In conclusion all these mediums used by the media represent teenage girls in a lot of different ways. To the girls featured in the mediums, they may feel proud and privileged to be on there. To the other teenage girls watching they may be feeling envy and jealousy. To society they may feel it is irrelevant and stupid to them. We view different mediums depending on ourselves, our beliefs, our customs, what we believe in.
I think teenage girls are being affected rather largely from the ranges of media shown in society. Girls feel the need to be as pretty as their favourite actresses, as skinny as the models that model their favourite clothing. Teenage girls are portrayed quite badly throughout the mediums I have discussed; magazine – teen vogue, photo – retouched photos, film – mean girls. Therefore I believe that teenage girls are becoming more and more stereotyped, and this makes it misleading to other girls. Teenage girls on the media are being affected as badly as the teenage girls who are watching, listening or reading the media.
Everywhere we see photos of celebrities that we all know to be photoshopped. Many companies create images of women that don’t really exist by using computer-modified compilations of various body parts to satisfy our eyes. They change their skin tone, lift their cheekbones, make their waist smaller, brighten up their eyes, remove all blemishes and pimples etc. All these images are fake because they are not showing the real beauty in which that person has.
Spot the difference in this photo. The same girl but one of them has been retouched so much, it’s completely mind blowing. The girls’ face has the same features, same dress, same pose everything is the same except one thing. Her body size. The first photo showing a much larger version of the girl, which may be true or not. And the other one showing a much skinnier version of the girl, which may be true or not. Both images, she is wearing makeup, because you can’t have a photo of a girl without make up. I do not know which one is real, but I would have to guess the first version is untouched and the second one is touched.
This proposes to all girls that you have to be skinny to be considered in today’s society. The modern world we live in now, society is all about fitting in, not being yourself, not standing out. We have to have the newest iPhone, the newest laptop, the expensive cars and fashionable clothing. It tells us that to be pretty we have to wear make up to cover all our blemishes, make our eyes pop but what does this tell other girls. For me, when I see girls with heaps of make up I don’t think too fondly of it, I wonder why they wear so much, when without the make up they are beautiful already. This image tells us viewers, that society looks down on bigger women. It tells us that if you’re big, you’re never going to fit in. But that isn’t necessarily true, there are many women out their who have made a great living and they don’t care about their size. They don’t feel peer pressured to be as thin as hollywood actors, they don’t want to be as thin as Victoria Secret’s models. They don’t want the problems that they have, they don’t want to suffer through all the pain they go through just to be skinny, so they can fit in. A prime example is Rebel Wilson, an actress who many teenager girls admire.
When teenage girls see pretty models, their first thought is usually “I am ugly.” But the media is conveying a wrong message, when in fact that model is probably not what you’re seeing. You are seeing a perfect model which has been changed and analysed so much, it could be considered a person who does not exist. Girls go out of their way to get these features done, they use whatever techniques they find on the internet. Not everything on the internet is true, and problems may occur like allergic reactions. Usually most girls will look down at themselves and this is when all the problems start to occur. Girls start dieting to become skinnier, they start working out they stop eating but what happens when they push past their goal and they still keep going? Everyone has seen their fair share of girls, who are just sticks and bones. these girls have probably gone through anorexia, an emotional disorder characterised by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Anorexia is one of the leading causes as to girls falling ill, a disorder which has been getting more and more common. In fact actresses Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts and the singer Diana Ross meet the BMI criteria for anorexia. Another disorder called bulimia which is an emotional disorder characterised by a distorted body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight, in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by fasting or self-induced vomiting or purging. Demi Lovato went through this as she was being judged about her body mass because she wasn’t as stick thin as all the other singers. These disorders are very un healthy and many teenage girls everywhere are coping with these disorders. The chain keeps going as younger girls are being taught this and so on. People get surgery to fix their ‘problems’ like elephant ears, they have surgery to pin them back. If you have a mole on your cheek, girls want to have surgery to get rid of this imperfection. Some people even go to extreme cases to have surgery to remove body fat. This is what the media teaches teenager girls, the media portrays bad perceptions on what beauty really is.
The sexualisation in women is a major concern to most teenage girls and other audiences. Media portray girls as sexy by not having clothes on, zooming in on to features females have, seduce you to buy their products. Most ads don’t need a female lead, but they have a female so it looks more appealing. When we see another teenage girl on TV what we think is probably to what they think, they may think so highly of themselves as they have made it onto the big screen and is considered beautiful by the media. Whereas we would think what are they doing with themselves, they will get no where in life with that. On the other hand males would enjoy this, sexualisation in media is portraying bad views of teenager girls.
Theres shouldn’t be retouched photos at all, why go to the bother of making the models all pretty with makeup and then having to make them more pretty by adding unrealistic stuff. If you’re selling your product and you have retouched your model, you’re giving a fake advertisement, because your product doesn’t actually do what its suppose to do. Why should models have to be underweight, fashion models’ weighed an average of 8% less than the average women 20 years ago nowadays the average fashion model weighs 23% less than the average woman. Why can’t there be models who are true to their size, “plus-size models” are in fact what an average women would weigh. This would mean no more touched photos which have been graphically made, as beauty is in everyone.
Teen Vogue magazine is one of the best selling teenage magazines that girls in America buy. A typical magazine focused on the latest celebrity gossip, fashion style and of course beauty. Here are two images of the front cover, the left one with Chloe Grace Moretz and the other one Selena Gomez. Both of these two girls are very famous and most teenage girls adore. But we see that they have definitely been photoshopped and a lot of makeup has been added. Their skin is very clear with no blemishes what so ever. All their features are what most teenage girls want. They both seem to be wearing very feminine clothing, we see Chloe is seen wearing a top with various shades of pink, purple and white. On the other hand Selena wearing red sleeves with pink hearts all over them making her look very innocent. The clothes they are wearing make it seem like they are still very young and innocent.
In the magazines they usually teach us what we should say to our crush, how we should approach our parents with a decision, how to manage time which is very helpful to most people. Some magazines have photos which haven’t been retouched, this means we can see and relate to that person without thinking badly of ourself. But when they give us pointers on how to wear makeup with tutorials or how to dress for your first date, it represents girls as not being able to do anything for ourselves. It teaches us that we should be doing what others tell us to, we shouldn’t make any decisions on ourselves because they’re probably wrong. We should be doing what they say in the magazine because everyone else is doing it too, so we will look cool, we will fit in, we will look like our celebrity idol.
Teenage girls are affected by this because when they see these girls on the cover and think I want to be like her, I want to buy whatever clothes she’s wearing, I want the makeup that she is wearing. They see the models in the magazine and think to themselves that they want to be that skinny and tall but according to America’s Mental health Channel, Healthy Place, today’s fashion models weigh 23% less than the average female, and a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a 7% chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a 1% chance of being as thin as a supermodel. However, 69% of girls in one study said that magazine models influence their idea of the perfect body shape. Magazines are very good at promoting companies products, we see Selena’s perfect face and her defined eyebrows and her fierce eyes. Girls want to look like this, so they buy the magazine to find out what products made these girls look so flawless. Girls will now go out and buy these products that the magazine promotes which makes us believe that we will have a glowing face just like our idols. We are told that the clothes that they wear because they are fashionable, expensive and everyone wears them. Teenage girls need to be more confident about ourselves, we need to stand out. Magazines like these put others who don’t want to fit in and be themselves down, as they tell us what we should wear and what we shouldn’t.
Society see us all the same as if we’re in the same group because we like to wear the same clothes as everyone, we like to do our hair just like each other, teenage girls like to follow trends and that’s what we do. They see us like sheep and we’re just following one another, one of the main reasons we are influenced is because of celebrities. Society think we are making poor decisions of what we are doing with our life because we seem to be doing whatever our idol is doing.
I think the magazines should have more untouched photos, we can relate to them and we won’t feel pressured or intimidated at how they look. The products should stay true to what they actually do and not what photoshop can also help with. Fashion sense should cover a range of different people, there can be cheaper things and more expensive things. A range of different sized models for magazines, this would definitely make teenage girls feel more comfortable.
Many magazines create images of women that don’t really exist by using computer-modified compilations of various body parts and seven out of ten women felt angrier and more depressed following the viewing of fashion model images. Magazines are one of the worst ways to represent teenage girls and since there are so many viewers of magazines, it must affect many teenager girls.
One of the highly remarked films that all teenager girls love, but do we really know what the film is trying to tell us? Mean girls, a film where teenage girl, Caddy, has been living in South Africa for most of her life with her family, but when her family return to America she has to try and fit in to be a normal teenager. Caddy then meets ‘The Plastics’ three girls who are all tall, skinny, beautiful, rich and of course popular.
The Plastics who are three girls; Karen Smith, Gretchen Weiners and Regina George. All of them are what they like to call ‘perfect’. Karen, the typical dumb blonde girl who cannot comprehend anything because she’s blonde obviously. She fails many times throughout movie at trying to understand anything, but it never seems to happen because she’s blonde and dumb. The only reason she’s hanging in the ‘it group’ is because she is skinny, has a perfect face, perfect hair, perfect everything basically. Gretchen because she’s brunette that means she is smarter than her so called friends Regina and Karen. Gretchen is in love with this boy, and throughout the movie she is constantly non stop complaining about how she wants to be with him. This tells other teenage girls that we all must have a boy to rely on, we all have to have boyfriend and he has to be perfect, which teenage girls see as rich, handsome and a jock. Then there’s Regina, the most cherished one, the queen bee, who obviously has to be blonde, big boobs, very skinny, tall, gorgeous and we can’t forget mean. Regina of course has to sleep with many guys, and in real fact this is what most media depicts popular teenage girls as. We’re seen as slutty and whorish just like Regina. In the movie we see many girls look at Regina in awe and this is only because she has what they don’t have, big boobs, small waist, perfect hair, clean face, long legs, is this how all girls want to be like? Not all girls will have these ‘perfect’ qualities.
Mean Girls has taught us teenage girls a lot of things, to be popular you have to be pretty, skinny and mean. It has taught us that pink is a colour that all teenager girls should wear because it is the most feminine colour. To fit in you have to do what everyone else tells you to do. To be cool you have to go to parties (and drink alcohol) and have a relationship (but only with a boy). To be an outcast you have to have something different and weird like being in a different race, body image. To be smart you can’t be blonde and you have to be a guy because most guys are smarter than girls. To be normal you have to be what? What exactly is normal, because mean girls really doesn’t explore that meaning. One part during the movie they classify all the stereotypes in the cafeteria, Mean Girls Stereotyping In Cafeteria this has taught society that we can also classify those people in real life. This is not true and is what the media is portraying to us.
Teenage girls all around the world have watched this cherished movie, and have taken all these new ideas into mind. They adore Regina and so they want to be like her, so they start dieting and even more dieting which affectively leads to anorexia or bulimia. A serious case which needs to be solved as it is affecting many teenager girls and is not healthy at all. They then want to change their wardrobe because all of the clothes in there are too modest. The new clothes they buy have to be revealing, and in feminine colours which is mainly pinks and purples. They try to be meaner to act cool in front of everyone, they ditch the friends that don’t make the cut. Which is usually girls who don’t have the same attributes as them, not as pretty, not as rich. If they do make the cut they change them if there is something wrong with them. Girls who aren’t included then do whatever they can to make them feel included, pushup bras, makeup etc. Girls these days are wearing way too much makeup and this is because they all have low self esteem thinking they’re too ugly after seeing gorgeous females. But what exactly is considered as ugly? That mole on the side of your face, that scar on you left thigh, that one extra roll on your stomach? Many girls look at their flaws and think maybe I would be popular if I didn’t have that one tiny thing, even in Mean Girls the popular girls are complaining how they have big hips, broad shoulders. What do we need to do to ourselves to become the ‘perfect’ teenager girl? My opinion is that there are no ‘perfect’ teenager girls, everyone has their flaws even if it isn’t to do with your body, you’re too dumb, you’re too smart, you’re not athletic, ugly personality.
Instead of how stereotypical this movie is they should try to incorporate other ideas, just because someone isn’t popular means they’re going to be weird and strange in a way. Which is who Caddy befriends Janice a goth basket case and Damien a large guy who is apparently gay. The movie is trying to convey to us that if you’re not popular it’s because you’re fat, homosexual, nerdy or in a different race. They shouldn’t always make the queen bee blonde, the rejects shouldn’t always be ugly, the nerds don’t always have to be guys or asians.
However much you change your image and your personality, you will never reach that ‘perfect’ person as there really isn’t a ‘perfect’ image, images changes over the years. Beauty used to be considered curvy, but now stick thin seems to be the new curvy.
This blog is about teen girls and how they are represented in the media. I will discuss different media representations and convey the different views that audiences have on teenager girls. I will demonstrate an understanding of how teenage girls are affected, why this stereotype has been done, how does it affect society’s perspective , what is this stereotype based upon and why people create and enjoy stereotypes.
Stereotype is defined in the Oxford Dictionary “A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”
Representation is defined in the Oxford Dictionary “The description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way”
Teenage girls have been used in the media for many years, although males are used more, females are now starting to become bigger. Such as most films having female protagonists like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Although these ideas have been highly praised because of the lack of female leads, girls are also being used in the media in the wrong concept. Girls are shown as sexist in many types of media such as magazines having girly gifts only, girls shown in films cleaning houses, sewing clothes because that’s all we’re good at. Girls are shown in cliques and in most shows they’re all the same. Girls are stereotyped so much that we have acknowledged it and we even recognise stereotypes just by looking at someone we don’t even know. Girls are exploited to pleasure people especially males with their big boobs, tiny waist and lots of skin showing, this is so males, especially, buy these products. We all see the same girls in music videos, advertisements, tv shows etc which are girls with a tall, slim figure withbeautiful facial features. Here an advertisement for a vacuum depicts what the media wants, LG Vacuum Commercial. National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders found that the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females. We all see the same girls in music videos, advertisements, tv shows etc which are girls with a tall, slim figure with beautiful facial features. The media has no idea how much teenage girls envy to be those girls, how far teenage girls will go to become that girl, how much they will change in order to become one of those tall, slim figure girls with beautiful facial features.
Why does the media have stereotypes, is it an easier way for us to categorise for friend groups. Easier for our brain to comprehend to what all stereotypes are and classify anyone under one of those categories. When we see a blonde girl we should instantly think of dumb, slut etc. When we see an asian we should immediately think they are bad drivers and are too smart. Different people are brought up in different cultures and beliefs, we all see things differently. Some people are grown up to dislike a culture because their family have been taught that, that culture is bad to be associated with. We all have different views on different stereotypes, we’ve been taught by the media to hate some in the way they are shown. But this isn’t true exactly, in the movie American Sniper they show us that all Iraq people are bad, they can’t be trusted. This movie conveys a message to audiences that this culture can’t be trusted. The media shows good and bad representations on different stereotype.
I will use a range of different mediums, some of the following examples I will be writing about is Mean Girls (film), Teen Vogue (magazine) and retouched images (photos).
stereotypinggg 