mymackenziesmith-blog

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Please excuse the bad quality, but I couldn't find a better version of this clip. Anyways, this "Anchor Arms" commercial displays that, even in animated shows targeted for children, people feel the pressure to conform to obtain a certain appearance based on what they see in the media. In this episode, Spongebob was feeling insecure about his weakness, so when he saw this commercial for "Anchor Arms" he immediately bought this tool so he could look big and strong for his peers. 

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Blurb for Young-Adult Website

Have you ever felt the desire to buy something because you saw it in a commercial or in a television show? I mean, during a hot, sweaty summer’s day, who hasn’t wanted to buy every ice cream bar that’s advertised during a commercial break? How about feeling the desire to change your appearance, based on something you saw on some mode of the media? Nowadays, nearly all of the people we see on television have the same look—thin. All of the actors we see in movies, the models for clothing companies, even the people slowly, satisfyingly eating the indulgent chocolate truffles in the commercials are stick thin. Despite the continuously declining size of the models, the issue of how bodies are portrayed in the media has grown significantly within recent years. The pressure to conform and resemble these models, especially for teenage girls and young women, is known to cause body discontentment and insecurity, in addition to a multitude of eating disorders. It’s important that the media stop broadcasting this image as the only acceptable form of “beauty” and resist the urge to excessively abuse Photoshop, and other similar software, to digitally enhance images. The media should support all body types and encourage positive body image, rather than rely on implanting insecurity into potential customers to buy their products.

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"H&M were forced to use the originals."

It's great that Beyoncé forced H&M to use the original pictures, rather than use the excessively photoshopped versions. It's important that celebrities protest against the outrageously digitally enhanced photos that the media use, since their actions have a significant impact on the general public (especially teenagers who are at an impressionable age). I would also like to add that Beyoncé has a very curvaceous body, so I'm glad that she didn't succumb to the pressure from the media to photoshop her pictures for H&M.

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Firsthand Experience

http://www.crushable.com/2014/02/27/entertainment/eating-disorder-celebrity-quotes-body-image-awareness-get-help/

In this quote, Kate Winslet acknowledges the relentlessly thinning image of "perfection." As a celebrity, Kate is expected to uphold a certain image and size, more so than the average person. She explains her hope that one day she, and people like her, will be able to recognize the positive aspects in life and realize that they are not at all affected by her size/look.

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What are some ways to boost confidence about body size and image through the media?

http://blog.blowfishshoes.com/blog/userfiles/Seventeen_Cover_May10.jpg

First and foremost, I think it would help if companies stopped having headlines like these on their typical cover page. By featuring articles like “943 Ways to Look Pretty”, the media is implying that there is something ugly about our appearances now, or at the very least that our appearance could be improved (in 943 ways). Also, the story “Why Can’t I Stop Gaining Weight?” shouldn’t be advertised on a magazine targeted for seventeen year olds. At seventeen years old, people are still developing and growing into their natural, adult forms, and they shouldn’t feel pressured to stop gaining weight or, unfortunately, to lose weight.

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Download this song: http://smarturl.it/CollbieGypsyHeartDA or stream it: http://open.spotify.com/album/5nB5tR7ntrEpHbpCS7iHN9 Taken from the new album GYPSY ...

This song relates to my topic because it emphasizes the point that you don't have to put on make-up, or alter your appearance in anyway, in order to look "beautiful." Although it's kind of cheesy, beauty comes from within and your self-worth shouldn't be influenced by what you (think you) look like. It also helps that the artist of the song, Colbie Caillat, takes off her make-up with the other girls in the music video and we're able to see her in her natural form. 

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Interview

I interviewed my 16-year-old cousin, Kylie, for this assignment. 

1. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you think the media affects the way you view your body? Please explain why you chose this number.

8- because when I buy clothes at a store I feel pressured to look as good as the models/mannequins that are wearing the same clothes.

2. Do you aspire to look like or be like any particular celebrity? Why?

Shay Mitchell- because she's beautiful and famous on Instagram for her outfits and looks.

3. Have you ever altered your behavior (eating habits, dressing habits, etc.) because of something you saw in the media? Can you give a specific example?

I've tried to alter my eating habits (like going on diets and eating healthier) a few times, but I've never been able to keep up with anything for too long.

4. If there is one thing the media could do to improve self-esteem and body image, what would it be?

Not to have stick-thin models advertise all beauty products and clothing. Also, it would help if every commercial would have the song "All About That Bass" as its background music.

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Context

One of the main factors that influenced my topic is that I had a few friends in high school with eating disorders, either caused or aggravated by the pressure(s) created by the media. Teenage girls, in particular, are supposed to have a slim figure, clear skin, smooth and shiny hair and more superficial attributes according to the images we see on television, magazines and other forms of the media. It disgusts me that these qualities have become the new “norm” and people, especially teenage girls like myself, feel pressured to achieve and sustain these qualities. Although it is already a publicly established issue, I would like to further emphasize the flaws in the media and the connection between exposure to media and eating disorders/ tainted body image.

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Generative Writing Remix

"The Braindead Megaphone" by George Saunders

One quote from this essay that really relates to my topic is "[The media] strives to antagonize us, make us feel anxious" (244). Although this essay was originally written to discuss the flaws in more "scholarly" media, such as the news and academic journals and magazines, I think this essay is also applicable when discussing social media. Nowadays, the images we see in the media are meant to trigger anxiety and insecurity, so we go out and purchase the products that will make us skinnier, prettier, healthier, etc. We have been forced to live in an environment where we are constantly being told that we are inadequate, and the only way to improve ourselves is to buy cosmetic products, clothing, diet/meal plans and more unnecessary items.

Saunders, George. “The Braindead Megaphone.” Other Words: A Writer’s Reader 2009. Ed. David Fleming. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt, 2009. 239-48. Print.

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The media and body image are closely related. The possible effects of false body image advertising include inadequacy, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc. What can be done to help.

This article discusses the extent of which the average American citizen is exposed to some form of the media per year, and how the excessive exposure affects us. Although the average American woman wears clothing of sizes 12-14, the average model wears a size 0. Modeling in the media screws up our perception of what is "normal" or "beautiful", and is extremely harmful to teenagers and children who are at an impressionable age.

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"I wish I could tell every young girl with an eating disorder, or who has harmed herself in any way, that she’s worthy of life and that her life has meaning. You can overcome and get through anything." -Demi Lovato in Seventeen

Demi, who suffered from an eating disorder herself, is a great advocator for recovery. She reminds all with eating disorders that it is possible to recover and that you are worth trying to help. (via discussingeatingdisorders)

I think Demi Lovato is a great example of someone who has been significantly impacted by the media. As a celebrity, Demi has been constantly pressured by the media and society, in general, to maintain a certain image and advertise a certain look. It is not surprising that this endless pressure cultivated into an eating disorder, amongst other mental/emotional issues. However, Demi was thankfully able to get the help she needed and now stands as a positive role model against negative body image that is fostered by the media.

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Cameron Russell admits she won "a genetic lottery": she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don't judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she t...

This is an interesting Ted Talk expressing the flaws in the media from a model's perspective. Cameron Russell is not afraid to expose and criticize the industry that she worked for at a young and impressionable age. It's really admirable that she has the audacity to speak out against the media, especially since it was her exposure in the media that gave her both fame and fortune.

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http://www.goodenoughdiet.com @TaraDiversi @DrAdamFraser We wrote The Good Enough Diet because of society's relentless need to be perfect and the problems th...

I thought this video was very powerful and accurately expressed the severity of how the media affects people's body image, especially in girls and women. Some of these statistics are horrible to think about and something needs to be done about this issue soon.

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ABC's Paula Faris has details on how this rising model achieves her perfect look.

This story is ridiculous! Why would anyone spend thousands of dollars to alter their body to look like a doll? This woman is setting an awful example, as she is publicly striving to become a "Real-Life Barbie Doll", and I don't think she should get recognition for her superficial efforts.

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I think this post is offensive because it's encouraging people to alter their bodies to resemble these unnaturally and unhealthily skinny bodies. These photos were probably taken straight out of commercials, posters or other forms of media and advertising. Girls with these body types are rare, even though the media is supposed to be applicable to the general public, yet girls feel pressured to alter their bodies to resemble these because they are considered "beautiful." No one should feel forced to change their personality and their appearance, so I find this post extremely offensive.

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Blogs to Follow

I got all of these blogs from discussingeatingdisorders.

ed-truth

positivebodyimageproject

not-the-very-button

These blogs relate to my topic because they discuss the pressure(s) that people feel which cause them to develop an eating disorder. One of the blogs (@not-the-very-button) posted a very powerful image showing the extremely distorted perception a girl has about her own body image. I believe this unsatisfactory body image is cultivated by the media.

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This post reveals shocking results from a research study, comparing the measurements of the average American woman compared to the average American model. According to how the media is currently advertising what qualifies, and quantifies, what it means to beautiful, only 2% of women in the United States are beautiful. This article should shed some light as to why women feel pressured to uphold a certain weight (and image, in general), and reveal a crucial flaw in the media nowadays. 

-The average American woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds while the average American model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.

Wow. 2% of women fit this standard of beauty. Then does this represent real beauty?

-80% of women in...