise, and one friend even made herself infertile because she was so sick and unhealthy. Since these behaviors become habit in middle school, many tweens continue these habits into their teens and even adulthood. According to heatlhyteenproject.com, over half of all teen girls and a third of teen boys use unhealthy measures to lose weight such as not eating and purging among others. When these habits are introduced to tweens, they can affect the rest of their